Late model Panther G

[Retired Bob]

7 hours ago, Soeren said:

It is almost as frivolous as painting the tools right on the tank 

Now that's a step too far. 

[Retired Bob]

Todays update, I'm trying to make all the changes that were made to the late Panthers, one of these was the deletion of half of the bolts that secured the engine hatch.  This deletion was ordered on 20 January 45 so any Panthers built after this date should have this modification, the missing bolt holes were filled with a plug.  I have added a smear of filler to the affected bolt holes, when I clean off the  excess filler I'm hoping  the slight depression that's left will look like the plugged hole.  The Bovington Panther has this feature.

While my filler is drying I sprayed a coat of black 1500 surfacer on to the assembled running gear.

Thanks for looking.

[Stef N.]

Thanks Bob. That is another detail I hadn't heard of. I'll keep that in mind when/if I go back to finish off my late G.👍

[Retired Bob]

3 hours ago, Stef N. said:

Thanks Bob. That is another detail I hadn't heard of. I'll keep that in mind when/if I go back to finish off my late G.👍

The thanks should go to Robert @Robert Stuart, he posted a link to Track-Link AFV forum, I read their review of the Ryefield Panther kit and there was a lot of interesting information in it.  I knew about the shortage of bolts requiring over half of them not to be fitted and replaced with plugs but they included a photo of the Bovington Panthers engine cover with the omitted bolts and a sketch showing which of the bolts were replaced with plugs, strangely they did not modify their kit of a late Panther G to show this.  Also Panthers built by Daimler-Benz in 1945 were not fitted with the larger self-cleaning idlers or the loops on the turret sides for attaching foliage.

[Retired Bob]

Todays update, I have attached most of the hull parts  and the p/e mesh, now there is just the turret to complete then it's time for paint.  I used Hataka paint from their late war German paint set to spray the engine panel to check how it had come out,  what was left in the airbrush I sprayed on the outer wheels and on the hull front panels.

 

I'm not too happy with the Hataka paint, it's rather grainy, so I will give the AK late war German colours a try.

 

Here is the engine panel, the effect of the plugged holes has come out ok.

 

So this is how the Panther looks now.

Thanks for looking, any comments are always welcome.

[Longbow]

Looking good !!

 

Need pix of the JagdPanzer Iv, in the background !!

[Jasper dog]

5 hours ago, Longbow said:

Looking good !!

 

Need pix of the JagdPanzer Iv, in the background !!

We do, perhaps not in the Panther build, you know how jealous these felines can get.

 

Interesting observation on the Hataka paints some people rave about them but others slightly less enthusiastic. Ranging from opacity to the accuracy of colour, (wish I could remember where I'd heard that). The AK set I have, I know its lazy modelling but it's just so convenient having the right colours together in one set.

 

9 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

So this is how the Panther looks now.

 

Thanks for looking, any comments are always welcome.

If being honest I'm not keen on your chosen camouflage pattern, I know paint was in short supply come 45 but really and black tracks....? We both know you can do a lot better!😉

 

Nice work and not far off Lee's production rate!

[Redcoat2966]

Looking nice Bob.....I love the Hataka paint set I used on mine....perfect to airbrush and with a brush, great coverage. Much better than MIG, which is useless with a brush. Nice little info on that bolt detail too.....

 

I see a lot you chaps make the tracks and wheels as a single piece....must try that one day......keep it up...looking forward to the end product.

 

Simon.

[Retired Bob]

18 hours ago, Longbow said:

Need pix of the JagdPanzer Iv, in the background !!

You're wish is my command, this is the first model I finished after coming back to the hobby on retirement, I used Tamiya paints and Archer decals for the disc camouflage. 

 

[Stef N.]

An absolute cracker Bob.👍

[Longbow]

Stunning build and paint job !! Very nice indeed !!

[Retired Bob]

On this photo I remembered to take the masking tape off the periscopes. 

 

[Retired Bob]

Back to the Panther,  with all the turret bits attached I have sprayed a light coat of black surfacer over the turret and p/e grills to check for imperfections, every thing is looking ok so I can put on the louvres to the right side air intakes and any last sticky out bits before a final coat of primer.  I have made the cupola as the final type, without a m/g ring, just the p/e panels and a post for the AA machine gun.  The flash is making it look more grey than black.

Thanks for looking, any comments welcome.

[Peter Roberts]

Very nice clean build Bob. I hope I can get a similar result.

 

Love that Jagdpanzer IV - I have the same one to do with disc camo. Yours looks brilliant!

[Retired Bob]

10 minutes ago, Peter Roberts said:

Love that Jagdpanzer IV - I have the same one to do with disc camo. Yours looks brilliant!

How are you intending to do the disc camo, I always thought it looked good but the only way to do it properly was with the Archer dry decal sets, now there are mask sets by Ushi and others.  I have plans to do a Maus, King Tiger and JagdPanther in what if? disc scheme.  Real disc camo will be painted on a Panther and Hetzer  when I get round to it.

[Peter Roberts]

Intrigued by those Archer decals - I've got the Uschi masks Bob and still gathering the courage (and time) to have a crack at it.

[Retired Bob]

13 hours ago, Peter Roberts said:

Intrigued by those Archer decals - I've got the Uschi masks Bob and still gathering the courage (and time) to have a crack at it.

The Archer decals can be difficult to apply, also I understand that Archer are stopping production of their dry decals, I have had an email from them saying to buy any dry decals before the stocks are all sold.  When I say they can be difficult to apply I found in several cases, including the Jagdpanzer, that despite following the instructions the dry decals did not want to come off the backing sheet. I had to apply a coat of Klear to the Jagdpanzer to make them work, but when I tried the method on a Sherman the dry decals still did not adhere, so I used water slide decals in the end.

[Peter Roberts]

2 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

The Archer decals can be difficult to apply, also I understand that Archer are stopping production of their dry decals, I have had an email from them saying to buy any dry decals before the stocks are all sold.  When I say they can be difficult to apply I found in several cases, including the Jagdpanzer, that despite following the instructions the dry decals did not want to come off the backing sheet. I had to apply a coat of Klear to the Jagdpanzer to make them work, but when I tried the method on a Sherman the dry decals still did not adhere, so I used water slide decals in the end.

 

Thanks Bob. I have noticed similar comments from other modellers, though I still seem to have a healthy number of them in the stash! 

[Retired Bob]

21 hours ago, Peter Roberts said:

Thanks Bob. I have noticed similar comments from other modellers, though I still seem to have a healthy number of them in the stash! 

So do I, with some interesting subjects and the aspiration of no carrier film, I just hope I don't have the problems that I had with the Sherman markings (battling bitch). 

[Retired Bob]

The latest update, with all the little bits and pieces glued on I have sprayed on a coat of Tamiya XF88 dark yellow as a basecoat.  The lighting makes it appear very light,  but it's not as dark as the rear steel wheel and the zimmerit coated Panther at the far end that are painted with Tamiya XF60, the older shade of dark yellow.  The middle Panther with steel wheels is also painted with Tamiya XF88. 

Thanks for looking, any comments are welcome.

[Jasper dog]

Nice little Panther production line!

[Peter Roberts]

Nice! I read somewhere that there was a later version of 'Dark Yellow' - is that what you have here Bob?

[Retired Bob]

14 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

Nice little Panther production line!

They're like stem ginger cookies, damn addictive, I want more!! 

[Retired Bob]

12 minutes ago, Peter Roberts said:

Nice! I read somewhere that there was a later version of 'Dark Yellow' - is that what you have here Bob?

A year or two ago Tamiya released "new" shades of German tri-coloured camouflage, yellow, green and brown.   XF88, XF89 & XF90.  Whether they are later colours or accurate, I leave that to the experts, the paint sets from Hataka and AK each have a couple of shades of the tri-colours, so again, whether or not they are accurate to wartime colours is above my pay scale. 

[Retired Bob]

A quick update to this Panther, I have painted the wheels and tracks and have narrowed down the paint scheme to either the the one on the box top or a green with thin yellow stripes across, much like this one:

Here is how looks with the tracks and wheels painted.

Thanks for looking, all comments are welcome.