Panther A v Panther D Wouter v spud

[Leon]

Nice start on the turret Spud! Looking good.

[Deano]

The inclusion of the partial turret interior is cool, something to work off of. Think this is the first time I have seen it in a styrene Panther kit ... nice touch!

[TRM]

Looking good the spuddicuus!! Making me want to pick up another kitty now!!

[spud]

thanks guys, Todd have at it brother you know you want too,

[modelfreak72]

Looking good spud! Looks like Zvezda is turning it up a notch.

[spud]

This isnt a bad little kit so far some nice details and the way its made it really good. im impressed
this is the Gun if it isnt obvious

it went together really nice im not to worried about these injector marks as it wont be seen.


Getting the metal barrel to fit was a mini nightmare but i got there in the end.



I had to do the cut marks my self there was weld seems but no marks no so bad tough but i think they need a bit more attention.


I also replaced the lift hooks with some back metal i have and its perfect, You can see them in one of the pics

[Leon]

Nice work on the barrel,weld seams and lift hooks Spud.

[deafpanzer]

Looking real good... nice improvement on the weld seams!

[Deano]

So making me want to build a D mate , great progress!

[TRM]

Looking sharp Spud!!

[wing_nut]

Nice indeed. Glad you went with this kit. I've been curious about it since it came out when there are many already nice Panther kits. Glad to here you're liking it so far. Nice torch marks. I like the welds that Zvesda added.

[wbill76]

Some nice improvements there Spud, keep at it!

[desertrat]

very nice improvements, looking sweet so far,

[wouter]

Nice to see the gun in place indeed, well sorted there bud!

And guess what, finally some photos of mine

I started the build couple of days ago. Roadwheels first...which I always hate cleaning up. The instructions are btw of the dreadfull old Dragon style picture type...not too clear.
Details in the kit are great, and sprues are mixes of A/D panther and Dragons later G sprues are there as well (roadwheels and torsion bars). Sadly, the lower hull is of an older style and you can't imply a workeable torsion bar suspension. But other than that, great kit.

This is where it stands so far



I didn't realize it when I decided to build this kit for the dual build, but Panther A's all got zimmerit applied, so I'll need to do that. Will be my first time. I'll be trying to do that using Magic Sculpt.
One of the pro's on this kit is btw that you can build both an Early A (letterbox style MG hatch - for instance Panthers which saw action at Anzio, Italy) as a late A with the MG Kugelblende (ball mount)

Cheers

[wing_nut]

A fine start wouter. Looking forward to see how you make out with the zim.

[TRM]

Very nice Wouter!! Good luck on the Zimm brotha, been resisting myself so far as well!! LOL! One of these days I am sure!! Keep plugging away!!

[johnt]

Nice work so far fellas.

Cheers
JT

[spud]

dam you got a load done. but im sure the Zimm will slow you down

[deafpanzer]

Great having you back Wout! Wheels looking good... can't wait to see it with Zimm on! I had lots of fun applying Zimm a while ago.

[wbill76]

Some nice progress as well Wouts. Is it just me or do all Panthers with depressed metal barrels just look 'sad' for some reason?

[Leon]

Nice progress Wouts! Looking forward to seeing your Zimm work.

[ogrejohn]

Some fine looking work guys!

[wouter]

Thanks a lot gents, glad you like the kittycat

Bill: yeah, now that you mention it, looks a bit like a sad, lying Pinnochio

Spud, rest assured, not only the zimm will slow me down, there's a fair amount of etch in the kit as well lol

btw, not sure anymore if I can make an early A out of it. It seems that those had mg ports in the sides of the turret? And for a late A the kit doesn't seem to be completely right as well: I read that on late A's the interlocking armor parts on the back side plate (shown in my second photo) weren't there, can someone confirm that? If so, I need to sand it down and fill the interlocking parts

Cheers

[elco]

Yuk another Panther... There were some A's without zimm, i will look it up for you!

[elco]

The info on zimless early A's is rare but found it



This is a early A from Panzer Lehr in Normandy.



701, panzer regiment 23 belonging to Heavy Panzerregiment Bake Russian front in early 1944


Ausf D and early Ausf A hulls are identical. The only externally visible changes between models occurred in the redesigned turret. The external differences between a Ausf D and a Ausf A have been discussed in several threads on Missing Lynx.

To quote Roy Chow;

"Most older books (before Jentz' Panther: Quest for Combat Supremacy) mistakenly cite the switchover from D to A as the MG port to kugelblende MG mount. As others have said, this is wrong.

Often these older books will caption a photo of an early A (cast cupola, letterbox MG port) as a late D -- these would be wrong.

[wouter]

whoa, that's some great photos Elco, many thanks for that!
It seems to me that the second one has no interlocked armor on the rear sides looking at that shot. What about the pistol ports in the turret? Seems like you can find interesting shots of Panthers helluva lot faster than I'm able

Cheers

[elco]

Sure there drove stuff with changes that don't fit in the early/late class as we identify them.

There also a couple of early A's with the drum cupula fitted that makes it real hard to identify a D or A

I think the Panzer Lehr version would be a nice example to build if you don't Zimm it.

[eastrock]

Cool builds both!!! I'm lurking in lol

[wouter]

ER, you're always welcome to lurk in

Finally some progress...yesterday and today I applied the zimmerit to the front and sides. I used Magic Sculpt. The turret and rear still need to receive an application




photos ain't the best...still need to get PS Elements again...

Cheers

[deafpanzer]

LOVELY work on the Zimm... I like it ALOT! They were rarely perfect or pretty... yours look pretty realistic in my opinion.