ARMOR - Panther (PzKpfw V) Group Build (any scale)

Funny thing now that you mention it Shawn, Hitler postponed Kursk for a least 2-3 months, because he wanted to build up his force of Panthers. Big mistake, because the Russians built up their defences big time, plus the Panther's were a bust.

Good Looking job Dwight.

Really good job. It looks great!

QUOTE: Originally posted by wipw Jon and Nick, if nothing else, I'm sure someone over on this side of the pond could send you some. I will certainly do that, if you desire. It's not a hazardous substance, so I don't see any shipping problems. The stuff only costs about $2.00 an egg, and might be found cheaper in some places.

thanks for the offer guys!!
captain caveman, if nothing comes of your hunt then i'll probably mail one of you guys and we can sort something out "off-line".
god i love this site!! why can't everyone be this helpful in the "real world"?!
regards,
nick

I’ve been offline for a few days, so lots to catch up on (started at page 69).

As a group - great work to date guys. Glad to see some more pics.

Larry: Good to see the hull went together for you.

Spector: The “hook thingy” on the front is called a Towing Clevis. On the D and A the mounting pin that secured it to the hull posts was different to the G. See:

http://www.geocities.com/petbat1961/panther02.html?1074405521531
so don't be tempted to use the PE for the G ( He, He)

Eric: For a pic of how the Infra red sight hooks up on the turret and your Horseshoe, go to the same link (Two pics for the price of one!)

Muzzle: Yes I did (still am) drilling out the DML kit track guidehorns. I am not insane, just a little….err……unbalanced. It is not as hard as it sounds, just a little time consuming, but it does look good. See the link for a pic of that too.

Dwight: The jack block with the x belts were only on the very, very early ones and these also had the “arrowed” Radio op’s vision slit (not the flat one) and the cupola hatch changes I posted earlier (Do you hate me yet!!!). It is looking fantastic as it is anyway.

I have not done much the last few days, having other things to contend with. I have posted a shot of my last test run for the interior if any one is interested.

See: http://www.geocities.com/petbat1961/panther03.html?1074405639781

Remember, you see a lot through the hatches, but not much of the front of the transmission case or the section before the drive shafts, so that area is a little basic. The 'turret' floor is a little too far back in the shot, it should line up with the end of the brake lines on the hull wall.

Anybody got a good shot of the radio operator’s side of the transmission case? All my pics are of the driver’s side (just like detailed interior pics I have - typical).

petbat,

i have a rugby coaching clinic to finish up tomorrow, then a load of homework to do before Tuesday. Give me a couple of days and i will see if i have any more useful pics for you to check out.

oh, and is there any date to when the horseshoe was added? and do you suppose this would mean that a tank with the horseshoe would also have the modified storage box in the rear for the IR gear??

thanks for the pic,
-edog

Petbat....Unbalanced? What is on the other side of the balance? After wrestling with the indy tracks on my kit, I couldnt put myself through the drilling process. After looking at photos I took at aberdeen, the horns are scoops and not just ovals, would make me insane to attempt. I cant wait to see yours done. The interior is incredible as well!!!

Well....I have finished my project
Pics tomorrow of the display (I have to take pics in a different room so it all has to be set back up for photos). Maybe I should wait to post my "completed" pics until everyone else is done.

petbat,
don't you worry when your doorbell goes that it's the men in white coats come to take you away?![:0]
anyone who drills out those indy links has got to be insane in my book!!
awesome effort! can't wait to see the rest of the pics!!!
regards,
nick

one other question guys:
are the side skirts (shurzen, right?), the same on all panthers??
only i've seen this accurate armour detail set that i might use for my steel wheel G in the future, but want to know if i can use the skirts on another kit, say my DML kursk D??
any help much appreciated; here's the link to the set:
http://www.accurate-armour.com/aaproducts.cfm?CFID=861216&CFTOKEN=41511412&navlevel=1
cheers guys,
nick

just a little update on my dio ..... not too sure about adding trees as of now , and the kettenkrad may go .... constructive critcism is welcome here ( am going to add mud to track of both vehicles , just waiting for pix from Kenneth to see how his came out )

Looks great Shawn. I saw it over on Ron's site also, but the pics look even better here. I probably wouldn't add any trees, might detract from your model. On the other hand it would add even more scale to your diorama. Tough call.

spector822002 hi!
awesome build and dio!! way out of my league!!
just one teeny weeny observation and maybe a small suggestion[:0]: the balkenkreuz and tank id numbers look too crisp compared to the tank as a whole, as do - to a lesser extent -the rubber on the tank wheels. perhaps weather/wash/"muddify" them a bit??
if it's because of the photos then humble apologies; hope you don't take it the wrong way.
happy modelling,
nick

Nick : Good obsevation on the decals , I added those after the weathering and yes they are way too crisp ! Time to correct that , as for the tracks and wheels , waiting to see Kenneths mud to determine my muddifying of that area But they will get that for sure ! Criticism is welcome here as this is my first dio attempt ! regards , ..... Shawn

spector822002 it wasn't criticism at all!! still looks cool to me!!!
regards,
nick

i cant get on or see anything on /from Rons site

all the Panthers i can see are great and Petbat you interiors great

Nick the Panther D and A side skirts are different from the Panther G, so AAs side skirts wront work on a D

Nick: NO no no .... thats what I want you folks to do ..... if you see something that is not quite right lemme' know ... no insult at all here ..... sometimes you see what you want to see when you construct something ! ... Shawn

Looks great Spector. I think a tree could add some extra scale as well and could look great.

I have not had good luck taking pictures today. My dio pics look awful. Here's the kitty by herself for now....



I added field grass via a chicken wire type of contraption. I left openings on each side so I would not block the insignia or periscopes.

The insignias are not as "bright" as they look in the pic, too much white background, etc.... like I said... bad day for pics

(I'll be back later when I figure it out) ((probably my 'white balance' on the cam))

Muzzle : Thats a great job on that jagd, way kool ! That camo job kicks @#$!

Looks great Spector. I think a tree could add some extra scale as well and could look great.

muzzleflash88, oooh that kitty looks mean!!![:0][:0]
great touch with the grass
regards,
nick

Sorry folks. I have not been able to log on for 2 days so I was not able to reply to some of the posts immediately.

Frosty: The markings are for the "Kursk".

Pete: Sorry I was just able to see your posts today so I have not considered your latest suggestions. Well, I am almost done with my cat and perhaps I'll leave it as is for a while. (Gotta catch up with the Shermie Build, ya know.) Anyway, thanks for the info on how to make this accurate.

To all guys: Thanks for the compliments:

Spector: Your dio is very nice. The composition is very good.

Muzzleflash: That JadgPanther is looking very intimadating. The grass/bushes are a nice add-on.


Anyway, I have already put on the tracks and the sideskirts on my Panther and did some more paint-detailing. And here are the progress pics as of last night:

Muzzle: I like your Jagd. and the field grass looks cool

Dwight: Top notch as always my friend.

Boy mine gonna (insert expletive here) compared to all your guys. Maybe I'll put some pics up in a week or so.

QUOTE: Originally posted by edog petbat, i have a rugby coaching clinic to finish up tomorrow, then a load of homework to do before Tuesday. Give me a couple of days and i will see if i have any more useful pics for you to check out. oh, and is there any date to when the horseshoe was added? and do you suppose this would mean that a tank with the horseshoe would also have the modified storage box in the rear for the IR gear?? thanks for the pic, -edog

Thanks for the help Eric. Appreciate anything you can give me, otherwise I may have to appease my sense of 'doing it right' by putting a figure half out of the hatch, or a jacket over the radio unit, to hide that side of the tranny!

Going back through my notes and stuff, it appears the IR horseshoe was fitted to production turrets around Jan-Feb 1945, about the same time the AA ring on the cupola was deleted from production orders. This marries up with pics of the Panther turret on the vehicle at the Patton Museum at Ft Knox which has the chin mantlet and the horseshoe but not the AA ring. (This is a hybrid vehicle so forget the hull here.)

This fitting to the turret was apparently in preparation for fitting of the IR units 'in the field' when full production was underway. Natch, the war ended first. Whilst some IR Panthers were fielded, there is a lot of conjecture surrounding what pieces of equipment were fitted (ie not the whole system). The allies fitted equipment to captured Panther's after the war, and a lot of people think that the pics of these are of actual fielded vehicles. Kinda like the steel wheel Panthers- A lot of people don't know that only a handful were actually produced.

None of my references mention the fitting of the modified storage boxes as standard. My best guess would be that these would have been fitted only to those vehicles produced with IR equipment in the factory. It may be that modified boxes would have been shipped to the field units, with the IR eqipment stowed inside, for later field fitting. Do what you want to here...no-one can prove you wrong.

Muzzle. Great pics of a fine build of a nasty little kitty. Kinda reminds me of the cat 'Horse' in the New Zealand Comic strip 'Footrot Flats'. That is one cat that even wild pigs leave alone!

A couple of things on the grass. It looks like it is tied to the vehicle by wire near the bottom of each bunch. If so, it would fall sideways and upside down as the vehicle lurched around. The crews tried to break up the regular outline of their vehicle with foliage, and having all vertical bunches of reeds would not give that effect. May I suggest a little wire up top of each bunch and a couple moved out of the vertical to improve the realism here. Also the crew would probably have wired some to the barrel to break up that outline as well.

Now, show me a pic where the barrel is slightly raised and a off centre to show that the beast really is hunting bear. (Check out Dwight's pics. See what I mean about the dramatic effect that an offset barrel (and/or turret) can give a model .

Dwight; Supurb as usual. I don't know what it is, but that dark glass table of yours really makes the pics of your lighter colour vehicles stand out.

Tigerman. Let us be the judge. Human nature always makes you your own worst critic.

Spector. Looking good. If you want to raise the profile of the dio, go a dead or partially blasted tree. That way the abundance of foliage of a whole tree doesn't overpower the Panther as the main visual Item. Only thing is, I would put it where the Kettenkrad is for best effect. Also, the little bushes in front of the fence seem to grow a little sideways in the pic. Even though the ground is not level, these would grow straight up not out. A few tufts of grass around in this area would blend these bushes into the dio effect.

PS Nick. The guys in the white coats came, but decided that If I was smart enough to put a band-aid on the finger I slashed doing the indy links, then I was not quite far enough gone to commit! Then again, I have overheard my fellow club members mentioning something about getting enough doctors to sign something about me.

Tigerman: Thanks. Don't be too hard on yourself. I also most of the times feel that I really messed up with my kit but then other would tell me that it looks OK. I think we are very strict with ourselves at times. Loosen up a bit and you'll see that you did good. Anyway I'll wait for the pics.

Pete: Thanks. Yeah that glass top table is really something.

Looking good everyone!!!

Here's one of the crew members on the rear deck with maps on his lap. There is a map on the door with headphones on it. Still sorting through the pics I took today to find ones that are clear, proper color. This is black and white, oh well

Nice job on that crew, Muzzleflash. The B&W photography gives it a WWII historical feel.

Petbat: TY for the observations .... thats what I was thinking about trees as well ( they may take over the dio ) gonna fix the bushes and add a bit more grass too. Like I said before sometimes you just don't notice these things so it is helpful to get someone elses view on it ! Dwight: that is just a fantastic paint job , the weathering is just perfect from what I can see , is that built OOB or did you add any mods to it ? Muzzleflash: I like the B&W photo , real cool there, guess they didn't have navstar back then huh, the map , ( tanks that talk to ya ) Keep up the good work all TTYL .... Shawn

whoa, ya'll slow down.... I was up in fayetteville all weekend and didn't get a lot done. Last night I got a little more mud work done.

Spector, Great progress on the dio. A tree or two might help with the scale but don't clutter it so as to hide your work. You've done a awsome job all around...

Dwight, as I mentioned on the other thread... great job. Truly.

Muzzle, Like it a lot. The grass looks real nice and the figures super. The tracks are very impressive... The have just the right sag... Great work...

I finally finished the zimm on the upper hull. The rear hull plate by the exhust is going to be fun. I'd forgotten about doing that. Wishful thinking, I think. Did they put zimm on the sides and bottom of the storage bins or just on the rear??

I've gotten about 42 of the ModelKasten links glued together. Only about 46 more to go, for the FIRST side!! What a pain, but they sure look nice.

Time is winding down!

Good building, all.

Bill

Here she is on the move.
I wish I could make it turn to the side like Dwights pic, but she's got no turret




I'm going to post more pics in the main armor forum as well. I'll narrate it.

Tons of fun guys, really would not have finished this one without the group. I owe it all to the forums.

Here is the lock,stock, and barrel on this build. Here's my build...
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reeftank/jagdpanther/jagdpanther.html


Thanks go out to all :)