Pz.Kpfw. V Panther Ausf. D - Zvezda 1/72 Snap Kit - Update 29/12/20 - Finished and in the Gallery

[PlaStix]

I had originally planned to be part of this STGB right from the start, but, a combination of less modelling time generally and, as a result, my MTO GB Pz.III build taking longer than expected, has resulted in me starting with only about a month to go!!.......and part of that month includes Christmas, with all it's distractions!

I had originally planned on building something in 1/35. I have some rather nice Dragon kits - some with Zimmerit. Then, as time went by, I thought I would do something in 1/48 - the Tamiya range in 1/48 usually produces some fine looking models. But a week or so ago I decided to drop to 1/72. I have a nice Dragon 1/72 Panther G kit, with Zimmerit, but I purchased a large set of PE to go with it - so far too much to be done in a month.

So here I am with a Zvezda snap kit. I have made a Tiger I from the Zvezda snap kit range and it resulted in a rather nice model. I'm hoping this one will be okay too. There are a couple of known issues with the kit which I think I have a plan for sorting out - and I may see if I have some mesh of some kind for the grills on the rear deck 🤞

I think I'm going to make it as Panther 445, a tank that was with the Pz.Abt. 51 during 'Operation Citadel' near Kursk in August of 1943. Kursk was the largest tank battle of WW2, Kursk was also the first time that the Panther tank was used in combat.

So this is the kit I am going to use:

 

 

A photo of 445 after it was knocked out 

This Panther received mine damage and was abandoned. You can see the damaged road wheel rim beside the crewmen.

 

I may try and get this started this weekend alongside doing more work on my Pz.III. I'm not doing the knocked out version but a version of it before this and I may try and make a small base as well.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

 

[vppelt68]

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello Stix... Always welcome with a good choice. Im happy you were able to get over here and share your talents with us on a Panther. 

[Ozzy]

Looks a nice Kit

[PlaStix]

Hi @vppelt68, @Corsairfoxfouruncle and @Ozzy. Thank you for stopping by and thank you for the kind welcome Dennis.

 

Decided I needed to get this one underway so I took some photos of the sprues first. Everything in the box:

 

A few closer views:

 

 

The upper hull:

 

Turret:

 

Lower hull:

 

Tracks:

 

 

Connecting feature on the tracks:

The tracks are made from fairly rigid plastic but they have places where they can be bent to follow the various shapes required.

 

Decals:

]

 

Samples of the instructions:

 

 

The detail on the kit actually looks to be nice and sharp:

 

The build starts with the lower hull. There were a few seam lines to clean up and a couple of areas where there was some flash but, otherwise, so far, the build was very straight forward. It is a snap kit and the fit seems very good. I am using glue where I think it's required. There are a couple of parts which definitely wouldn't have stayed in place without glue.

 

So, after a couple of hours, this is where I had got to:

 

 

As I said - the detail is good for a 1/72nd kit - Zvezda have even included weld seams in some places. So, just to give a sense of how small the kit is:

 

I may try and get some paint on tomorrow.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[PlaStix]

I got a bit more done on Sunday, but no painting yet.

I cut the parts for the wheels, drive sprockets and idlers from the sprues - but left some sprue in place - so I have something to hold while painting:

 

I was going to do some painting on the above but figured I would be better off getting some other parts ready for painting too. Zvezda provides any grab handles on the upper hull as solid blocks - so I cut the main three off and replaced them with fuse wire:

 

 

I always prefer the look of the mesh screens on the rear deck - rather than just the openings. Unfortunately, the spare set of mesh screens I thought might be suitable were way too small - they were designed for another manufacturers Jagdpanther. So I had a search through the spares box and discovered some PE mesh designed for something on an aircraft build. It's not fine enough and the wrong pattern but, to my eye, it looks better than nothing at all. And it's all I have that's even vaguely close enough! So it will have to do! With some paint on and my usual weathering it may look better.......maybe. There will be a lot of stowage on the rear deck if necessary otherwise!

 

 

I also started a bit of work on the turret but it was getting dark when I stopped so i didn't bother with any photos.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[Jasper dog]

Rather you than me working in 72nd!

Saying all that the kit looks well detailed and hopefully shouldn't take to long!

 

Good luck 

Darryl 

[PlaStix]

4 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

Rather you than me working in 72nd!

Saying all that the kit looks well detailed and hopefully shouldn't take to long!

 

Good luck 

Darryl 

Hi Darryl. Thank you. I understand what you mean, but I think some of the smallest parts I've added to a model have been on 1/35 kits!! I well rememebr adding quite a few of the smallest grab handles ever onto a Centurion kit and don't get me started on 1/35 wingnuts that required adding to a range of inaccessible locations on another model!! Yes this overall kit is small - but I love making kits whatever the size. As I mentioned at the start - I had originally planned on making something in 1/35 

Thank you for you comments.

Kind regards,

Stix

 

[Jasper dog]

18 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Darryl. Thank you. I understand what you mean, but I think some of the smallest parts I've added to a model have been on 1/35 kits!! I well rememebr adding quite a few of the smallest grab handles ever onto a Centurion kit and don't get me started on 1/35 wingnuts that required adding to a range of inaccessible locations on another model!! Yes this overall kit is small - but I love making kits whatever the size. As I mentioned at the start - I had originally planned on making something in 1/35 

Thank you for you comments.

Kind regards,

Stix

 

My eyes and fingers just don't like 1/72 anymore, at least with the tiny 1/35 parts they are usually small details which if "lost" don't generally have a big impact on the build...

My excuse anyway!

 

Atb

Darryl 

[PlaStix]

13 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

My eyes and fingers just don't like 1/72 anymore, at least with the tiny 1/35 parts they are usually small details which if "lost" don't generally have a big impact on the build...

My excuse anyway!

 

Atb

Darryl 

Hi Darryl. I have to say it does seem small to start with compared to even the 1/48 Pz.III I have been working on recently. This is especially true when I have been doing some of the following stuff below.

 

Over the past couple of evenings I have done a few bits and bobs on this project. First off I added the top bits to the rear stowage boxes and tried to minimise the join areas as much as possible - there was a bit of a lip that I tried to reduce. I also did a bit of work to make the inside plates look like they are separate pieces - the kit has them moulded as one piece with the stowage boxes:

 

I also used a few micro-drills to drill out the smoke launchers, the end of the main gun and tops of the exhausts:

 

Finally I decided to add the cables for the smoke launchers using 0.2mm lead wire:

 

 

It was a bit fiddly to do but went okay.

 

I'm hoping to be at a point where I can start painting at the weekend.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[PlaStix]

Another bit of an update.

First off I got the painting and basic weathering done on the lower hull plus the wheels, idlers and drive sprockets. I started with thinned (with water) Humbrol's acrylic Desert Yellow - two coats applied with a medium/small flat brush. Once dry - everything was given an overall wash of very, very thinned Revell's Aqua Gunship Grey. Then, in and around the detail, I used a very fine, pointed brush to apply very, very thinned Revell's Aqua Anthracite. Over all of this, once it was fully dry, I dry-brushed on a lighter version of Humbrol's Desert Yellow. I lighten it just with matt white paint. In the first photo below you can see the wheels, idlers and sprockets after I had also stippled on the camo using Humbrol's matt Olivgrun (252) and matt German Camo Red Brown (160). In the photo you may be able to see that I had also dry-brushed over the camo colours with the lightened Desert Yellow:

 

Lower hull:

 

 

 

After a bit of additional weathering - with thinned versions of Humbrol's Gunmetal, Revell's Anthracite and Railmatch's Light Rust - it was time to start assembling the running gear to the sides of the hull and to attach the tracks. The tracks had been painted with very thinned Revell's Anthracite, dry-brushed with Humbrol's Gunmetal and then given washes of very, very thinned Humbrol's Desert Yellow and Railmatch's Light Rust. The tracks are quite odd to use and, because they are relatively firm it does seem like they won't go round the sprockets and idlers. But, with a bit of patience, I think they work quite well:

 

 

 

As the sides of the hull are mostly going to be hidden I only applied a bit of basic weathering - some washes, Vellejo Mud and some streaks of various thinned colours.

 

I hope to start getting the main hull deck attached at the weekend and some painting started on it.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

 

[M3talpig]

Tasteful additions of detail and a cracking paint job on the lower hull...knockin this outa the park Mr Stix......very nice indeed 

[Jasper dog]

Really looking the part now, lower hull, wheels and tracks all very nicely done!

[Stef N.]

I keep forgetting this is tiny scale. Top quality work Stix.👍

[Ozzy]

Nice start Stix, these snap together kits do build into nice models.

[Redcoat2966]

Nice detail Stix for something so small, and paint job so far is very effective.....looking forward to following the rest.....

 

Simon.

[Longbow]

Cracking paint job !!

[PlaStix]

Hi @M3talpig @Jasper dog @Stef N. @Ozzy @Redcoat2966 and @Longbow. I hope you are all well and having a pleasant seasonal time. I am sorry for the really slow reply and poor update output. 

There has been a lot of progress on this project.

I'll run through what I did.

With the lower hull sorted I got the upper hull attached:

You might be able to see in the photo above that I did some work on the front section where the glacis joins the lower front section on the front of the hull. Zvezda provide the joint as a straight line rather than the welded sections on the actual Panther. I used some filler and did a bit of scribing.

 

 

Then the parts below were painted with thinned (with water) Humbrol Acrylic Desert Yellow - applied with a medium flat brush. This was after a couple of coats:

 

Any parts that were going to eventually require some Gunmetal paint applying were given a thinned coat of Revell's Anthracite using a small flat brush:

 

Anything that was painted in the Desert Yellow was next given an overall wash of very, very thinned Revell's Aqua Gunship Grey. Once dry I applied very, very thinned Revell Aqua Anthracite - using a very fine pointed brush - to get it in and around all the details. Then, as usual, I dry-brushed over it all with a lightened version of the Desert Yellow:

 

 

 

The camo colours were very, very thinned Humbrol 160 and 252 applied very lightly using a small stippling brush. The phots here show the camo after I had dry-brushed over it with the lightened version of Desert Yellow:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other parts given the same treatment:

 

Decals applied:

 

 

 

Finally, for this update, the photos below show it all after the weathering was started with thinned versions of Humbrol's Gunmetal, Revell's Anthracite and Railmatch's Light Rust:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same work on the other parts:

 

I did actually manage to get this finished today, but I will post the photos of the final stages and photos of the finished article tomorrow - rather than making this an even longer post.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[Longbow]

That looks pretty darned good to me, Stix !!

 

Looking forward to seeing you finish it

 

Hope you’ll join us in the Pz III GB, and over in the unofficial Tiger build, in the Armor section. 

[PlaStix]

Hi Longbow and thank you very much for your kind comments.

I am hoping to be part of the Pz.III GB.....especially seeing as how I'm hosting it!! Time has been an issue this year - I'm just hoping I can manage my time well enough over the time of the Pz.III STGB.....I have a fair few PZ.III kits I'd love to build......but time will tell. My favourite choice to make is a Dragon 1/35 kit but I may decide on some 1/72nd kits instead - also from Dragon. I have three of them. To be fair - I really have enjoyed making this 1/72nd Panther. So we'll see.

I will certainly try and build a Tiger in the unofficial GB - again time will be the thing I have to work around. My other problem is that, as well as hosting the Pz.III STGB for three months, I get a week off before I'm hosting the Less Than A Tenner GB for four months. All good fun!!

Kind regards,

Stix

[Stef N.]

Lovely work Stix. Thanks for the great update.👏

[M3talpig]

55 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Lookin absolutely fab and coming along at a nice pace ....... 

[Ozzy]

Looking good Stix

[PlaStix]

16 hours ago, Stef N. said:

Lovely work Stix. Thanks for the great update.👏

Thank you very much Stef and I hope you have a Very Happy New Year!

 

16 hours ago, M3talpig said:

Lookin absolutely fab and coming along at a nice pace ....... 

Cheers Steve. That's very kind of you to say. I hope you have a Very Happy New Year!

 

14 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Looking good Stix

Thank you Ozzy. I hope you and yours are all well and that you have a Very Happy New Year!

 

As I mentioned above - this was actually finished yesterday and I have now put photos in the Gallery HERE and a LOT MORE photos in the RFI section HERE.

 

Just a few here to show what it looked like with all the tools and extras added plus some final touches of weathering - including some Vallejo Mud:

 

 

 

Then it was secured onto it's base - I did what I usually do - which is to drill a small hole in the underside of the tank and then use a thin screw - up through the base into the tank. This method allows me to remove it more easily from the base if I need too. This was a really quick base to make - it's some layers of decent quality corrugated card, with some Gaugemaster Grass Mat (Meadow Grass, I think) glued on top - with PVA glue - and then some random Army Painter tufts pushed in here and there. The track marks we done by spreading on a little Vallejo mud:

 

 

 

Finally I took some low down pictures with it on my Spitfire display shelf which has a photo backdrop:

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed this little build. In fact I'm thinking I may make some more 1/72nd tanks in the Pz.III STGB, which starts in February - hopefully I'll see some of you there!!

 

Thank you to Dennis @Corsairfoxfouruncle for his excellent hosting of this STGB and to everyone who kindly took the time to comment in this build thread. I'm sorry I haven't had more time to take a more active part in the GB. There is absolutely amazing modelling going on in the GB and I have been so impressed by the skills on display! Good luck to everyone still working on their Panthers!

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

[M3talpig]

25 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Cheers Steve. That's very kind of you to say. I hope you have a Very Happy New Year!

That is absolutely stunning.....really you would never believe that was such a simple kit and at such a small scale and yet you have with some nice added details and some spectacular paint made a real show piece....stunning.

 

And have a great new year Stix been a pleasure watching this little gem grow.