Need Help With A Bergepanther

I'm not that familiar with the Italeri Panther.

What's wrong with the wheels? If they are the early bolt pattern, I probably wouldn't worry too much, or I would add some "rivets" of my own rather than sacrifice a Tamiya or DML Panther. Adding the extra rivets is exactly what a lot of German units did to the early wheels to get them to last longer.

On the other hand, if you buy Tamiya's Steel Wheel Panther (which comes with both steel wheels, and regular wheels), you could salvage the regular wheels from it and still be able to build the Steel Wheel Panther.

I'm not sure how much work this would take to do though:

You should be able to find the tools and other small items from other manufacturers other than sacrifing an entire kit.

I believe Tamiya still has their fantastic tools available seperately for about $5-$7. Definitely a lot cheaper than a kit.

Good Luck.

Charlie,
check Claymore's links page for Panther research.
www.geocities.com/highland_eagle68ATsbcglobal.net/panzer5links.html
replace the AT after '68' w/ @
somehow the @ screws up the link on this page,
so do the old "copy, paste, edit" routine.

there may be some hidden 'Berg nuggets.

Also, check the April 2002 FSM, pg 32 for a 'Showcase' on an unbelievable 'Berg.

sorry i don't have any other info,
ed.

Welcome to the Dark Side Charlie. Sorry I can't help you, but good luck on your quest.

Guys:

Hi and Thanks for your replies - it's really appreicated! I tried fitting a Tamiya Panther G (early) hull to the upper hull of the Italeri kit and it didn't fit. I was looking at the Dragon Panther A's which I know I can get from a friend if I wanted it. I've already built the Steel wheeled kit but gave the spare wheels away to a friend who needed them - I thought that one would someday come back and haunt me. I will look closer at the hull detail on the kit and see if the wheels will hide the lack of detail and then use Latch66's idea of adding the rivets or maybe I can just muddy them up? On the otherhand, I have plenty of other kits to build so maybe I'll just save the detail set and hope Tamiya, Dragon, or Trumpeter come out with one someday. I'll check out Claymore's site and will definately try to find the FSM from April 2002.

Again, thanks for all your time and input!

Charlie

Charlie,
i edited my post above so you can get to Claymore's page.
this board does not seem to like web addresses w/ the "@" sign in them.

ed.

you could try doing it like this in a diorama

Ed:

Hi! Thanks for updating your link but I still can't get to the page. Could you please send it to me via my email (see my profile). Also, thanks Capt Caveman for the great picture - I downloaded it and will keep it in mind

Charlie