"Duel in the Mist" Panther G

[jeff1101]

Jeff - if you haven't painted your panther yet, you may want to check the orientation of the rope holder on the side of the tank. I just noticed yours has the flanges top/bottom, whereas all the panthers I've looked at appear to have the flanges orientated left/right. Just a little tweak I hope (rotate it through 90 degrees).

Yeah I noticed that too. The thing is already glued in there and If I attempt to remove it to reorient it, the bracket will definitely break as I already thinned the plastic to make it look to scale. Anyway, that is fine, I'll just chalk it up as factory variation...

By the way, my order for the Tiger II road wheel (for the last station) arrived from TankArmy.com (If you ever need spare parts for your HL tanks, that's the place to order). Wow is it different. HL got the scale right as the steel rim road wheel is a touch smaller than the regular panther wheels.

However, the problem is, the Tiger II road wheel is definitely not compatible with the Panther swing arms!? I am already thinking of ways to make it work. I'll post pictures in my thread if I am successful.

Anyway, I ordered the Tiger II road wheel just as an experiment, If I do ruin it, I will still have the stock wheels.

[Red Devils]

Great looking Panther, you've put some sweet details on her.

Jumping on the weld bead conversation, I use a 14 guage IV Needle. Gives you that half circular look. Just my two cents.

Well done with the tank buddy, going be tracking this one...


Derek

[Jochen1944]

Well, you never quite finish adding detail do you! I've pawed over scale plans and photos over the last few days, and as a result added a few more final final details. Some are really small, but add to the accuracy. I've also added the clasps on the rear stowage boxes (Aber late clamps and clasps set) ... I can't begin to tell you how painstaking they are to make ... I still can't see straight yet!!

[Jochen1944]

I've also be playing around with arrangements for the spare track section using the "duel in the mist" volume 1 and 2 books for reference. I think this is my preferred turret arrangement. Its unusual in that the tracks are placed with the guide horns towards the turret. This creates more space between the track and the turret surface thereby providing greater protection for bazooka rounds etc. This can be seen on Panther 101 which was abandoned by Kampfegroup Peiper next to the town hall in La Gleize.

[Jochen1944]

I did some historical research last night using google maps, the "duel in the mist" books and the "Battle of the Bulge -then and now" book to pin point the locations of the Tigers and Panthers left in La Gleize by Kampfegroup Peiper. Its not directly relevant to the build, but its nice to understand where the battle took place. Interestingly, you can use goodle street view and pinpoint very precisely the actual locations ad you get a 360 degree appreciation for each location. Very little has changed. Here is the final analysis. Hope people find it useful.

[jeff1101]

Hey Jbuckley, I see you really did your research. I don't wan't to put a wrench on things but I have been reading on panther 221 as well. If you are really after accuracy then panther 221 (beside having all steel road wheels) shouldn't have the new crew heater tower on the rear deck. Also it shouldn't have the flammenvernichter (flame dampener) exhaust.

Anyway I think it would be a straightforward conversion as you can get the old style cooling fan covers and old style exhaust from either wecohe or I think welshdragonmodels have them. (Although they can be costly).

When I initially began modding my panther I was thinking of painting it like the Battle of the bulge panthers but has since decided against it since Heng Long decided to make a very late war Panther G. Flammenvernichter exhausts didn't begin to appear in the Western Front until January of 1945. (The new exhausts were fitted to Panthers in the factory I think later than Oct. 44 and didn't begin to be received by units in the field until Jan 1945 at the earliest).

The picture below is one modeller's interpretation of panther 221. I linked the photo from planetarmor.com. (http://www.planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1494) You will notice what I am talking about from this pic of the rear. The exhaust is shielded by a makeshift metal plate but as you can see it is still the old exhaust and not flammenvernichter.

[Jochen1944]

Your absolutely right Jeff. Thanks for the detail. I've now decided to model it on one of the other vehicles in the Kampfegroup. One with standard road wheels and the crew heater as I really don't want to remodel those features...especially the wheels!!

That narrows it down to Panthers 101, 111, 114, 131, 215, 225 or 234. The fact that I want to do standard camo or possibly ambush, and not disc pattern means 114 is struck off the list.

Of the vehicles short listed, 101 and 115 have the best photographic coverage making painting the camo pattern etc alot easier. I think vehicle 101 is my favourite as I have good photos and I really like the unusual spare track arrangement.

So, its 101... or possibly 215. I'm going to overlook the fact these vehicles still have the old pattern exhausts!

[Jochen1944]

Primed and ready for Action!! A very satisfying afternoon. Seeing the Panther primed in a nice thin coat of uniform light grey really lets you see the textures you've added to the surface, check weld seams, upgrades etc. It really brings the whole thing together. I'm really nervous about the next stage though... airbrushing was never my strong point.

[Jochen1944]

I also primed wheels and spare tracks. The Heng Long spare tracks actually look very good when separated, guide horns drilled out and the track pins drilled out and added.

In the end I decided to leave the wheels as they are. I tried Jeff1101's technique for removing the inaccurate 'ridge' on the wheels. I used the back of one wheel and made a real mess of it!! Hats off again to you Jeff for pulling it off on your Panther.

[doc larsson]

Did I read somewhere on here that Panther tracks are turned inwards on the outside of the tank track to stop machines "throwing" their tracks in muddy conditions ?

Just an observation !

Wish I had the money and the patience to do something like this.

very nice job.