"Duel in the Mist" Panther G

[Jochen1944]

Well, this is my second Heng Long conversion project (the first one being Wittmann's Late tiger "205"), but the first one I have posted photos of in this forum.

I must first thank Jeff1101 and the many other members of this forum for their hard work, which has acted as my primary inspiration. Jeffs detailed record of his conversion has been immensely useful. My objective is to create an accurate model of Panther G "221" which was abandoned in La Gleize. Having taken pointers from Forum members, I've then referred to the extensive resource of on-line photographs of the original vehicles. Also the superb book "Duel in the Mist" volumes I and II, which covers the fighting of the Panthers on Kampfegruppe Peiper during the Ardenne offensive.

Unfortunately the only part of the conversion which is "as yet" inaccurate, is the fact I've retained the standard wheels and not converted to the Steel Wheel variant. At this stage I'm still unclear how to achieve this conversion on the standard Heng Long Chassis. Concise pointers from members would be welcomed.

The following shots show the almost complete upgrade. Its almost at the painting stage, and only requires the small weld seams to be added around lifting points etc using milliput. All the tools, tow ropes etc will be added at the final stage.

I hope people find this useful.

[Jochen1944]

2nd Installment

[Jochen1944]

3rd Installment

[dgsselkirk]

Thanks so much for posting this Jbuckley! My next project is a Panther after the KT and I will most certainly be looking up this post. Excellent detail work especially your weld lines look so nice and even. Tell me the details of how you did that please. I have a few methods but am always interested in other approaches.

TXS!

[Jochen1944]

Thanks. The weld lines were produced by rolling milliput into very fine sausages. Then forcing it into the channel using a scalpel. I then moistened the scalpel and used to to smooth the weld bead so it was flat with the surface. Then used a very small jewellers screwdriver at a 45 degree angle to work back along the bead to create the scalop shaped pattern of the weld bead. Hope that helps.

[maxmekker]

damn fine work, and as kirk say's , a referance for future build Do share when it's spraybooth

[jeff1101]

Nice work! I do say your weld beads are way better than mine.

[Jochen1944]

Thanks for the kind words guys. A big thank you to you Jeff. You showed me the way on a number of the mods. I'm a bit apprehensive about the next stage ... airbrushing the finished product. It feels a bit make or break, and I'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to airbrushing!

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).

[Jochen1944]

Eastern Front - Thats a major mod to create the steel wheel conversion, and the end results look bloody fantastic!!! my hat goes off to you. Brilliant work. Can you tell me where you got the parts from and perhaps give a few more tips. It looks like you've used a number of different sources.

[dgsselkirk]

Of course! I jewellers screwdriver! Why didn't I think of that! LOL! I was using the back side of an Xacto knife. Will give that tool a try for sure.