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Tamiya 1/35 Jagpanther Build


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Hi All,

 

here's a few shots of the Jagpanther I am working on; I'm aimimg for an Ardennes/late war version and will put this into a winter vignette with crew (Alpine) and possibly an infantryman on foot. I decided to detail the kit with PE as some of the detail is missing on the kit or is overscale. I am using a combination of soldering and cycanoacrylate where appropriate. Adam Wilder's DVD/web contect around PE are an excellent reference for this work.  I also bought some Bronco Panther tracks out of interest to see how they look and how easy they are to put together. They look a bit fiddly to me, although will update when I get to that stage.

 

Jagdpanther1

 

I set about the upper hull with a Dremel, razor saw and scalpel. I got a bit carried away on the fron R front fender and had to put some plastic back into place to support the PE fender. Oops.

Jagdpanther1

 

I then obliterated the aiming periscope sliding cover and replaced it with Aber PE.

Jagdpanther1

 

I also textured the various cast components with Mr Surfacer 500 to get that rough look found on these parts. I used a small stiff-bristled brush that I cut square and after allowing the Mr Surfacer to dry for about 30 seconds used a stippling action to get the texture. I also filled the weld seams with Perfect putty and used the end of a cocktail stick to get the rippled surface of the welds.

 

Jagdpanther1

 

I'm currently working on the rear of the hull and engine deck so there's more to follow - thanks for looking, comments are welcome!

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

 

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Nice one :)

Looking forward to your experience with the upgrade tracks. What your saying about the details in this kit is sad and true. One reason to buy a Dragon Jp if possible. You added some nice cast texture there. You could sand it back a bit though. I  your pictures it looks like some out of scale roughness.

following along.

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Looks great so far. 

 

I believe that the late Jagdpanther had different tracks than the normal Panthers and those were only used on the Jp.

The Modeling News did a preview of the new Rye Field Models G2 Jagdpanther on Nov 5 and it shows those track links.

Also be careful as the tracks were handed and I don't know if the Bronco tracks are.

 

Both my 1/35 Dragon and my Meng Jagdpanther G1s have the normal  Panther tracks which I now know are wrong.  Too bad!!!

 

Lloyd

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Thanks for the kind comments and feedback.

 

@SoerenI will sand back some of the texturing on the mantle and surround - I agree it looks a bit too rough. On some of the other parts I used this stippling technique and then gently rubbed the surface with my fingertip after waiting a few minutes. This evens out the 'peaks' and makes the texture look less like a 1/35 hedgehog. I have had this kit sitting in a cupboard for around 3 years and now I've got around to building I decided to try the upgrade route instead of splashing out on a lovely Dragon JP. In hindsight it would definitely have been cheaper - and simpler - to go for the Dragon kit rather than the Tamiya + PE option. This does provide a more challenging project though, and I do actually like working with PE. Perhaps I am just weird.

 

@BlackMax12 thanks for this info - I didn't realise that the late JP's used different tracks. I think that since I already have the Bronco tracks I'll stick with them for this build and accept a few faults. I can foresee a late Dragon JP with all the correct details at some point in my future......!!

 

I hope to make some time to continue with the kit this weekend and will upload more progress shots, with descriptions.

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

 

 

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10 hours ago, BlackMax12 said:

Looks great so far. 

 

I believe that the late Jagdpanther had different tracks than the normal Panthers and those were only used on the Jp.

The Modeling News did a preview of the new Rye Field Models G2 Jagdpanther on Nov 5 and it shows those track links.

Also be careful as the tracks were handed and I don't know if the Bronco tracks are.

 

Both my 1/35 Dragon and my Meng Jagdpanther G1s have the normal  Panther tracks which I now know are wrong.  Too bad!!!

 

Lloyd

Really? Do you have reference for different tracks? I never heard about that before.

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Soeren

 

The only reference I've seen is the preview of the Rye Field Jagdpanther that appeared on The Modelling News on November 5th.

They discuss the tracks and Rye Field sells them. Now where Rye Field got that info I don't know.

 

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/11/preview-ryefield-models-new-35th-scale.html

 

Lloyd

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17 hours ago, BlackMax12 said:

Both my 1/35 Dragon and my Meng Jagdpanther G1s have the normal  Panther tracks which I now know are wrong.  Too bad!!!

  

Lloyd

Towards the end of the war, with all the disruption caused by bombing who can say for sure what is definitive.  Unless building a kit to some clear photo's showing all sides and details, I for one would not beat myself up for what might or might not be correct.

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3 hours ago, Soeren said:

The tracks don't really  look different to me.

I would have no problem putting Panther tracks on a Jagdpanther. Even if they are supposed to be different (and i cant believe even the Germans would have been that wasteful creating different tracks) they would have just thrown on what ever they had at the factory. After all there are numerous pictures of the Panther and Jagdpanther being built side by side   

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I now had a look at them rye field tracks and at my reference books with pictures from 44/45. I don't see any difference between Panther G and Jagdpanther tracks . Only observation, they were put on chevron up or chevron down. So this doesn't matter as well. But both tracks were of course in the same direction.

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That is what they say.

Unfortunately I can't verify that feature on the pictures available in my books. Have to check Panzer tracts the other day. I wonder though, if after weathering it is of any importance.

Ryefield+Mode+Jadgpanther+G2+%25289%2529

Edit: I like the effort RFM put into that kit, although it is hard to seen in pictures of back then. 

But I am sure you can pass on that detail. Not to hijack Sanchos build report too much. SORRY!

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Hi All,

 

this weekend I carried out more detailing, focussing on the engine deck. I used a mixture of Aber, Eduard and Alliance Model Works brass PE as I had sets of all 3 for the Panther/Jagdpanther in my collection. I like the quality of the AMW the best, although both Aber and Eduard are excellent too. Rather than reworking the kit fire extinguisher I made a new one from a piece of sprue that just happened to have the same diameter as the kit part, and this saved me filing off the existing moulded straps and buckles. The sprue was cut to length using a razor saw and then filed at the top and bottom to give rounded edges. It fitted perfectly into the Aber bracket.

IMG_0558(Edited)

 I then set about adding the detail to the engine area - I have one or two more parts still to add, including tools, a couple of brackets and clamps plus the gun rod storage tube. I decided to put this on the engine deck as I have seen photos a several late-war JPs with this arrangement, and I also like the way it helps to give the sides of the tank a less cluttered look too. I made the grab handles from copper wire using the RP Toolz device, which I really like. I find it best to used a pair of flat-faced plieres to squeeze the handle once in the RP Toolz thing to get the 90-degree bends. I made the handles over-length and drilled the parts to fit them using cyanoacrylate.

IMG_0563(Edited)

 There seemed to be some odd details on the rear escape hatch in the kit - my references suggested that there should be a row of 5 bolt heads arranged across the base of the hatch. The kit part has a total of 7 holes instead, so I filled in two of these with putty and made bolt-heads out of plastic rod which is cut into a roughly hexagonal cross-section. I should probably get hold of a punch set, although they seem disproportionately expensive compared to most other tools, in my opinion. I also filled the 4 holes either side of the handle as these don't seem to be present  in any of the images I have access to.  The handle on the hatch was made using the RP Toolz thingy, and the surface was again given some texture with Mr Surfacer 500 as it was totally smooth.

 

The mesh grilles and covers are AMW, whilst the other parts are Aber or Eduard. The hole in the crew-compartment heater tower is deliberate - many of the photos show battle damage to these and I guess they were relatively fragile.

 

I also built the exhausts with the large flame arrestors and gave the the Mr Surfacer treatment to roughen them up - I like the look of them and I'm looking forward to giving them a nice rusty finish during painting. I used the kit barckets as I found the PE ones were way too fiddly to get just right - I filed them a bit thinner as they looked a bit too chunky. The upper and lower hull are still not glued in case you were thinking that the join looks a bit rubbish. I'll leave them separate until later in the build. I'm intrigued by some of the images showing a stowage bin fixed to the left of the hatch - does anyone know if this was the same as one of the rear bins or was it made to fit the shape of the casemate? The 'standard' bin is too wide and sticks out at the side, although perhaps this was just the way it was?

IMG_0564(Edited)

 

Here are the Bronco tracks - the detail on these loos good to me - nice crisp moulding although I think that cleaning off the mould lines willbe a bit of a chore. They are supplied as L & R sets as shown.

IMG_0560(Edited)

 

I had a look through my JP references and I think these tracks should be perfectly acceptable for the vehicle I'm building. I'm not yet decided on the camo scheme - I'd like to give it a disc camo pattern although I'm not aware of any images showing this scheme on a JP. I guess as the disc pattern was a stencilled, factory-applied scheme and as far as I know most JP schemes were painted in the field by the crews, this may be why.

 

IMG_0562(Edited)

 Thanks for looking,


Andrew

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More PE  on engine deck area. The tool clamps are quite tricky although made easier by using Alliance pre-cut clamps.

 

Jagdpanther

 

Jagdpanther

 

I have more tools to add, and then will start on the fenders and spare track hangers. I had already applied a set of these in PE but managed to break most of them off simply by handling the hull. Probably a job best left until no further handling is needed.

 

thamks for looking,

 

Andrew  

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That is a lot of blind you have there. What is the easy part about the Alliance PE clamps? The sheet doesn't look too disimilar when compared to the others. You have to still assemble about 3 tiny pieces.

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10 minutes ago, Soeren said:

That is a lot of blind you have there. What is the easy part about the Alliance PE clamps? The sheet doesn't look too disimilar when compared to the others. You have to still assemble about 3 tiny pieces.

Hi @Soeren

 

 I’m not sure what you mean by “a lot of blind”? The Alliance clamps are pre-cut and are on an adhesive backing so there is no cutting and filing needed; you simply remove them from the backing and they are ready for assembly. Yes there are still three tiny parts to assemble; after bending I assemble them on their sides using a piece of double sided tape stuck to a mat, and some very fine tweezers. I also use a magnifying visor.

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Hi @Jack Klugman,

 

thanks - it's been a fun build so far. I used glue on the rear deck PE as I was being a bit lazy and I was in 'glue everything' mode. I've been sanding and scraping the parts as I go along to try to remove excess superglue, although I'm sure there will be some left visible after priming which I'll have to go back to. I have soldered the rear stowage boxes and front fenders; I'll post these up when they are attached to the kit.

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All,

 

I had to take a bit of a break after a rather painful encounter with an X-Acto chisel-tip blade😢 I found a few images of the additional rear stowage bins fitted to some late JPs and decided to make one from scratch. I cut a template from sheet styrene, scored it with a blade and then assembled the pieces. I added Aber clasps for the lid. I also built up a Voyager cleaning rod storage tube, which was a really nice set. Originally I had intended to mount this on the engine deck, although the brackets I soldered on were too short to clear the axe that I had already fixed there. The fenders are the last bits of PE I'm fitting and then it will be ready to paint.

 

IMG_0629(Edited)IMG_0630(Edited)IMG_0633(Edited)

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Andrew

 

 

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Very nice. Your box looks fantastic. Just one minor thing for your aerial tube. To my knowledge the reinforcement rib should be on top when mounted on the side. That would have then led to a 2 o clock position  when mounted on the back.

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1 hour ago, Soeren said:

Very nice. Your box looks fantastic. Just one minor thing for your aerial tube. To my knowledge the reinforcement rib should be on top when mounted on the side. That would have then led to a 2 o clock position  when mounted on the back.

Ah yes, I hadn’t considered that😳 I wasn’t too happy with the soldering I did the tube, so that gives me another good reason to rework it,

 

Cheers, Andrew 

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