Dragon Panther D Premium.... Hello Kitty.... WIP UPDATE

Great looking piece Satch,,,,,,,,   thanks for sharing!

nice start,looks good

Should be cool Satch. Might want to add WIP to the subject line.

Looking forward to seeing this one get built Satch. Don't stress on the PE, use what makes sense and avoid what doesn't and you'll be fine.

Very nice Satch!  I've got this kit and started it about 3 yrs ago and never got past the suspension.  Its still sitting in the box waiting for attention and now it will be jealous because I'll be paying more attention to yours than my shelf queen!!   Are you building it as a Kursk vehicle?

Looking good so far.

Ah yes, those instructions.  I'm curious to see what you think of them.  Myself I don't much care for them.  I did a Panther with that type and now working on a T34/76.  The T34 sheet is missing part numbers, incorrect part numbers, drawings that don't match what's in the kit...thank goodness for Perth Reviews to help me along.  

These instructions stink.  Prefer the newer Dragon line drawings.  You really have to be careful to do all the sub assemblies separated out in the instructions.  Most of them are optional PE mini kits to supplant the plastic parts.

Got a little bit of work on on the Panther. 





After test fitting and manipulating the superstructure and the hull, I decided to mate them prior to putting on the fiddlybits, contrary to the instructions.  I found that I have a tendency to break things when handling them.







Don't know if I misaligned the rear bulkhead or if it just had bad fit but that is the only problem area so far.  The rear bulkhead to rear engine deck and the fit of the sponsons to the bulkhead/storage boxes.  Lots of glue and squeezing and I got it pretty much joined.



Thanks Bil for the tip on the cupola.  You're right, big seam.  Green putty and Mr Surfacer took care of that.







That's it for today.  Keep on plugging.

Satch

Looking good satch!!  Nice work on the cupola and with the PE!

Nasty fit on the hull there. that surprises me. Most of their kits fit together really well.

This often happens with the Premium type kits that receive an upgrade treatment but still have much of the originally molded parts still around. The picture-style instructions thankfully died out relatively quickly as DML's method and they went back to the line drawing approach...but they still surface again now and then in the Premium kit treatment. You do have to be extra-vigilant as they will show things installed suddenly and not always with a call-out number! Looks like you're making good progress with this one satch, glad to be help with the cupola tip.

I have a resin Panther D storage set so I think I can hide that rear deck gap under a box.  A little green putty filled the front corner plate gap.  The gap between the sponson and the rear storage box will have to do.  Hopefully no one will be lifting the tail of my panther to check it's sex!

Nice work Satch!        This is a great kit, but the instructions are terrible to say the least....  I also had fitting issues with that rear deck. 

Looking forward to see more!

Assembly is pretty much done except for the running gear.  The road wheels are all cut and cleaned read for painting.  Now working on the tracks.









I'm using Bronco workable tracks on this one.  The Magic tracks don't require cutting and cleaning but do require glue and are not left/right tracks that Panther's had.





I left most of the tools off until after painting.  The torsion arms are not affixed yet, that's why some are missing.  I'm debating whether to mount it on a base and articulate some of the road wheels. 

Thanks for looking.

Satch

I always laugh at "workable tracks", like you're going to play with it after it's built.

Did you have to glue the mantlet down? I had to with my Jagdtiger, because the barrel was so heavy it drooped.

Looking good satch, this one has built up pretty fast. Be interested to see how the Bronco tracks work out.

Speak of the Devil...

First time I've used Bronco tracks and it's a good news bad news thing.  Good news is they are accurate and don't need glue.  Bad news is they are attached to the sprue and require cleanup ala the old Dragon indie links.

Using a sprue cutter, my first few links left big nubs that were impossible to file.  They attach in a concave part of the link so a flat file or sanding stick won't work.  I tried a rounded file but it didn't work well either.  Finally I just used a #11 blade to dig out the nub.





I then tried cutting from the side at an angle matching the concave link.



Much better results as you can see here.



Instructions say 86 links per side.  There are 8 sprues of 12 so 7 + 2 should do it.  Keep slogging along...

Important safety tip campers.  Bronco Panther Early tracks do not fit on Dragon Panther D drive sprockets.  There four days of my life I'll never get back.

On the good side, Friulies are on the way...

Oh no! What a bummer! I saw all the work that needed to be done to cleanup and was thinking of magic tracks. Sorry friend, hope it works out for you in the end.

satch_ip

Important safety tip campers.  Bronco Panther Early tracks do not fit on Dragon Panther D drive sprockets.  There four days of my life I'll never get back.

On the good side, Friulies are on the way...

 

I think this has do with with the Dragon sprockets, not the tracks?  If I recall correctly, doesn't that kit instruct you to use track links from the kit sprues to go around the sprockets, whereas the rest of the track uses the Magic Track links that come with the kit?

Jeez!  Those Bronco tracks were looking good.  At least you can save them for your next Panther build.  Any chance do you know which kit works well with those tracks?  Or just like Ernest said is there a sprocket set you can order from Bronco too?

Your Panther is really looking good... very clean and sharp.  Panther always has been one of my favorites no question!  You have my attention now and I will be following with interest... good luck!

Sorry to hear that Satch! I hope the Fruils don't cause you the same problem...do they also come with replacement sprockets?

After clearing a couple of other projects off the bench I have re-attacked the Panther.  I spent a couple of weeks putting the Fruils together a few links at a time.  That's all these tired old eyes could handle.  I used Blacken It and with mixed results.  The raised detail burnished but the recessed parts didn't.  Kinda opposite of what I was going for.  So out came the AK Track Wash.  A liberal amount of that covered most everything.  Then a little burnt umber wash and a spray of red brown primer.  A dry brush of a steel/aluminum mix rounded them out.

I used Vallejo Dark Yellow/Panzer Olive/Tank Brown for the cammo.  Then a gloss coat for the decals and an umber and oily black wash.  The last photos are post dull coat.  Weathering continues when I get back.

Planning on a filter, dust, rain streaks. 

Satch

Tracks came out good. I like that camo too. Should look great when weathered.

Nice to see this one is making some progress satch! The camo pattern came out well, looking forward to the next round.

  Agree camo came out great! 

nice work man, the camo came out great...   this cat is really gonna pop once you start giving it the lived in  look...

Next series of photos show the Panther after the washes and filters were applied.  Final photos are done but I can't find my card reader to upload them!  Decided to use a real camera for the finals instead of the Iphone.

Satch

Nice work satch!

Very nice.