Achtung Jabo! - Flakpanther Coelian

[Mig Eater]

If everything goes well with my other build & I can get though it quickly enough I plan to also build one of several different Flakpanthers that I have in my stash. I would consider this to be my main build for the GB but I'm unfortunately still undecided on which Flakpanther I want to build (make the GB 12 months then I can build them all! 😛), I'm also waiting on a few aftermarket parts for these kits in the post too. So while I ponder my choices & wait for the parts to arrive I'll work on my other build. I might start work on several of these Flakpanthers & just see which one grabs my interest, so this could turn into a bit of a messy multi-build thread too...

Here are my options, I welcome any suggestions if any of you have a preference on which one you'd prefer to see built  


       

Panther Ausf.A, 2cm Flakvierling
Takom kit with voyager PE set.

Panther Ausf.G, 3.7cm Flakzwilling "Coelian"
Dragon kit with voyager PE set & metal barrels.

Panther Ausf.A, 5.5cm Flakzwilling
Takom/Das Werk kit with Custom Scale resin turret.

Panther Ausf.F, 5.5cm Flakzwilling (Rheinmetall)
Tamiya kit + Trumpeter turret with voyager PE set, metal barrels & Bronco tracks.

Panther II, 5.5cm Flakzwilling (Krupp)
Amusing Hobby kit with Accurate Armour resin turret & Hobby Boss tracks.

Panther Ausf.A, 8.8cm Flak 41
Scratch built lower hull with Custom Scale resin conversion & 3D printed parts.

Edited November 18, 2020 by Mig Eater

[SimonT]

3 hours ago, Mig Eater said:

Panther II, 5.5cm Flakzwilling (Krupp)
Amusing Hobby kit with Accurate Armour resin turret & Hobby Boss tracks

This gets my vote, it’s a Panther II and it has a Flak gun so long it was designed to swat aircraft out of the air rather than shoot them down!

[M3talpig]

Panther 2 ....one was built and the turret was found at Bovington a good few years back ...sadly smashed to bits but they rescued it anyway i believe the chassis is at Aberdeen in the states with a late G turret on it now....that would make a beautiful build .....not into paper panzers myself but thats just personal preference.

 

My vote is Panther 2....... either way looking forward to whatever you do 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

If you're asking for choices 1, 2, or 4 would be my choice. 

[Mig Eater]

15 hours ago, M3talpig said:

My vote is Panther 2

The Accurate Armour Krupp turret that I want to use on the Panther II is actually the main part I'm waiting to be delivered in the post. I have no idea when it could arrive, it could be here in a few days or it could take a month etc. So the Panther II is kinda at the bottom of the list of options 😅 but we'll see what happens in the coming weeks though.

[Mig Eater]

Having some fun dry fitting some parts together to see what I have 😁

Interestingly the 2cm Flakvierling (on the far left) uses an early Ausf.A hull but with Ausf.G crew hatches! I might cut that out & swap it with the hatches on the late Ausf.A 5.5cm Flakzwilling (in the middle), which would make more sense IMO.

While I was 3D printing the tracks for my other build I also started on some of the tracks for these kits too. The grey ones on the left are from the Dragon Coelian kit, they are a bit rough with lots of flash & badly designed sprue connections that will need some time to clean up (the boxing I have is pre magic tracks BTW). The brown ones in the middle are from Bronco & are great, the sprue connections are very small & most of the time wont need any clean up. They dont require any glue & just click together to make them workable, which saves a lot of time but means they might be a bit fragile though. Then lastly the 3D printed ones on the right, depending on which Flakpanther I end up building I might need print another set of them for it too.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by Mig Eater

[Redcoat2966]

I'd be happy to see any of them built myself.....all look interesting, and some a little wacky ...........one does have to wonder though, what was rattling around the heads of the Waffenamt to keep wasting so much time designing so many variants instead of sticking with one that works............

 

Looking forward to seeing the final choice unfold.....

 

Simon.

[Retired Bob]

41 minutes ago, Redcoat2966 said:

one does have to wonder though, what was rattling around the heads of the Waffenamt to keep wasting so much time designing so many variants instead of sticking with one that works...........

Perhaps they were on commission. 

[Mig Eater]

Several different companies were developing anti-aircraft versions of the panther in competition with each other (that's why there are three different 5.5cm turrets etc), it also didn't help that the Waffenamt kept changing the requirements with ever bigger guns as time went on, so in the end none of them were put into production by the end of the war.  

The Americans were just as bad, they designed numerous anti-aircraft tanks based on the Sherman & Chaffee tanks that were never put into mass production.

The T52 with 40mm Bofors & the T77 with quad 50cal for example.

[Redcoat2966]

12 hours ago, Mig Eater said:

Several different companies were developing anti-aircraft versions of the panther in competition with each other (that's why there are three different 5.5cm turrets etc), it also didn't help that the Waffenamt kept changing the requirements with ever bigger guns as time went on, so in the end none of them were put into production by the end of the war.  

The Americans were just as bad, they designed numerous anti-aircraft tanks based on the Sherman & Chaffee tanks that were never put into mass production.

The T52 with 40mm Bofors & the T77 with quad 50cal for example.

 

 

I think it was more the obsession of Hitler for bigger is better..............the age old problem of a politician dictating military affairs.......difference with the American's, they had limitless resources in comparison....and wasn't being bombed into oblivion.

[Mig Eater]

So after a month of deep thought & completion about which of the Flakpanthers to build, I've decided on the Coelian. Mainly because I'm feeling lazy & it should be the easiest one to build 😛

This is an old Dragon kit from the 90's & doesn't have that many parts in comparison to the other kits, the suspension arms, tool racks & skirt mounts are moulded onto the hull etc. To compensate for that though I have a photo-etch set that should keep me busy & also add some needed detail to this old kit. As with most of my builds the first thing I do is remove parts of the kit that will be replaced/reworked, this time the afore mentioned tool racks & skirt mounts which will be replaced with PE ones. Interestingly the instructions actually tell you to remove several parts from the back plate & engine deck too. The engine deck has recessed parts for under the air-intakes & fans, it will be difficult to fully paint them once the model is assembled so I brush painted them in black primer. The upper & lower hull has already been glued together too, it fitted together perfectly without any issues & wont need any filler as far as I can see.  

[Mig Eater]

 

I've made a lot of progress with the Coelian, all of the major OOB construction is now done. Torch cut marks were added to the edges of the armoured plates & the weld seam were all redone with 2-part putty. I left off one weld seam on the top rear of the turret as it would have been imposable to add without damaging a lot of parts. The kit doesn't come with any view ports for the turret, I have some spare ones that I can use though. I pained the inside of the view port covers black first as it will probably be be hard to get paint in there later. The barrels that come with the kit have solid flash suppressors on the ends, drilling them out & adding all the small holes to the sides would have been a right pain, so they were replaced with a pair of metal barrels from RB Models.  

The engine deck on this kit was a bit of a pain, it comes with the engine deck from an Ausf.A & they give you parts & instructions to modify it into an Ausf.G engine deck. It required removing some parts & filling in some location holes, in the process I sanded on some details & filled in some others that then needed to be re-scribed. While on the engine deck, the kit comes with the late production crew heater that goes over the left cooling vet, I want to build an earlier version of the Ausf.G though so I replaced it with the vet from a Tamiya kit. The kit also comes with the late production flame dampening exhausts, which again will be replaced with earlier ones from a Tamiya kit too.  

The tracks in the kit are individual links, they suffer from quite a lot of moulding flash & also an injector pin mark in the centre of each track grouser, that would be impossible to remove. So I instead used the set of workable 3D printed tracks that I originally made them for my Ausf.A, that build is on hold for on hold now but with the power of 3D printing I can easily print another set for the Ausf.A later 😛 

With all the plastic bits of the build done the next step is the photo-etch fenders, side skirts, tool racks & rear storage boxes, I am kinda liking it's "naked" look at the moment though so I might not add all of them...  

 

 

[Retired Bob]

That is looking really good, the metal barrels and flash suppressors are such a big improvement over the kit parts. 

[PlaStix]

Another interesting looking project Mig Eater!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Mig Eater]

I spent the day fighting with the photo-etch set, or more accurately with my soldering iron. The tip is to oxidized & wont "tin" any more despite my best efforts, so I ordered a new one which should be here tomorrow. Great thing about living in the Netherlands, being a small country everything is next day delivery & express shipping is just a few hours 😛

   

[Redcoat2966]

Nice job.....nice to see something different. I had to put some torch marks on my Sturmtiger.. Makes the differentce, nice detail. Funny though, as Tamiya could have put some of them on in the moulding process in certain places.

 

Are the tracks permanent, and being painted on chassis?

 

Like what you've done mate.....

[Mig Eater]

The tracks, wheels & sprockets are all just dry fitted, I prefer to paint them separately & add them at the end.