Brews Posted June 28, 2014 Author Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) I could have sworn that I replied to these posts earlier! Something of a transformation that! It looks like the Italeri 1/72 kits I'm messing with are copied from that Tamiya kit, they've done exactly the same shonky job on the hull.....I seem to recall you fixed up the ESCI/Italeri Panther somewhere Bruce, do you have a link as I'd be interested to see your solution? I fixed Esci's turret in much the same way that I fixed Tamiya's turret. I'm not sure if i had to cut anything off the bottom, but I certainly had to bend the sides in! I replaced the barrel with a cut-down mono bloc KwK 43 from a Dragon Jagdpanther or Panther kit. I have some of these spare if you want them. I didn't do anything about the hull on that one. I have, at times, tried to remedy Airfix's Panther. Others have done that much better than me. This Is a great build.... Thanks, I appreciate your comments. I might otherwise feel I was talking to myself. Awful feeling, that is Edited June 28, 2014 by Brews 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shermaniac Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Ah Ha! Dr FrankenPanther, you too are making progress Edited June 28, 2014 by Shermaniac 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Hi Bruce.....It was what you did to block off the gaping hole under the sponsons that I was most interested in seeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted June 28, 2014 Author Share Posted June 28, 2014 Plastic Card, Andy. Possibly 0.005". I just dug it out to have a look, as I didn't take photos of it, apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Yah.....It's a bit of a pain to do for me because I had to assemble the running gear before joining the hull halves as I'm using the Revell L&L on Italeri wheels (with the Revell sprocket), it's not 100% accurate, but it's miles better than the Italeri track parts and I'm quite pleased with the sag. I've almost finished the track runs and will post some pictures in a bit (I really should have entered it for this GB). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 Then enter it for the GB! 5 thou card can be trimmed to the outside of the sponsons. I did mine after the running gear was on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 (edited) Having asked for unwanted Panther tracks, a kind fellow by the name of Matthew Webster obliged (on a Facebook Group called Kitbashers Bazaar) and sent me a set of Dragon tracks, similar to those in my old Panther Ausf A that I've been using for comparative purposes in this build. I finished cutting them off the sprue yesterday, and assembled most of one track (85 links) into lengths, leaving a few links free. These tracks are MILES ahead of the ones in the box, but lack the cut-out in the guide horns. It's moulded in as a depression, and could be simulated with a dark wash. I tried opening this up with a small drill in a pin vice. "Tedious" doesn't come close to describing the prospect of doing this for the whole of the tracks. However, I'm going to try something quick and nasty - using a Dremel cutter to slice into the guide horns, leaving me to fill the gap at the end of them with something (plastic card? Superglue? Tamiya Putty?) I'll try it out on a curved section of links that I've assembled for the drive sprocket. The guide horns won't be seen in this section. Oh, and the ejector pin marks? Life is too short to clean those up! Edited June 29, 2014 by Brews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 OK boys and girls, here's my thoughts. A wash will be good enough for this build! I have tried two further techniques, both of which succeed in getting a hole in the guide horn, but neither of which are either quick, easy or look great. The original hole, drilled with a drill in a pin vice, a slot cut with a dremel, and three more holes drilled with two different-diameter bits in a Dremel. All needed cleaning-up with a scalpel, and the slit with the Dremel needed some Tamiya repair over and above the call of duty due to operator carelessness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 Even if the guide horns are exposed, I don't think it's going to matter that much. Shiny metallic paint surrounding matt dark interior can be deceptive-enough for those that know what the guide horns were like, and for those that don't ... what does it matter?The main thing is that this will look like a Panther, it will look even more like a Panther than it would OOB, and that isn't totally bad. The tracks, even without the guide-horn holeyness, are tons better than the kit tracks ... it's going to be ok, as long as I can get it together and paint it nicely. I'm currently finishing-up boxing in the sponsons, not an extremely difficult task but a time-consuming one given that I'm making new vertical triangle plates for the rear of it, and dove-tailing them in to the sloping sides. PITA. I didn't copy Dragon's details in this area, as they have the underside of the sponson a little elevated within the sides at the rear of the tank. A photo in Spielberger's book (on p.35) (thanks again, Andy!) clearly shows that the sponsons were level with the sides all the way to the rear. I might have to alter Dragon's when I get around to it. I suspect that Dragon did it that way to get a bit more clearance around the tracks near the idler. I could be wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 I think you may be right there Bruce, it's pretty tight around the idler on my 1/72 build.....I'll get one of the Dragon Ausf Ds out later to see how they've approached it in that kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 I think it's fair enough to keep it tight there. The idler doesn't bounce up and down like the road wheels. It's an area that might have collected mud, though - which in 6 months of the year could become ice overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share Posted July 4, 2014 I cast some resin into the RTV moulds I'd made of various items - the final drive casings, an inner wheel, some under-the-hull hatches, the mantlet etc. I do not expect a good result, but you never know. Using the putty-type silicone as a moulding medium did not work well for the wheel. Maybe it was my fault. After it turned out, I thought ... "I should have used a little bit of that putty and pushed it around the rim before I pressed the wheel into the putty. Hindsight. So, the moulds aren't great, but they're something. The resin, however, is entirely different. It's man-vegetables. Resin has a shelf-life. When you buy it, it's supposed to be good for a year. I've had mine for about 7. I had to get a drill and drill through a crust on the top of 'Part A'. I don't know whether 'Part A' is the hardener. My opaque resin carked it last year. This is transparent resin. The irony is that I think I've mastered pouring the clear resin without getting too many bubbles in it. The man-vegetables part is that it's not hardening very well! It might turn out ok ... I'll give it a little more time. In the meantime, I can't do much more to the Panther, unless I order some new resin, and maybe I should make some new moulds out of the liquid stuff I have - which is also getting on in age, but it's only a few years old. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 I de-moulded the final drive housings. Although they're not perfect, they're good enough. When the resin is hard enough, I'll clean them up and attach them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlemaster Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 My dentist gave me just the thing to file out those cutouts in the guide horns ....Root canel files Had some treatment a few weeks back and out of the corner of my eye could see my dentist with these and thought they look useful so when i could finally speak asked her for the old ones . She looked at me as though i was mad and then gave me a handfull of new ones (not allowed to give old ones due to health ans safety ) . Recon just the job for small holes in tracks and rubber coated subs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Good idea! I've been onto my mate Neu about getting tools from the dentist. I have a checkup every now and then, so i'll ask him next time. Incidentally, he is quite a good dentist - and if he's not, he's not afraid to tell me how bad my dentist in Australia was. I had a root canal there in 1999. a couple of years ago, my dentist had a look at that tooth on x-ray, and told me that not all the nerve was removed. I told him that yes, I knew that. My dentist told me that that particular tooth had a very long root, and he didn't have a needle file long enough. He looked at me knowingly and said "Yes. You know what I do when that happens? I cut some of this rubber stuff off around the handle, and it can go deeper. Your dentist was <something derogatory>." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Progress pic: You can see here the new resin mantlet (from Tamiya Ausf G master), new final drive housings and semi-circular armoured rings, and idler axle (Dragon master), and a comparison between Dragon's idler and Tamiya's Ausf A idler. The Tamiya wheel is more than 1.5mm smaller in diameter, is thinner, has less detail, and has a chunky spacer between the side of the hull and the inside of the wheel. I want to do something about that. You might also pick up that I need to make a return roller to go on the final drive housing. Not many people remember that the Panther had a return roller. It was rubber-tyred. Dragon's instructions show to paint it dark yellow. I need to cast another idler axle. I might as well try and do something about the idler wheel as well. This is a snag on my track assembly schedule! The mantlet needs a lot more cleaning up. I moulded it sloppily, and cast it sloppily. It at least is the right width On a very positive note, I received my RB Models barrel, which frees up a barrel from one of my better Panther kits for use on this one. If anyone is proficient at assembling the RB Models Kwk 42 muzzle brake, I am a willing listener! I could do it without help, but I'd have 3 PE parts left over, and I'd rather not be in that situation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 This is a photo of the RB Barrel. I would appreciate any pointers, especially with respect to the two small pieces of PE and the plain PE ring. http://www.rbmodel.com/picture.php?dir=35B06# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Those look to be the detail parts for the central 'ring' structure in the muzzle brake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Yes, Andy. I'm fine with the rings. It's the two tiny rectangular parts that have me wondering Overall, I'm very pleased with this, and the M2 barrel from RB, not to mention speedy service and reasonable prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Good news! Aber provides an instruction sheet for their barrel, and it shows what to do with the rectangular bits! I might have guessed, but I'd have hated to be wrong. http://www.aber.net.pl/upload/pdf/48a853d71105b3d7f901bef1a3e4e847.pdf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 I've assembled that RB barrel. Again, not that I'm using it for this Panther, but it was only fair to get a replacement for the replacement that I'm using for this kit. I'm still stuck on the mantlet. I'll either have to make another mould or get the Achtung Jabo from Sprue Brothers. ... oh wait, there is another option ... maybe someone has no need for their mantlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 I have had a response to my request for a Panther mantlet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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