FO Panther

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Spending my time adjusting the hull so I don't have to fiddle with major parts or do anything rough once I've started the detailing. Just waiting for the convoy light LED to turn up and I'll crack on. Plus I've run out of butane.

Added some card to the bottom of the glacis which appears to be what everyone else does to cover the holes rather than the Tamiya solution. Also added some at the top so the hull sits tight.


Gaps filled


Appears the top of the hull needs straightening. I knew the Panther was the black sheep in the Tamiya family but that's a little silly. Not sure how I will do it, probably will put a bulkhead in front of and behind the speaker.



Tankzone does it again!


Why would you send someone a torn package, within a badly sealed envelope? Because you clearly want the small metal item inside to reach the sender? At least I tested the waters again with something cheap like an antenna base.

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Coming along nicely!

So Tankzone still running eh - maybe I'll look into them.

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I despair sometimes. Tankzone could do really well for themselves as they have a good choice of stock, the best outside of Axels, however despite years of bad feedback they fail to sort out their game.

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Tankzone will send a replacement. So in fairness to them, they addressed it within an acceptable time frame.

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For my soldering iron! A soldering torch with paste is the way to go for PE. 8AWG wire and 8mm bullets is a different matter. Anyway, two cans with 50% extra free and I'm burning things:

The Aber crew heater. 4 parts to this but has super detail, even welding lines. Held on by a 0.6mm bolt.

Still to add the casting numbers and hinges. Not sure I'll do the cast numbers as they look abnormally large.

The nuts an bolts I got from prime miniatures are fantastic. A little pricey but since this is an RC and I want things to stay on the tank, it should give me peace of mind knowing all the PE is physically bolted to the tank and not just glued on or held with wire.

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So not much to report. I straightened the stiffened the hull with some wood I had lying around. Tankzone delivered the bag and the part this time which was great. The tail light finally got delivered so I'll work on that pretty soon and of cause an obligatory bucket. Because we all know all Panthers had one.

Because the idlers have so much play in them and I'll be running metal tracks, I ordered some idlers from Mr Guido Henn. Also been building some more PE parts -

Working up the point I'll spend a day making the clamps and clasps, so I can put them on my King Tiger as well. Building up to it because they're fiddly as anything. Everything is getting soldered and bolted to the hull so no walking around the garden looking for microscopic brass parts.

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So I forgot to take photos, but here's the turret with the base layer+gloss. Shumo mantlet needed allot of sanding for the barrel to run smoothly. It looks like it's drooping in gap but it's just because the actual mechanism behind it isn't fully unstalled so it's drooping. But it runs true.

Welds done with greenstuff, they show up rather too much with the gloss unfortunately. They're flatter on the actual model but pop out way too much.

I primed in white too which was different. The plastikote white isn't very nice to work with as it takes days to harden but the surface to work with once it is hard is really nice and stays firm on the PE. I'm going easy on the wear and tear with this one so I did the base layer with tamiya and will do chipping with a brush rather than chipping/scratch solution. The masking was enought of a pain in the arse without it.



Now I've strengthened the top of the hull with wood, all thats left to do with power tools is fit the Henntec idler.

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Looking good! Turret has appeared quickly - more photos