[Czechoslovakia] 1945 - Taigen Panther

[Panzermechaniker]

The little Beetle is such a good runner, great details and insanely cheap everyone should own one

[Panzermechaniker]

Parcels of tank parts are finally arriving so I was able to move forward with mounting all tools and tow cables. It's mostly done. Mostly chipping and scraping and just general weathering to do. Very good running tank. Especially compared to my original Taigen Panther. The Clark TK-50S works very well and has a very good sound. Quite a hefty monster too. Weighed it today. 15lbs

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[John Glover]

Fantastic build . Excellent work. Are the storage tube and crow bar that is mounted above it the kit parts. Could you also tell us what size brass rectangle tube you dremaled down to make the spare track brackets. regards John.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Nice Kitty! Two features I like are the well-detailed MG mount and all the tracks on the turret--with the number painted (?) on them!
Well, there are also the wood of the jack block and ... and...

[Panzermechaniker]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys. I'm working on another spring 1945 Taigen Panther now. Yes the cleaning rod storage tube and the large crow bar are from the kit. I've always found the detail on the Taigen Panther fantastic (especially compared to the almost lack of details on the Tamiya) How I do the spare track holders so that there is space to drill the holes for the securing pins is to very gently pop the factory plastic spare track out of the holders with something like the thin bottle opener ona Swiss army knife . It is only attached to the hull in 2 spots and not to the holders so as long as you don't bend it up the holders will remain intact. Using some spare Taigen metal track links (I've a couple of worn out whole sets that I kept for this purpose) all you have to do is grind/emery paper the cleat surface down as I've shown in the image. The part of the track with the 5 smaller links is the most important to grind down as it will rest against the plastic strip the holders are mounted on. Once they are fitted it's just a matter of drilling the hole for the pins to go through. That's why it's key to grind the tracks down to give you the realistic amount of holder protruding to do this. This will not work on Tamiya. It is a whole lot easier than doing the Aber ones especially for someone like me who can barely solder large wires never mind tiny photo etch. Pics below of the ones I'm working on now showing the before and after of grinding the track link. The Taigen tracks are definitely the best looking out there for doing this

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[MrChef]

What an awesome Panther project Panzermech Like HDP said what's not to love. Great details all over.

[Panzermechaniker]

With packages from 2 months ago now starting to arrive I have been able to do a lot of work on the original Panther that was supposed to be in this group build. Took a lot of searching but apparently this tank 114 was attached to PZ. Div Feldernnhalle 2 and was knocked out in Moravia on the retreat from Hungary. Apparently the division was just a bunch of surviving tanks that the Germans cobbled together to make up an optimistically called Pz. Division. All the internals (Clark TK-50S, servos etc) but the gearboxes still have to go in so nothing that can get knocked off has been attached (hoping to put schurzen on this one) and then when that is all done both of the Panthers can be chipped and weathered some more. Wanted to do an outdoor pic but it's -13C here so thought better of it

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[Ecam]

Terrific pair of Panthers! Your camo work makes me envious.

[HERMAN BIX]

Teah I like them two, a lot

[John Glover]

They look great together Excellent work.John.