Academy 1/25 Panther G Late Version WIP COMPLETED!!!!

Off to a good start. Are you going to be doing your own zimmerit or AM?

Nice!

I have a 1/25 Tamiya Panther Va purchased second hand from a LHS and have noticed the drive gear sprocket teeth are spaced further apart compared to those of the Academy kits.

How do you intend to fit the Tamiya track links to the Academy kit?

BTW.....I notice the Tamiya website is still selling Panther track link sets if you need spares.

Tigerman

No zimm on this kitty which will be late 44 with disc cammo. There are no reverse circle stencils for this scale so I have to make my own. I have a pretty good idea on this so hopefully it will work out.  

Goose

The Tamiya tracks do not fit on the Academy sprockets so I have two options. Either contact Tamiya about their Jadgpanther tracks or slice off the teeth so the tracks can properly sit, then glue back the teeth into the track slots or cover the slots with terrain debris. I'm still working on that department.

I`m so happy to see next 1-25 scale model.

You are Yoker, because after few Year I have got ,realy some PE kits to panther G.

 If somebody remember I used this 3 kits to my panther G. Now, it `s a llittle different base kit ,rescaled from PE dedicated to Dragon. i have to test MG34 ,tank version barrels too.

More in Panzer Hobby Art shop ;-)

I will follow Your relation every day .Good Luck

Off to a good start! Will be watching with interest.

Piter and Bill...Thanks for your interest!

Was able to work a little today. Replaced the molded stowage box latches with the Aber ones.

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Molded details

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The Aber details are really nice but hard to work with even at this larger scale.

I removed all the molded details from the mudguard and the Bosch headlight and replaced them with the Aber set. The wire came from my collection of discarded electrical wires. Notice the two tiny wire clips. I added a clear plastic piece that looks like a lightbulb then used 5 minute epoxy to lock it in place and to act as glass. The headlight cover hides these details but a modeling judge with one of those tiny flashlights will be able to see something thru the slit.

Made my own spade handle from stretched sprue and used the Aber parts. A HUGE improvement over the Academy spade.

Looking very nice ! 

I haven't seen the Aber stowage bin latches assembled on a kit.

Do you have a PE bender or did you improvise?

 One side note; it is fortunate you were able to obtain Mr. Surfacer.

The product is unavailable in Chicago area hobby shops.

Thanks Goose... I got my Mr Surfacer 1000 and 500 from Sprue Bros a while back and this stuff is a life saver. I improvise my pe bending by using an old bathroom tile as a cutting surface, Xacto blades for cutting and two single edge blades for bending, it works great. You would think the molded details are better in this larger scale but not really. They could have done a much better job with the clamps, tools, tracks and at least a partial interior in the turret. At least it has all the periscopes so it's one less thing I don't have to scratch out.   I remember the huge hype when it was on a pre-order status back in 2003 prompting me to jump on the bandwagon.  I wanted to keep this a basic and simple build but it has been gathering improvements here and there as I go. I started scratchbuilding my own fire extinguisher since the molded one doesn't look anything like the real one.  Been working with some of the pe too so I will have more updates soon.  

Man, that's some cleeeean building going on! Lookin' VERY good!

Ernie, loving those added details!  Great start on that project bro'.

Gary

Nice work plastic!

Doog, Tex and f8..........Glad you like this wip!

Was hoping to keep this a simple build but it screams for little tid bits here and there.

Did some work on the tools by getting rid of all the molded latch details, mounting tabs and thinning down some parts to make them more scale like. Sink marks were filled in with Squadron putty then sanded smooth.

I added theAber pe parts to the handle mechanism, cut off the plastic mounting tab and sliced off a molded grab handle which was located too low and replaced it with a thin wire bent to the correct shape.

The top is my scratched out fire extinguisher made from a computer electronic part, stretched sprue and Aber pe part. Network 54 has several pictures of German WWII fire extinguishers so I modeled mine as such.  Looks a lot better than the Academy one.

Top is the Academy spade. Bottom is my scratched built one with stretched sprue and Aber parts.

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Complete group ready for painting. the Tow hook lugs are drilled to accept the safety pins that I still have to make out of wire. Notice the nice multi-part Aber fire extinguisher holder.

The jack mounting slit was located too low so it was filled in with plastic stock and Squadron putty, then sanded smooth. The jack is vertically suspended a bit higher as per the Tankograd photographs. I still have to assemble and attach the Aber jack mount.

Nice work.

Nice job dressing up the tools and other little details.

RBaer and Bill.........Thanks for your comments!

Been very busy and unable to put some serious bench time in but managed to do a few things.

At this larger scale, it's wise to put something on the inside of the louvers so it doesn't look hollow even though the details will be barely visible thru the grills and screens. I save those plastic cards that come in the junk mail and use them to manufacture scratch built details. Using my Micro Mark mini punch and a larger one from Harbor Freight, I punched out a series of discs to make the fan units and bolts. I also sliced up strips to make the four air vent slat boxes.

The Aber jack mount was built per the instructions with working hinges. I made the hinge pins from stretched sprue. The jack rested on an L shaped metal bracket that I bent out of a left over piece of pe. The circular hatch area was also detailed by replacing the molded manual starter crank with stretched sprue and separating the brackets. I still have to attach the small chains that secured the crank to the brackets.

Here are the completed fans painted in alumunum and boxes painted in my own mix of primer red craft acrylics

Drilled out the small circular molded screen on the rear deck and replaced it with the Aber screen. The cross guard detail was added from thin Evergreen strip to the scoop front.

I was able to do some work by closing up the sponsons with plastic card, punching out some service hatches for the bottom hull and working on the tracks.

Both sponsons were cut from Evergreen thin plastic sheet and super glued to seal up the sides. The service hatches were punched out from those junk mail plastic advertisement cards and super glued on. The bolt pattern on the hatches were made by pressing a thin hollow brass tube.

In preparation for the fun part.....painting, the red oxide vent boxes were covered with strips of paper to protect them from top coat over spray. The paper strips can be easily pulled out thru the turret mounting hole after painting.

The Tamiya tracks were a pain to clean up. Each track piece had a number embosed on the outer inside, along with multiple sink marks. Only the numbers and the sink marks on the outer edge need to be cleaned up, the others will be covered by the road wheels and will not be seen. I used a sharp chisel blade to slice off the numbers and Bondo Glazing Putty to cover the sink marks. They were sanded smooth after curing overnight.

Damned nice work Ernie!   You're making me eye that M41 in my stash...might be a cool diversion for this summer-build another tank!  Keep up the inspiring good work!

Gary

Fantastic progress in 1/25

Appreciate the fine work.

Thanks gents for the positive words!

I got some bench time to work on the rear deck.

The blower is like a freaking little kit by itself made out of multiple pe parts.

Completed blower with Mr. Surfacer added for added cast texture

Rear deck is completed. The white under the grills is the paper strip protecting the red oxide primer color that will be pulled out thru the turret hole after painting. The blower is still missing the pie shaped air diverter pe pieces that will be added later after painting.

Close ups of the grills. Note the wing nuts on the top one. 

Track hangers were scratch built out of plastic strip. Top is kit's hangers and bottom is my version.

Completed track hangers drilled and pinned to properly secure the spare track. Pins were made from thin wire. I also added and drilled for the retaining pin the rear tow cable hanger which was made from stretched sprue. Note all those sink marks on the spare tracks.

I found this thin chain at Michael's which looked good for the chains attached to the rear tool.

This has gone beyond a mere "build": it's officially a "Labor of Love".

All look very good. Maybe this relation and later gallery will helpfull for  You with camo.

Good luck and wait for the Your gallery.

Doog... You are right Sir. Even after thinking of nothing else to add, something pops out at me. I even thought about scratching out the turret interior to leave both hatches open but I did not want to get into a complex build.

Piterpanzer...Thanks for your links. They come in very handy.

I'm at the painting stage now so I will have an update soon. Thought I had the brown cammo paint but looks like a trip to the Hobby Shop.

I almost forgot to scratch out the jack wood block and mount.

using the kit's plastic part as a template, I traced the dimensions on a piece of scrap wood and milled it out on my table saw.

I used a piece of scrap pe and some plastic stock to make the jack wood block mount.

Perfect fit. I will stain and weather the wood block later.

Using a circle template, all wheels were sprayed MM Dunkelgelb along with the sprockets. I was lucky to get the sprockets from a friend who had a junked Tamiya Jagdpanther so the tracks have a perfect fit now. The tracks were prayed with black Rustolium, then craft acrylics were thinned and mixed to get a brown rust shade and were sprayed thru my ab.

The three tone cammo was sprayed using MM Dunkelgelb, Panzer Olivgrun and Vallejo Panzer Series Cammo Brown.

No it's not groovy art from the 60's  but it should work.

All stickers removed. Looks like  it worked!

I think it looks pretty close to the real thing. The coaxial MG was not included in the kit so I used a thin piece of brass pipe as the MG's muzzle peeking just a bit in the  mantlet.

Another view of the turret. Next in order will be the hull Disc masking then the real fun part, decaling and weathering.   

love the disc camo, great method to boot!

Thanks Shawn, glad you like it. I think it's quite different from the usual camo schemes.

Added the stickers to create the pattern.

Rear view

With the stickers removed, the pattern becomes visible

Rear view. This part was really difficult to mask as the stickers would not stay secured for long on the curved pieces.

Rear deck view, another difficult area to mask.

On deck for decals, filters, washes and more weathering

Very labor intensive, but man, what a great look!

Now for the weathering

Oil DOT filters are then streaked down with a wide brush damp with thinner.

Leaving just a subtle hint of the colors

Pin washes on recessed areas add depth and Burnt Umber oil paint is carefully added for chipping effect on sharp edges.

More chipping

The fenders get some scrapes

The tracks were sprayed with Rustoium black as a primer. I mixed my own brew of craft acrylics to get a brown/rust shade and was sprayed on. When dry, multiple washes of oil paints were applied to add rust shades into the recessed areas. All contact points were dry brushed Testors  steel mixed with a drop or two of black.

Another view of the track

The Aber tool holders can be made to actually work

Completed tool holder

Tools in place

After more washes to tone down and dirty up things a bit, the Panther is completed

Rear deck details

Rear view

I was visiting my daughter this last weekend in Columbia SC,  so I attended the Sumter SC model show just about an hour away. I have never competed in an AMPS show but was very happy to win Gold in the Intermediate Class of closed tracked Axis vehicles. Incredible how 3 or 4 judges can spend up to an hour going over your model! I was very impressed with the AMPS method of judging. 

Congrats on the Gold, well-deserved.

I have to say, I like the AMPS method as well.