Panther A Conversion

This section is to 'show and tell' about any customizing or re-modeling you have done (or are doing) to a Heng Long tank.
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This section is for posting a build log of your Heng Long tank.
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Estnische
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Panther A Conversion

Post by Estnische »

43rdRecce (Roy) recently said it’s traditional to start a new build before you finish the last one, so no shame then. 8)

My next tank had to be a Panther, and if I had to pick one, I’m going to do an ‘A’. There are several reasons for that. Firstly, I don’t like the asymmetrical rear deck and mantlet chin of the 'G'. Secondly, I don’t like the letter box MG and old-style cupola on the ‘D’. Lastly, and probably most importantly, making an existing Heng Long into an ‘A’ is enough to challenge my skill-set.
Panther A
Panther A
panzer kampfwagenv_ausfa.jpg (68.91 KiB) Viewed 4981 times
What makes an ‘A’? It depends on the field upgrades really. It seems legitimate for an ‘A’ to have:
• rounded mantlet chin
• no mantlet top debris shield (some were field installed)
• no close defence turret ports
• no smoke launchers
• rounded cupola
• stepped rear side sponsons
• sloping sponsons and hull rear to match
• hull MG Kugelblende
• fixed hull periscopes (3 as the fourth was deleted with the Kugelblende sight)
• single headlight on left side of front hull
• skewed front hull hatches
• matching rear fan vents
• wavy rear deck louvres
• central engine vent has no cowl
• dished road wheels
• left exhaust with/without triple pipes and no flame suppressors

I don’t want to make a rivet-counter’s delight, but I do want to make it close enough to please me. There are a few ways to go about it, including accurate bespoke parts from Ludwigs Hobby Seite, but I’m happy to do it on the cheap and not be scale perfect.

Making an ‘A’ has been done before and DSGSelkirk (Dean) showed a smart way to do it from a ‘G’, so I’ll follow his lead. I bought this from Tank Army for a good price. On the upside it’s IR, so it has cannon recoil, but on the downside it has a 27Mhz radio. Maybe it’s not a downside, as I can convert it to 2.4GHz and a hobby-grade radio with Kevin Grannum’s RC5HL.
IR Panther G
IR Panther G
I also bought a Pantiger upper hull from Aliexpress, as there a bunch of bits I can use to make the required changes.
Pantiger upper hull
Pantiger upper hull
Pantiger Upper.jpg (62.62 KiB) Viewed 4981 times
And so it begins…
Holey upper hulls Batman!
Holey upper hulls Batman!
Last edited by Estnische on Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
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dgsselkirk
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by dgsselkirk »

Jeeezzz... I really should get around to finishing that one in the near future. Maybe after I finish a Jagdtiger I have been working on for a couple of years for a friend on here...

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=13525&hilit=Panther+A
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43rdRecceReg
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

This is the age of 'diversity', Estniche. So why not diversify the pending projects? :D I like the way you state your terms of reference at the outset. It's a good idea to keep to certain limits, or the costs can easily spiral; but it's the time these builds can hoover up, that can be the real drain on your resources. Looking forward to this excursion down an alternate route.... :thumbup: Still hope to see the Tiger, and Johann's ( 8) ) Götterdämmerung unleashed someday... :) !
Roy.
Last edited by 43rdRecceReg on Sun Aug 27, 2017 12:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Raminator
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by Raminator »

A solid base for an interesting build, Estnische. Looking forward to it!
43rdRecceReg wrote:I like the way you state your terms of reference at the outset. It's a good idea to keep to certain limits, or the costs can easily spiral; but it's the time these builds can hoover up, that can be the real drain your resources.
Absolutely, it's a good way to avoid the feature creep that can stall a project halfway (ask me how I know about that! :/ )
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Estnische
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by Estnische »

So here is the latest:

Mostly its cutting and drilling, with a couple of fill-ins.
W0201.jpg
The front has the ‘G’ periscope and old hatch lines and hinges removed. I also scavenged the head light post from the Pantiger and moved the mounting point from the mudguard to the hull.
W0202.jpg
The rear has the old grills, engine cover, engine deck hooks and engine vent cowl removed. A new vent grill has been installed and the hole for the left fan housing filled. As you can see the turret rotation motor projects into the engine cover space, which is inconvenient but not surprising.

Here is what it looks like from underneath. The body posts pop up everywhere and their bracing also had to be trimmed but not as badly as in the Tiger, so I don’t think I’ll reinforce them. I’ve braced the infill for the fan housing with off cuts from the Pantiger hull and JB Weld.
W0203.jpg
Last edited by Estnische on Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:23 am, edited 4 times in total.
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rolling-thunder
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by rolling-thunder »

Estnische, your pictures aren't showing for me. Colour me curious!
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maxmekker
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by maxmekker »

Same for me :think:
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silversurfer1947
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by silversurfer1947 »

Works fine for me - using Chrome on a laptop
Richard
Tamiya Tiger 1, Taigen FlakPanzer IV,Torro M16 half-track, Tamiya Panther,WSN/Torro T34,Taigen M41 Bulldog,H/l/Taigen Sherman M4A3,H/L T90, Haya M3 Grant, Metal Origins 234/2 Puma, Nashorn by Alwyn. I was only going to have one tank - honest! :D
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Estnische
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by Estnische »

Ah, I tried to cheat on the picture sizing, which apparently only works in Chrome. I'll fix it when I get home.

Edit: I don't bloody know. This was never a problem in my Tiger/Red Skull build story, but now it appears my picture posting method only works in Chrome. I hate posting links to photos, much rather have the images directly there. Mods, if you have any suggestions where I can keep using Google Photos as I do with my other Heng Long build thread, please let me know. In the meantime, I've posted the images and their address.

Brett
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c.rainford73
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Re: Panther A Conversion

Post by c.rainford73 »

Estnische wrote:Ah, I tried to cheat on the picture sizing, which apparently only works in Chrome. I'll fix it when I get home.

Edit: I don't bloody know. This was never a problem in my Tiger/Red Skull build story, but now it appears my picture posting method only works in Chrome. I hate posting links to photos, much rather have the images directly there. Mods, if you have any suggestions where I can keep using Google Photos as I do with my other Heng Long build thread, please let me know. In the meantime, I've posted the images and their address.

Brett
Hi BrettImage they are coming though fine for me.
Tanks alot.... :wave:
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