Panther Gs Detail upgrades

[Soeren]

Thanks Raminator. There will definitely be the Meng Panther A and Jagdpanther and even a D be considered for 1:35 in the future. But for now there is enough in the books to build.

Magic, eh? Feel the pressure rising.

[Soeren]

Got the sets today. The ATAK Zimmerit is just gorgeous. It is labeled as Panther G Zimmerit, but it contains strips that look like if These were for the sides of the lower hull, only saw that on As until now. All the other bits and pieces look fantastic, but it will be guesswork where to put some Patches. I would consider this a bargain. Mantlet and machinegun ball cover alone would be around 30€ when ordered as alternative resin aftermarket pieces.

ATAK Panther G Mantlet

Atak Panther hull side Zimmerit

The Voyager PE contains so many detail upgrades. As with the Tiger side skirts though, the sheets are thin, between 0.2-0.3mm that translates to 3.2-4.8mm scale thickness. That is too thin for some details like the lifting hooks on the radioator cover plates or the track hangers. But I will just beef pieces up where needed with thin styrene sheet I have around. This is great for people like me that are not so much into full scratch building. Each PE piece is a good enough guide. And the details are plenty as mentioned earlier. Just have a look what is included in the stowage bin set for example.

[Soeren]

Just a quick note. The Voyager cupola optics fit the HengLong/old Taigen cupola which the ABER dont. Also, the ATAK turret side Zimmerit patch is a 100% match. Hope the rest will be the same.

The ATAK mantlet has wider spaced locating pins though, so I have toi glue in some tupes to be able to attach the mantlet to the Turret, but that shouldnt be too hard.

[Soeren]

A short update without pictures yet. With this configuartion of the ATAK Mantlet you cant use the original gun barrel anymore. So as this set is meant for the Tamiya kit, I ordered the barrel from Modellbau Seidel. The shop looks rather simple, but they seem to have most of the Tamiya stuff avalable and prices arent bad either. Even compared to Axels. http://www.modellbau-seidel.de/index.ph ... st=3456004

Seems I just was lucky and got the last barrel he had

[Soeren]

A start has been made. The front Zimmerit is slightly longer than the hull and the machinegun ball is slightly closer to the inside, when compared to the original position. The side zimmerit is too short though, by about 10mm. So there was the need for putting a strip in. Interesting to note. Although Zimmerit and Voyager PE are meant for the Tamiya Panther, they dont exactly match with the preformed positions for the tool racks.

Side fenders, and compartment heater cut and started reshaping the back area. The detail is very soft there. Will see to change to bolts for the engine cover plate and see what else is needed. On the turret I tried Vallejo Putty for the weld lines. Looks promising as those are recessed already and just need some filling in.

[Soeren]

Some notes. Went ahead with the Vallejo Putty for weld lines. This stuff works well enough and is an alternative. After about 1-2 hours of letting it set it is a bit gum like with limited elasticity. So you can imprint shapes. Even after 12-24 hours you can imprint like I did on the ill fitting zimmerit on the back. For proper sanding it will need more time though. With the fine tip you can also add weld lines on features like the optics cover on the turret roof.
The cupola got some Mr Surfacer texture. Speaking of putty and Surfacer. T
he PE part for the close defense launcher is too large for the feature by HengLong/Taigen, so putty and Surfacer was used to blend it in. Will use some surfacer for turret roof texture as well.

The armored protection of the ventilation cover should have a weld line as well. But this feature is not raised enough, so might leave it like that.

Today the Tamiya barrel arrived. Pro: nice barrel and not too exprensive; Con: the part inside the mantlet has 15mm OD, while the mantlet has 16mm ID. Went ahead and sanded the part down to 14mm and will add a 16mm brass tube into the mantlet as a shim. This is almost wiggle free and will increase the strength of the mantlet as well.

Here are a few progress pictures.

[Soeren]

It is just a joy to follow all the recent build that are posted on this board


Slow progress on my part. Still not completed the gun mount issue. But we will get there.

Reworked the handles on turret. I knew the Meng nuts would come in handy in the future. Textured the areas without the Zimmerit. Not much hobby time lately, but each minute is precious time.

[Soeren]

Some more detail bits added and the gun and recoil servo mounted.

Now I have to take a day off and revisit it with the base coat and look for what I still would like to add before painting.

[c.rainford73]

Fantastic work Soeren

[Soeren]

Cheers Mr. Rainford.

Went ahead and gave it a primer coat fromn a ArmyPainter can I had lying around. Worked well and fels resilient. Made the rolled steel texture visible and higlighted some mold marks at the mg support ring that now have to be filled. Next will be painting, after all the none Zim surfaces got some Mr surfacer treatment.