PANTHER 111, 116TH WINDHUND Dv, HOUFFALIZE 1944

[HERMAN BIX]

I had that situation as well, relevant to the side of the action the servo is mounted.
That’s where a bit of mucking around came in.
Got it in the end .

The zimmerit all on does look the part, and primer on the running gear gave me a payback in visible progress.
Still loads to do.
Panthers I reckon are the most fiddley of all the German tanks. Tool racks, chains & pins, track hangers, they have a lot going on !!
I used voyager pe for the fender/schurzen mounts and using lots of gel super glue, plus a heavy bead of PVA to add further support, they should stay in place.
A little damage made on them but not too much.
Then on with making the tool racks out of leftover PE sprue.
A slow process

[inger]

Very nice work overall, in particular the Zimmerit! Likewise, the tool holders and tools look excellent.

[HERMAN BIX]

Thanks mate, slow progress but better than none!
The remains of the real tank when i saw it showed nothing of its previous look, so a degree of license is allowed. Trying to get an acceptable facsimile of what it looked like in the morning before being destroyed later that day.
I am leaving the small details off until most of the handling & assembly is done so I don’t knock them off.
Hope to get the tool racks all made and secured over the next week .

[Barmonkey]

Very nice work so far! Thanks for sharing.

The back story on this is interesting as well.

[HERMAN BIX]

Thanks Mr Monkey, the back story on this is most likely reflected in all the other surviving machines over there too.
Having visited Falaise and its amazing museum, the sense of solemnity cannot be missed, so much destruction.........
Across the Ardennes the same feeling prevails...........museums and locations, visible and visceral scars that will never heal completely.

Sadly the civilian losses in the village of Houffalize were apparently higher than combat losses.
This Panther was caught in the same storm of bombing that many others non-combatants were.
Opinions differ, but the old cliche of "you cant make an omelette without breaking a few eggs" wears thin here and in Caen.
But what was done had to be done, that is a sad fact, but that does not diminish the tragedy the locals endured to be free.


There are a lot of details in a Panther, to me there are more than all the other German tanks, but the level of satisfaction should be equally as high once its done.
Being a new H/L I.R. system it will be to a mediocre degree be able to interact with tamiya powered battle units to provide another level of enjoyment.
Thats to be seen.
For now, its tool racks

[BarryC]

Excellent work Herman!

Barry

[Raminator]

Glad to see you back in action and making great progress, Herman. Really nice stuff with the brass, both the functional servo mounts and decorative tool racks too!

[Jussek]

What a beauty!!

[Jussek]

What a beauty!!

[John Glover]

Hi Herman. I see a few of the parts I sent you being used. Glad they went to a good home. Regards John.