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

nice job Satch !

Wise not to over-weather this Kursk vehicle, since it was the first operation for the Panther. Well done sir.

Nice work!!!  Love those Friul tracks too.  A figure or two would be a great addition to your Panther.  I will make sure to follow your work in Diorama forum. 

Turned out very nice Satch, the addition of figures will enhance it even more.

Wow, turned out great. I agree on the Fruilis. Looking at yours makes me wish I had put the Photo Etch vent screens on mine.

Hello Kitty is finished!  After the filters I sprayed heavily thinned Tamiya buff for dusting.  Then some rain streaks and some pigments and she is finished.

I present to you a Panther of 7/Ko, Panzer Abteilung 52, Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland, on the road to Kursk, July, 1943.

I plan to do some figures and add a base for Hans' diorama GB.  1st time with Fruilis.  They rock!  at $35 a kit they are expensive but for German armor, well worth it.  Thanks for looking.

Satch

Agree with guys... great work!  The camo looks just perfect after being toned down.

Very nice. 

Nice work satch!

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

  Agree camo came out great! 

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

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

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

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

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!

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?

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.

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...

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...

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

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.

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

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!

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!

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.

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

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