Academy 1:25 Panther G - 8/25 Onto the next problem

[reserve]

Were this mine I'd eliminate the fenders and mangle the sides a little. You could reinstall the kit fenders but will it be worth that much fuss, 'cause fuss it will be. You could move the front PE pieces to their proper location and graft some plastic strip on the outside to make up the difference, once again alot of work. Dissapear them sez I, make it look like the got torn off and you'll have a nice custom look

[chromdome35]

Aug 25, 2023 17:02:02 GMT -5 reserve said:

Were this mine I'd eliminate the fenders and mangle the sides a little. You could reinstall the kit fenders but will it be worth that much fuss, 'cause fuss it will be. You could move the front PE pieces to their proper location and graft some plastic strip on the outside to make up the difference, once again alot of work. Dissapear them sez I, make it look like the got torn off and you'll have a nice custom look

I like the way you think!

Thank you for your thoughts.

[Leon]

Damn shame about the fenders Brian! I thought they looked really good.

[chromdome35]

Aug 25, 2023 18:06:40 GMT -5 Leon said:

Damn shame about the fenders Brian! I thought they looked really good.

Agreed, I was happy with how they looked and they were a PITA to get bent to the right radius. Oh well, if thats the worst thing that happened to me today, it's a pretty good day.

[Tobi]

Bummer! This is where imagination, improvisation and modeling genes have to step in.
They are undersized on the inner portions, very unusual for Aber. Is everything in your solder assembly aligned correctly?
Try to install them as high as possible, so the side armor will allow you to get as much to the inside as possible, and mangle their inner walls a bit so you reach the glacis sides.

[chromdome35]

Aug 26, 2023 11:46:31 GMT -5 Tobi said:

Bummer! This is where imagination, improvisation and modeling genes have to step in.
They are undersized on the inner portions, very unusual for Aber. Is everything in your solder assembly aligned correctly?
Try to install them as high as possible, so the side armor will allow you to get as much to the inside as possible, and mangle their inner walls a bit so you reach the glacis sides.

I have checked the alignment countless times, they are simply under width. I looked at installing them higher; however, to get them to the correct horizontal position, the side fenders would be located far too high, and would overlay the tool racks.

I'm still in the pondering stage of how I'm going to handle it. I am pretty sure I'm going to portray them as damaged so the size differential isn't noticeable. My thinking has been on how to portray the damage so that it appears realistic and consistent with reference pictures of Panther G's with damaged front fenders. I've been collecting as many pictures as I can find of panthers with fender damage.

There are a few main variations on how the track would get damaged:
1) The tank was moving backward when something exerted downward pressure on the front fender causing it to be pressed down into the track which would either roll the fender downward or cause it to accordion back to the tank.
2) On a forward-moving tank, downward pressure would make the fender contact the track which could cause it to be ripped off in a forward motion.
3) Forward moving tank makes contact with a hard object (fallen tree) which rips the fender up and backwards. Most likely would damage the side fender at the front of the tank as well.
4) Shell impact damage

I've been over these PE instructions, the PE fret a hundred times now, I don't see anything I'm missing, or I have screwed up. Everything is bent exactly where it is supposed to be bent. I just think Aber let me down on this one.

[deafpanzer]

Thanks for the tip about the mini sander... I definitely could use one!!! Sorry to read about the PE fenders... sometimes they don't work out for me and I try to add battle damages to make it work. Unless you have a thick foil or aluminum sheet glued to the bottom of the fenders to fill in the gap. I usually find those at Hobby Lobby shops so maybe you can find those too?

[Tobi]

When you're going for the damaged option, you can try to soft anneal the brass with a chef's kitchen torch and perhaps water quenching, to make the deforming easier. Depending on the brass this works from time to time. Be careful however not to burn a hole into or unbrazing it. That would drive you mad, believe me.

[406 Silverado]

Ain’t this modeling stuff fun??!! Especially when it comes to the AM world. I like the ideas about the damaged fenders. Hang in there Brian

[adt70hk]

Aug 23, 2023 21:09:35 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

Allow me to introduce you to a very handy tool. The Dispae electric sander, equipped with sanding pads.

This is in effect a small rotary tool. It recharges via USB-C. Throw a 400 grit sanding pad on it and you have the perfect tool to wipe those track link blues away.  This is a video of me using it on the links for the Panther.




Sander: newtype.us/p/gLifjhBLuJ00UIA0Ccq6/h/es-p-portable-electric-sanding-pen

Sanding Pads:www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804834361050.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.3.68ee3b8fyUenAw&algo_pvid=cc5c83db-8f92-4c83-b633-1f05f1e0b8d1&algo_exp_id=cc5c83db-8f92-4c83-b633-1f05f1e0b8d1-1&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%215.76%213.8%21%21%215.76%21%21%402101f4a116928427255831114e869f%2112000033741590796%21sea%21US%213952334907%21&curPageLogUid=YPxNgqmBQYT8

Thanks for sharing Brian!  May add that to my Christmas list!

[stikpusher]

I'm surprised that they are not molded on the same suspension parts between the Panther & Jagdpanther.