plasmahal Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 (edited) Hi all, Happy New Year for 2016. My first planned build for 2016 is the 1/35 Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (Sd.kfz.171) Ausf.A (#35065). It's an old mold but in true Tamiya style, ahead in its day and has very nice details etc. I'm supplementing this kit with Eduard’s photo etch set #35424 and some aftermarket tracks as the old rubber band tracks are a definite weak point. Some background on the Panther Tank: The Panther was a German medium tank deployed during World War II on the Eastern and Western Fronts in Europe from mid-1943 to its end in 1945. It had the ordnance inventory designation of Sd.Kfz. 171. Until 27 February 1944, it was designated as the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther when Hitler ordered that the Roman numeral "V" be deleted. Contemporary English language reports sometimes refer to it as the Mark V. The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the latter and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. It is considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower and protection. Its reliability was less impressive. The Panther was a compromise. While having essentially the same engine as the Tiger I, it had more efficient frontal hull armour, better gun penetration, was lighter and faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tiger I. The trade-off was weaker side armour, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long range engagements, but did not provide enough high explosive firepower against infantry. The Panther was far cheaper to produce than the Tiger I, and only slightly more expensive than the Panzer IV. Key elements of the Panther design, such as its armour, transmission, and final drive, were simplifications made to improve production rates and address raw material shortages. The overall design remained somewhat over-engineered. The Panther was rushed into combat at the Battle of Kursk despite numerous unresolved technical problems, leading to high losses due to mechanical failure. Most design flaws were rectified in the German retreat, though the bombing of production plants, increasing shortages of high quality alloys for critical components, shortage of fuel and training space, and the declining quality of crews all impacted on the Type's effectiveness. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_tank Onto the box, sprues and AM. Edited January 5, 2016 by plasmahal 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire1677 Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Looking forward to following this as I have a Panther "thing" 😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikonChris Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 This should be good. I built this oldie a few years ago and without and aftermarket etch it looks a bit, dated. This will be a challenge and one to watch. By the way, with all the newer Panthers on the market, why go for this one? Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 With all the newer Panthers on the market, why go for this one? Chris I bought the kit on a whim after a visit to hobbycraft with SWMBO. It was only £14.99 and a quick look in the box showed it to have a decent level of detail like welded joins and textured hull etc. The PE set was £8.40 from Hannants and with the aftermarket moveable tracks at £13, it works out a fairly cheap build. I will probably get a later version panther in the form of a newer tooled kit as i like the look of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire1677 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 I bought the new Tamiya Panther Ausf D at the weekend and it looks great, also bought the metal barrel, PE grill covers and workable track links from Hannants 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Update One Started the build with the rear bulkhead. First job was to remove the molded on brackets on the 2 exhausts. This also helped to clean up the seam lines from the molding process. Then finished off with drilling out the exhausts for a more realistic look. Then it was onto detailing the rest of the rear bulkhead with the rear exhausts brackets, details on the stowage bins and the jack. The jack was detailed with PE and installed in the correct manner unlike the original Tamiya instructions, Eduard have been good in telling how it is installed. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikonChris Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Nice clean start to the build...Are you adding zimmerit?...Any ideas on the camo scheme you are going for? If you are into panthers the the old Italeri Bergepanther is not a bad build with added etch, skirts and tracks. But using the skirts and some heavy weathering you could hide the plastic tracks. chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 I'm not adding zimmerit as some early Ausf A's didn't have it. I will prime in black stynlrez. Painting will use XF-60 (dark Yellow) then XF-64 (Red Brown) and XF-58 (Olive Green) to provide a camo pattern of my own creation. I have read several sites where camo was applied in the field in no particular fashion so artistic license can be used. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 NIce progress for now, cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Just putting the finishing touches to this one,like you I thought it's a great kit for it's size and price(12:99 at my LMS).Looking forward to this build with all the extra's added,great stuff! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Update Two After several sessions, the PE is now 99.99% done. I need to sort the lack of metal plates covering the underneath of the upper hull then I'll be moving onto painting. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikonChris Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 Nice build so far, whose tracks are you using? Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Nice build so far, whose tracks are you using? Chris Bronco's, it's up in the OP, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Managed to miss this one before. Excellent progress so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 Update Three Onto the painting stage now and to start off, everything primed with black Stynylrez. Then it was onto a base colour of Tamiya XF-60, Dark Yellow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spud Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Looking forward to seeing this finished;I've got a stalled Panther in a box somewhere. ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Nice progress for no, cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one hit wonder Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 You given the old kit lots of love Excellent work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 Update Four The camouflage pattern was done freehand and I opted for a web like pattern. Tamiya XF-64, Red Brown and XF-58, Olive Green were used. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Looking fantastic in it's camo! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Lokking good the camo pattern, cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikonChris Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Nice camo pattern, what division are re-resenting on the kit. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Nice camo pattern, what division are re-resenting on the kit. Chris I have used the 309 decals from the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmahal Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 Update Five Moving on, the model was gloss coated and decals applied and weathered. The decals were sealed with another gloss coat. I added some simple chipping using a peice of a scouring pad and some Vallejo 70.822 german black brown. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 Very nice work - well impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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