Stik’s Panther

[stikpusher]

Obviously I still haven't done any painting on this due to getting sidetracked on other projects, but... yesterday was our monthly AZ AMPS meet, build, and BS session. I figured that I hadn't worked on this one in awhile, so I brought it along to work on.

My main area of focus was the turret, so I built the main areas of turret, couple, mantlet, and gun tube...



I'm using this kit's zimmerit parts, although Italeri neglected to put the zimmerit on the sides of the trunnion points behind the mantlet, so I'll need to add some there on my own.

Here is a test fit rear quarter view with the cupola and gun tube in place



I need to thin down the kit zimmerit turret sides with my Dremel before I glue those in place, as it is way too thick as molded...

One of the critiques of this kit is that the base of the turret sits too high as molded and leaves a noticeable gap against the hull top deck. So I sanded down the turret bottom part to sit higher inside the sides to remove that aspect...



and I also added most of the parts to the hull rear... I didn't like the kit jack that stows between the exhaust pipes, so I'm gonna replace it with a better one from my spares bin....

more to come soon...

[406 Silverado]

Some good progress on this one as well Carlos. Dang it man.......you're starting to rival Maddog Mark in regards to the number of projects going on at one time.

[stikpusher]

Aug 13, 2023 14:55:34 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Some good progress on this one as well Carlos. Dang it man.......you're starting to rival Maddog Mark in regards to the number of projects going on at one time.

Lol! Thanks Joe! Yeah,  I’m spread a bit thin right now… too many GBs that I committed to participating in… now I’ve got to get them all wrapped up, one at a time…

[406 Silverado]

Aug 13, 2023 15:18:05 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Aug 13, 2023 14:55:34 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Some good progress on this one as well Carlos. Dang it man.......you're starting to rival Maddog Mark in regards to the number of projects going on at one time.

Lol! Thanks Joe! Yeah,  I’m spread a bit thin right now… too many GBs that I committed to participating in… now I’ve got to get them all wrapped up, one at a time…

Well Hell Carlos......you might as well start an auto kit for the Red Hot & Rollin' GB. Just sayin.....

[kyledehart5]

Nice work so far!

[stikpusher]

Aug 13, 2023 15:30:02 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Aug 13, 2023 15:18:05 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

Well Hell Carlos......you might as well start an auto kit for the Red Hot & Rollin' GB. Just sayin.....

That’s ok… I already have enough on my plate… Besides GBs, my main goal is to reduce the shelf of doom sitters…

Kyle, thank you. 

[Leon]

Turret is looking good Carlos!

[stikpusher]

Thank you Leon. So far, so good 😉

[Joe Rix]

Very good to see you making some progress Carlos. Getting the turret done is certainly that. Looks very good from here. Appears that your sanding job has the turret sitting right on the hull.

[chromdome35]

Looking really good, your efforts on the turret show.

One thing I've noticed about many kits is that they always seem to shortchange the detail on the jacks.

[Tojo72]

Stik's on the move,your treatment of the zimm looks good.

[stikpusher]

Thanks guys!

Joe, a few minutes with a sanding stick can work wonders with fit issues… now to deal with those zimmerit side pieces…🤨

Brian, yeah particularly on older kits, the stowage items can get short shrift in the mold makers attention. Thank goodness for all those spare parts that keep coming in other kits to help where they were not intended to do so…

Tony, briefly on the move… briefly 

[reserve]

Righteous job on the old kit

[stikpusher]

Aug 13, 2023 22:11:10 GMT -5 reserve said:

Righteous job on the old kit

Thank you… it’s funny that I think of the Tamiya Panther A as an old kit, and this one somewhat recent… 🤨 But, by the marking that I made on the box, it has been in my stash for close to 30 years now, so I guess it’s older, without being old… 🤔 One of the senior members of my stash.

[stikpusher]

Today was a good bench session for this project. I spent a good portion of the morning using my Dremel to thin down the zimmerit panels for the hull and turret

Here you can see one before thinning and one after thinning side by side…



After that was all finished, I glued them in place and let them dry. Once dry I did a little fine tuning of sand if and roughing up the edges to make them look more realistic. I also added the drivers vision flap and bow machine gun ball mount





and lastly for today, I added some putty zimmerit on the turret front sides behind the mantlet, where Italeri neglected to add that feature…



More to come in a day or two…

[chromdome35]

Thats turning out really nice. The thinned sheets look much better.

[deafpanzer]

You are off to a great start! I haven't seen something like this before on an older kit and you are doing a justice on it by thinning them just right.

[stikpusher]

I don't know what's more of a pain... thinning down these pieces or doing the raked style zimmerit like this using putty and a tool. Fun, fun, fun... Brian and Andy, thanks for the moral support!

[Joe Rix]

Looks to me like you did a stand up job on thinning the turret zimmerit. I mean it looks really good. Your effort paid off. Your Panther overall is coming along nicely.

[stikpusher]

Thanks Joe! I’m gonna do another days work on this while some stuff on another project dries, then side.ine this until I get the other project all wrapped up.

[kyledehart5]

That’s a nice update to the kit for sure. Looks great.

[armornutii]

   Nice work Carlos, apologize for being out of the loop for a bit. Dumb question??? What's the yellow tape on the engine for? 
    Those older kits turn out really nice when ya put some love into them, this is no exception.
More please

[stikpusher]

Aug 15, 2023 7:30:22 GMT -5 armornutii said:

   Nice work Carlos, apologize for being out of the loop for a bit. Dumb question??? What's the yellow tape on the engine for? 
    Those older kits turn out really nice when ya put some love into them, this is no exception.
More please

I just put the tape in there for alignment of the plumbing to the engine block and compartment while the glue dried. I haven’t removed it yet. Nothing more or less than that. 

More update in a day or two

[stikpusher]

Today’s progress report…

I finished up painting the motor and installed it



then put the section of deck in place…



not much will be visible, although the hatch is provided with working hinges…
then I added the spare track and tool racks onto the hull sides





So I had to do a test shot with the turret fitted in place…





I think that I’m going to order some AM brass screens for the engine deck…

[chromdome35]

Carlos, that is nice!!! Some screens should really help take it to the next level.

[stikpusher]

Thanks Brian! I just want to dress this one up a bit, not go into a deep dive full bore enhancement. I'm also looking at some replacement periscopes to fill those glaring empty holes where they should be...

[deafpanzer]

Looking good! I forgot if you are planning to use the kit or aftermarket tracks for this?

[stikpusher]

Thanks Andy. As of right now, I'm planning on using the kit tracks. I'll be using the side skirts, and plan to epoxy them down onto the road wheel tops so they should look good enough. if I leave them out in the hot Arizona sun here for an hour or so before I put them on, they should be fairly pliable.

[Leon]

Really nice work on the Zimmerit Carlos! This is coming along nicely.

[stikpusher]

Thank you Leon. it's getting there, slow but sure