Panther Gs Detail upgrades

[c.rainford73]

That vent looks incredible so cool

[Soeren]

Hi there Mr. Rainford and thank you.

Went ahead and blend the deck together, also made the borders of the sand more sprayed looking. Test fitting of the tools that got a foew more layers of paint. I like the hammer best, but you dont see much of it now.

[c.rainford73]

The paint is exceptionally done and those tools are tops!

[Soeren]

Thanks Mr Rainford

So we are getting closer. Attached the tool clamps, resprayed the added pieces and blended everything together with some spray here and there. Now test fitting and off to the turret before final weathering.For the cables I got the stiff ABER ones. Will see how I will be able to add them. Then will be the addition of the servo recoil as well. Thanks for watching :DP.S.: The little fella just wanted to join.

[c.rainford73]

Such a beautiful tank. I've a panther waiting to be built and your design is very inspirational Soeren

[Soeren]

Thank you, well you cant have enough Panthers. And I wish I could afford more of these 1/16th scale tanks, just to do them over and over again.

Did the camo on the Early G tonight and it would be nice to do a 1/16th scale early G with Attack Zimmerit.

[c.rainford73]

Now I know where all the panthers have gone....

[Soeren]

Yes, all Panthers in my hobby room.

Now, I opened the inside. I guess I can take everything out. No need for motors etc. But the structure of the Taigen unit might be usable for the recoil at least. That I will do like in the mods shown by Mexmekker for example.

I wasn´t very happy with the amount of elevation though. As you can see in the picture. The small bend bar doesnt allow for a lot of elevation. I first thought to bend a new bar and use the unit with the motor, or bring in a servo. The latter would make it easier to adjust the range of motion. But the tan colured bracked that is screwed to the mantlet doesnt allow for enough elevation before touching the bottom or the top inside the box.

So, I will now try the cogwheel way, have some from rctankwarfare set, Those will work on the servo side. But it wont be suited for the mantlet. The turret ring seems to have the same "Modul", is that the right term in english as well?, well at least these seem to match. The ring is too narrow for my taste though, so I cut too sections from the ring an glued them back to back. That should then be glued to the mantlet inside and allow for the elevation. I guess the bracket for the recoil will have to be changed as well. But that is for another week.

[Soeren]

By the way, anybody got a Tamiya and Heng Long Panther and can tell me how close these are dimensionwise?

[Soeren]

Hi there. The servo modification of the turret is a bit more demanding. Will get the elevation working in the near future, But then the bracket for the recoil and the section where it slides in has to be heavily modified.

Well, while figuring that out, I though to get rit of the fish eyes on the mantlet. Added a casting seam, a bit exaggerated though, but the Vallejo plastic putty will help blending it in. A few passes with sanding and it should look alright. The two large holes were filled in with Apoxie Sculpt and a brass tube inside. The MG is a brass tube flared towards the opening. Thought of putting an ABER barrel in, but only for a bit of it sticking out? Nah.

Here is a comparison of the mantlet before and after first treatment and original foto and the Schumo mantlet.

EDIT: Update, added the rainguard to the scope opening and gave the mantlet a coat of Mr Surfacer 1000.

Maybe finally some wet sanding the other day and it is done. Easy update I would say. Wonder why I didnt do this in the first place.