HL Panther G customization diary

[maxmekker]

exelent stuff. I really like the paintjob/Camo. and the work you have put into it, man that is awsome

[jeff1101]

Updates 11/10/2013 - Markings cont'd

Not much done today as I was busy running some errands. Also (as always ) thought I was finished with the Panther's markings but have forgotten to add this: (photo referenced from panther1944.de - http://www.panther1944.de/community/vie ... f=6&t=1838)


This picture clearly show the square topped letter "A" rather crudely painted on this Panther's front gun travel lock. This is yet another clear identifier for MAN built panthers as this marking is unique to MAN. It was often painted (but not always) only on MAN built tanks. Curiously of the dozens (close to a hundred) of pictures of MAN panthers I have searched on the net, this letter "A" always appears together with the bar crosses on the front corner glacis interlock.

Many experts (on the net) think this letter "A" is nothing more than a quality control mark painted by the factory workers to identify that the tank has gone through the requisite factory inspection and quality checks and was fit to be delivered to the units in the field. These marking first started to appear on MAN panthers even before Sept, 1944. In fact this photo is of one of the rare (not more that 30 built) MAN panthers that have the curious steel wheel on the last wheel station (rather than the regular rubber rimmed wheel, see the different last wheel on the photo). Only MAN attempted to put steel wheels from Tiger IIs on their panther tanks and the period of the photo which is April 1945 shows that even in the dying months of the war, the factories were still applying these "A" markings.

Of course since my panther screams "MAN built!!", I had to put these marking on my own tank as well. I originally planned on just hand painting this symbol using a brush. Unfortunately my paint brushing skills were sorely lacking.

My previous attempts of painting the letter A with brush doesn't even appear to look like a letter. I know they were crudely painted, but at least I think it was neater than this.


Instead I decided to mask the letter using Tamiya tape and air brush it.


And here it is applied using the dull white color mix I used previously. Now imagine yourself in a Sherman and looked at your gun sight and saw this.

[tankmad]

Looking good keep up the good work.
Stevie

[Red Devils]

Hey Jeff, your Panther is a true work of art. Question for ya though, who is Dominique and what site does he operate? I like that idea of an external connector for the battery charger. Great idea...

Derek

[jeff1101]

Thanks Red Devils.

Dominique is the site owner. I ordered that charging port assembly here. http://www.rctank.de/Battery-charging-s ... wer-supply
I'll try to do a mini review of it once I install it.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning,
Another piece of arcane Panther trivia that really adds to the incredible realism of your tank, Jeff. A place to get some oddly shaped self adhesive letters like that (for anyone like me who doesn't use an airbrush yet) are places like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. These are craft stores and carry almost everything imaginable of use to our shared Hobby.
regards,
Painless Wolf

[Panther Ausf G]

Excellent diary Jeff, and the very useful link to the German forum.

[Red Devils]

Thanks Jeff...

Derek

[jeff1101]

Updates 11/16/2013 - Markings cont'd

Another quirk of the MAN factory is the the application of the Fahrgestellnummer (literally "chassis number") on the front glacis of their panthers. Again although the practice is common to MAN, like the letter "A" on the travel lock, it was not always applied.

Also this painting of the chassis numbers is not unique to MAN as a single photo of a "proven" Daimler Benz assembled panther also shows this chassis number painted on the tank. However this is the only photo of a DB panther that has it so we can assume that this practice was not widely adopted by the other manufacturers. In fact MNH did not apply the numbers on their panthers at all. (Based on photo evidence)

Picture below is a MAN panther with again the square topped letter "A" (very crudely painted) on the travel lock and the Fahrgestellnummer, (partially obscured by fake camouflage foliage), painted on the front lower portion of the glacis plate.


Also notice that even though the letter A is crudely painted, the Fahrgestell number is very neat as this was spray painted using a stencil compared to the A mark that was just brush painted on.

Since the stencil I bought did not include these numbers I bought some dry transfer numbers at my local crafts store. I looked for the font and font size that was a close match to the numbers as applied on the real tanks.


Next I thought of the chassis number to use. I referenced the tables in panther1944.de - http://panther1944.de/en/sdkfz-171-pzkp ... gures.html

In particular I checked the chassis numbers for Ausführung G (3rd table) for MAN (3rd column). Since my "hypothetical" panther was produced around Dec 15-25, 1944 and assuming these numbers are sequentially incremented by 1 for each panther produced, I randomly selected a number that is about near the end of the December production run. (Fahrgestell nos. 121273 to 121373).

I selected chassis no. 121357. Next I checked this link http://panther1944.de/en/sdkfz-171-pzkp ... mmern.html containing known panther chassis numbers based on surviving documentation and period photos so that the number I chose would not inadvertently match any "known" panther. I did this because in the end my panther is fictional.

With that done. I used tape as a guide so that the numbers were aligned. The tape was aligned to the horizontal using the front glacis were the top and bottom plates meet at an angle.


I then applied the dry transfer using a toothpick.


And here is the Fahrgestell number applied.

[Dietrich]

Hi jeff1101,
Simply Stunning work here on this Panther..................I think that your patience 'Knows No Bounds'