Patrik Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 (edited) The panther adjective indicates (at least in my language) usually some kind of sleek and swift creature. So whoever called this spermwhalelike beast Panther must have had really good sense of (pitch black) humor. The Esoteric vacform had lingered in my stash for a while before I bought the magnificent Windsock profile and decided this MUST be my next build. Unfortunately the Windsock scale plans differ in some areas rather significantly from the plans included in the kit instructions and – as the same plans were very probably used for moulding the kit - from the actual kit parts. So with the photographic evidence clearly on the Windsock side, it was obvious, that except the usual vacform detailing, some surgery was inevitable. The most significant differences are listed below: completely wrong shape of the elevators wrong division between fin and rudder wrong shape of the central section cutout on both the upper and lower wings wrong shape of the wingtips on both the upper and lower planes – fortunately both the vac wings had greater span than needed, so this problem was easy to handle wrong shape of the pilot cockpit entrance aperture in the upper wing too low fuselage tail end – this problem was only partly cured as otherwise the modifications would be far too drastic for me I admit I am a bit late in inviting you to follow my progress. Edited November 12, 2017 by Patrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Looking good there Patrik, watching closely as I've got one of these to build. Some useful tips on what needs correcting, I've not compared the parts with the Windsock drawings, bit difficult to do with a vacform until you've cut the bits out of the backing sheet. Don't suppose you've found any cockpit photo's?, the Windsock book's a bit sparce in this area. Going for the folded fuselage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) No cockpit details found indeed. So I decided to add just the control column and seat harness into the front cockpit and then remove the observer's seat from the rear one as the observer appears to be standing on the photos. I am going to add the rear gun mounting (but not the gun itself - no photo shows the gun really mounted) later. Patrik Edited September 26, 2012 by Patrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayha Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Hi In my searching for any and all Parnall info i found a picture and write up pertaining to the cockpit of the Panther. It comes from a publication called APPLIED AERODYNAMICS and was written by LEONARD BAIRSTOW in 1920. In the preface it credits the British and Colonial Aircraft Co for information and they manufactured the bulk of the Panther production. The publication is available to read or download fron the OPEN LIBRARY web site. Lots of publications on here but it does take some searching. I have also built this model, but am only very basic modeller and more interested in Parnalls. When i get an off line photo account will try to paste the pics otherwise hope you can find them and they are of interest to you. Tayha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 (edited) Wow, thanks very much Tayha, Open Library bookmarked for further exploration! Meantime, here's the photo, didn't take much searching for with your info! Edit - Text on the adjoining page attributes the cockpit photo as being of a "Panther" Edited September 27, 2012 by Dave Swindell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) Unexpected snag. After fitting the vertical tail plane the wrong shape of the fuselage tail end became far too apparent. So I added another fillet, some putty and a lot of indecent words while sanding. Should have been done before fitting the tail planes. Corrected upper wing shape. Edited November 12, 2017 by Patrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 (edited) Panther has got legs. And a few more details and it is ready for the paint job now. Edited November 12, 2017 by Patrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 The legs are as ugly as the rest of the plane, but is great to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Nice to see some more progress on this Patrik, those legs & hydrovane look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 (edited) A few more steps farther in the build after a longer brake. I decided to finish the kit in the – OK, rather speculative – but anyway quite attractive scheme depicted on the cover of the Windsock Datafile 142. Some details are still missing but I will be converting the Panther into a biplane pretty soon. Patrik Edited November 12, 2017 by Patrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyro-manic Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 (edited) What a delightfully bizarre-looking aircraft! It's new to me, at least. Impressive work on the detailing, and I look forward to seeing the results. Edited December 13, 2012 by pyro-manic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I think it looks cool! (Should have gone to Specsavers?) Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 (edited) A few more steps to completion. Edited November 12, 2017 by Patrik 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Strange looking aeroplane, but some lovely modelling. Reminds me of a tiny Guppy ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) Almost finished. See you in the "Ready for inspection" section. Edited November 12, 2017 by Patrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredsopwith Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 What a geat build ! It was a particular regret that I did not get one of these when it was around, particulaly scince the datafile was published. Has anyone scratch built this beast ? I have pondered a kit bash of it using a Gladiator fusalarge as a core, or am I being a glutton for punishment..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted November 12, 2017 Author Share Posted November 12, 2017 Another one restored. I have to admit the sequence of photos in my archive partly does not fit with the thread that much, so hopefully I got it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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