Tamiya 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (Sd.kfz.171) Ausf.A.

Post by **plasmahal** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 1:55 pm

Hi all,

Happy New Year for 2016.

My first planned build for 2016 is the 1/35 Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (Sd.kfz.171) Ausf.A (#35065).

It's an old mold but in true Tamiya style, ahead in its day and has very nice details etc.

I'm supplementing this kit with Eduard’s photo etch set #35424 and some aftermarket tracks as the old rubber band tracks are a definite weak point.

Some background on the Panther Tank:

The Panther was a German medium tank deployed during World War II on the Eastern and Western Fronts in Europe from mid-1943 to its end in 1945. It had the ordnance inventory designation of Sd.Kfz. 171.

Until 27 February 1944, it was designated as the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther when Hitler ordered that the Roman numeral "V" be deleted. Contemporary English language reports sometimes refer to it as the Mark

V.

The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the latter and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. It is

considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower and protection. Its reliability was less impressive.

The Panther was a compromise. While having essentially the same engine as the Tiger I, it had more efficient frontal hull armour, better gun penetration, was lighter and faster, and could traverse rough

terrain better than the Tiger I. The trade-off was weaker side armour, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long range engagements, but did not
provide enough high explosive firepower against infantry.

The Panther was far cheaper to produce than the Tiger I, and only slightly more expensive than the Panzer IV. Key elements of the Panther design, such as its armour, transmission, and final drive, were

simplifications made to improve production rates and address raw material shortages. The overall design remained somewhat over-engineered. The Panther was rushed into combat at the Battle of Kursk
despite numerous unresolved technical problems, leading to high losses due to mechanical failure. Most design flaws were rectified in the German retreat, though the bombing of production plants, increasing

shortages of high quality alloys for critical components, shortage of fuel and training space, and the declining quality of crews all impacted on the Type's effectiveness.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_tank

Onto the box, sprues and AM.

Post by **plasmahal** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:18 pm

Update One

Started the build with the rear bulkhead. First job was to remove the molded on brackets on the 2 exhausts. This also helped to clean up the seam lines from the molding process. Then finished off with

drilling out the exhausts for a more realistic look.

Then it was onto detailing the rest of the rear bulkhead with the rear exhausts brackets, details on the stowage bins and the jack.

The jack was detailed with PE and installed in the correct manner unlike the original Tamiya instructions, Eduard have been good in telling how it is installed.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:28 am

Very cool, l grew up with those kits. Funny how we thought they we're state of the art then, Lol. again great work.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:16 am

Looking good. Nice details on an old but great offering from Tamiya.

Post by **plasmahal** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 10:08 am

Thanks for the comments guys.

I think for under £15, these veteran tamiya kits still offer enough detail as a nice base to work from.

Post by **Mylightweight** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:19 am

I love Panthers, this is looking very nice so far

Post by **ForTheWatch** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 6:47 pm

nice one. what was the problem with this kit, the turret is 2mm too short or smth?

Post by **CharleyGnarlyP290** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:50 am

Wow. This was the first Tamiya kit I built... summer of '77, I believe. Before that it was Monogram Armor Series kits.
I am looking forward to seeing this built up with all of the aftermarket stuff.

Post by **plasmahal** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 10:16 pm

Update Two

After several sessions, the PE is now 99.99% done.

I need to sort the lack of metal plates covering the underneath of the upper hull then I'll be moving onto painting.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:07 am

That is freaken awesome! Plasmahal, I do like photo etch, and you really brought out her eyes, lol. Again very cool.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:04 am

Looking nice. Wizard work on the PE.

Post by **plasmahal** » Tue Jan 19, 2016 4:34 pm

Update Three

Onto the painting stage now and to start off, everything primed with black Stynylrez.

Then it was onto a base colour of Tamiya XF-60, Dark Yellow.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 4:34 am

Same great look at half the price. You made that oldie really stand out. Just as nice as my $68 dragon panther, Ugh. Really nice. You adding it to a dio?

Post by **plasmahal** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:51 pm

Update Four

The camouflage pattern was done freehand and I opted for a web like pattern. Tamiya XF-64, Red Brown and XF-58, Olive Green were used.

Post by **plasmahal** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:52 pm

InitialProduction1 wrote:Same great look at half the price. You made that oldie really stand out. Just as nice as my $68 dragon panther, Ugh. Really nice. You adding it to a dio?

Hi,

Thanks for comments.

I have a basic dio in mind.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:25 pm

You my friend are killing it. I'm really like that paint work.

Post by **SimonV** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:27 pm

This is awesome. I'm in the process of building this alongside my Stug and the PE really sets it off. Awesome looking camo, too.

Post by **Sturm** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:46 pm

Wow! Looking good!

Post by **plasmahal** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:27 pm

Update Five

Moving on, the model was gloss coated and decals applied and weathered.

The decals were sealed with another gloss coat. I added some simple chipping using a peice of a scouring pad and some Vallejo 70.822 german black

brown.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:36 pm

that's funny, how you just made that kit look the same. or even better then a 50.00 dragon kit. that's some stunner of a build Plasmahal, really awesome.

Post by **d6mst0** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:50 am

Amazing work!

Post by **mannloon** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:44 am

Great job. That was my first armor kit in 2009. Every time i see it i'm reminded of how excited i was to start learning about/building German armor. You have certainly done it justice, technically it is the first 1/35 scale tooling ever, so to see it look that good still is fantastic.

Post by **plasmahal** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:27 pm

Update Six

After another gloss coat to seal the chipping effects, i then created my own sludge wash using a very dark brown pastel, distilled water and a drop of washing up liquid.

Once the wash was dry, it was cleaned up with cotton buds and then sealed with a dullcoat.
Once the dullcoat was dry, I then made up a filter of MIG's 502 Abteilung german ochre and applied all over the panther.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:47 pm

I REALLY like watching this Ole girl come alive, your doing a beautiful job on it.

Post by **Smiffy** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 7:31 pm

Amazing work so far, thing is going to be one good looking Panther

Post by **ForTheWatch** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 2:33 pm

Is this the kit with the wrong turret size? Attractive price and I want the A model but I want zim version...

Post by **spock1701** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 12:55 pm

This was my first tank model that I ever built. You really did it justice. Wonderful job with the paint scheme. Freehand, you say?

Post by **plasmahal** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:27 pm

ForTheWatch wrote:Is this the kit with the wrong turret size? Attractive price and I want the A model but I want zim version...

Don't know about wrong turret size, but it looks like a tank to me....

Post by **plasmahal** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:27 pm

spock1701 wrote:This was my first tank model that I ever built. You really did it justice. Wonderful job with the paint scheme. Freehand, you say?

Yep, freehand camo, go with the flow!!!!

Post by **demarcation** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 10:57 pm

Great work mate!!

Post by **spock1701** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 12:40 pm

Well, you did a top-notch job. My first freehand camo came out looking like a three year old had drawn in crayon all over a Jagdpanther.

Post by **plasmahal** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 3:21 pm

Update Seven

The Panther was given another matt coat.

For this build i am trying out dot filters for the first time. I used 4 different oil colours and then dotted the panther with the four colours.

This was then blened in with a brush damped with low odour thinners.

The whole of the Panther was done this way and left to dry.

This has left the paintwork with a subtle weathered effect. I may tidy up here and there as required.

Post by **schweinhund227** » Wed Feb 03, 2016 3:39 pm

Post by **ForTheWatch** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 1:12 pm

did it come with Shurzen side skirts? It looks like it came out beautifully, such a cool work on details and weathering with oils. Im a bit scared to try those for the first time.

Post by **fred29** » Fri Feb 12, 2016 9:06 pm

that looks great. I had the same kit but mine didn't look any were near as good

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 10:31 am

Beautiful paint finish there Sir. A superb Panther.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:23 am

Plasmahal I keep stopping by, because it's such an amazing build. So I know better then most, not as much as others, that we lose our mojo, just want you to know there are guys still looking in on this build. Cause this is a show stopper, you did old school Tamiya proud.

YouTube · Post by **Jscale32** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 4:56 am

Nice work!
I built exactly the same model with the same photoetch set. I also used the Eduard zimmerit set, and a Jordi Rubio metal barrel.

Post by **spock1701** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 12:52 pm

Plasmahal I keep stopping by, because it's such an amazing build. So I know better then most, not as much as others, that we lose our mojo, just want you to know there are guys still looking in on this build. Cause this is a show stopper, you did old school Tamiya proud.

I concur. We're all with you here, Plasmahal.

Post by **plasmahal** » Sun Feb 28, 2016 8:12 pm

Update Eight

Been a while so decided to progress the Panther build. Apart from enjoying the MENG Whippet build, i was holding off this one as I was not looking forward to the pigment weathering. Definitely my weakest skill at the moment. I used 3 shades of mud pigment from dark to light and muddied up the hull areas likely to get mud.

This was blended together with low odour thinners and left to dry. Once dry and heavy areas were carefully knocked back with a soft brush. Once I had something akin to what I was after I used pigment fixer.

Next was to the tracks on and weathered. These aftermarket tracks seemed like such a good idea at the time (because they were cheap). They are very nicely detailed and are not too bad for cleaning up after removing from the sprue. The issue is if you don't assemble them properly or they come apart after assembly, the little pins that hold them together break off so they no longer clip together. After what seemed several hours fitting them, I had to use CA glue and styrene glue in many places to hold them together. I got there in the end and gave the tracks a mud wash.

I still have to finishing touches of weathering to do then it things like the MG and aerial bits and bobs and it should be done.

Post by **spock1701** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 12:51 pm

That looks amazing. Truly a masterpiece.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 1:28 pm

Really awesome build Plasmahal, you pulled out all the stops, and made a truly beautiful kit.

Post by **plasmahal** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 2:57 pm

Thanks guys, really appreciate the feedback.

I've still got a lot to learn about pigments but must say how easy and effective the oil dot filter method is to weather the paint up.

Post by **OliveDrab** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:28 pm

Super build, just awesome work turning an old Tamiya kit into a masterpiece

Post by **McClane187** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 8:45 am

Wow... looks really great. The pe parts are awesome.. kutgw...

Post by **plasmahal** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:10 pm

Update Nine

I have finished the Panther build now. I made an aerial from stretched sprue and sprayed it XF-84, dark iron. The MG was finished off with a dry brushing of stainless metallics and then a black ink wash. This was then fitted to the cupola rail.

I still plan to do a base for the Panther and then do the final reveal photos.

Post by **McClane187** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:55 pm

Looks faboulus, mate... awesome paintjob...

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 6:57 pm

Great finish Sir. Really nice Panther. Not showing its age at all, the PE and tracks really add to the old Tamiya beast.

Post by **InitialProduction1** » Sun Mar 06, 2016 2:07 pm

Wow Plasmahal that's an awesome paint/build, REALLY looking forward to your Dio/vignette? reveal. Anything like this build and you'll have a show stopper.

Post by **ForTheWatch** » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:59 pm

beautiful build! nicely done sir!