Early Panther gun sight diameter

[STHV]

Does anyone know the diameter of the binocular gun sight holes on the early Panthers (Ausf D and early A) or the diameter of them from the 1/35 Tamiya Ausf D?

[43rdRecceReg]

https://panzerworld.com/german-armor-optics
According to this, the lens diameter was 6mm, then there's the body and the mantlet aperture to consider. It's not the answer you want, but it may be a start.

[43rdRecceReg]

A bit more detail here on the unit itself (weight, lenses etc.)
http://www.lonesentry.com/manuals/tme30 ... gure9.html

[STHV]

Am I correct in saying that the Ausf A and Ausf G used the same sight? if that is the case the holes should be the same size as early Ausf A's had the dual holes just like the Ausf D for the binocular sight yet used the same monocular sight as the Ausf G with the extra hole being removed in later versions of the Ausf A

if that is the case would this be correct? if that indeed says 1.5 inches then the hole should be about 2.38mm in 1/16

[43rdRecceReg]

A challenging topic. I have pics of mantlets from Bovington, and Munster. Wouldn't it be possible to overlay some sort of grid on a Mantlet pic (with known dimensions for the Mantlet itself, and the gun) to work out a close approximation? I had to do something like that, to work out the size of attachments ( towing bar etc..) on the rear plate of a Cromwell from photos. A better method, and one I used, was to download Cromwell blueprints from Blueprints-com of the Cromwell; scaled them up on my Mac's screen to the exact size of the 1/16 Ludwig Cromwell, I was building, by using its 'Preview' tool. By that, I mean I measured the hull on the model, and stretched the image on the screen to exactly the same length. Then I took dimensions of parts I had to scratch build from the screen blueprint-
It worked.
To keep manufacturing costs down, you'd think that the Germans would have used the same binocular sight in the Panther, that was used in the Tiger 1. It seems they didn't. In the event, time-consuming quality engineering probably contributed to their defeat.

[STHV]

I have sent an email to the Bovington tank museum archive so hopefully i should be able to get some good images and dimensions from them