Dragon Panther II in 1:35

[Stands24]

Fourth journal! It's Dragon's Panzerkampfwagen V Panther II in 1:35 scale, kit # 6027. This one I cracked open last night after being unable to sleep and took progress pictures for once! It's a pretty rare kit from what I understand, so I'm lucky I got it for an absolute steal! $32 total!!! This kit is older than me... It's from 1994. It is a fairly simple kit, no metal parts except PE for the engine deck. Mold quality is great with some slight flash here and there. It has link-and-length tracks, no rubberband tracks! The tracks ARE attached to sprues however, so there will be some tedious work ahead of whoever finds this kit... Here's the box art.


A page from the instructions. As usual, I started with the turret. I like Schmalturms. I dunno what it is about the rangefinder blisters on the sides, they just make the turret look so cool!


Here's where the kit gets funky already... No clear parts. I guess they weren't a thing back in 1994! This little slot on the top-left of the turret has a cover, but there's nothing to go in it. So I cut off a periscope from my Dragon Tiger II kit I'm finishing up and planned to use it!


I sanded the sides of the periscope down so that it would fit in the small gap in the cover. Fixes fixes!


I still dunno what I'm gonna do here... No vision blocks for the cupola.


Put some U-shaped thingies on the turret sides and added the bottom...


And threw the barrel together and the turret's done! A lot faster than a Tiger II turret, with all its track hangers and whatnot... For a plastic 2-piece barrel (I couldn't find any metal barrels for a Panther II), it turned out pretty great. The gun isn't glued in place either. It's a tight fit for its pivot point, which means I don't have to cement it! It moves at will because there is enough resistance; the gun doesn't weight itself down and cause sag.


I ordered some goodies for this tank, by the way... The third and final one is on its way! Spoiler, the first goodie I planned was to add the second infrared scope in my set of two. The other one is on my E-75. It will go on the commander's cupola as it should.

To Do List
- Finish hull
- TRACKS
- Prime
- Paint
- Decal-ify!
- Finishing steps!

[Darklen]

Nice to see another PII build. I'm currently doing 3 of them at once. A PII Early, a PII Late and a Sturmpanther II conversion. These came out early in Dragons life and no one at the time had clear parts for armour, there weren't even aftermarket ones. Link & link tracks were in every Dragon kit at the time and the only other speedster link tracks available were Modelkasten and Fruil, who were just getting started.

[Stands24]

Nice to see another PII build. I'm currently doing 3 of them at once. A PII Early, a PII Late and a Sturmpanther II conversion. These came out early in Dragons life and no one at the time had clear parts for armour, there weren't even aftermarket ones. Link & link tracks were in every Dragon kit at the time and the only other speedster link tracks available were Modelkasten and Fruil, who were just getting started.

Man, all these cool things we have nowadays must be relatively new then! Nice to see those two companies especially have come so far.

[Stands24]

Small update here. Got the lower hull done.

Road wheels being assembled. Three parts: outer & inner wheels, and a middle joint thing. The joints, suspension arms, and the tracks are all on their separate sprues and are a dark gray. The dark plastic seems tougher than the lighter. Odd!


Running gear done! Took a LOT less time than my Tiger II's for some reason.


And underside of the lower hull with suspension arms.


A little funny for all who stop by here. This was my B-29 after a... pathetic landing. Came in too fast on a short runway. I rolled down a hill, snapping off my front landing gear and ruining my propellers.

[Darklen]

You're going to have to trim the pegs the wheels mount on, if you haven't found out already. They are ok for the outer road wheels but way too long for the inner. Leave a 1/4" or so is plenty long enough. They'll bottom out on the lip on the peg. I trimmed all of mine.

[Stands24]

You're going to have to trim the pegs the wheels mount on, if you haven't found out already. They are ok for the outer road wheels but way too long for the inner. Leave a 1/4" or so is plenty long enough. They'll bottom out on the lip on the peg. I trimmed all of mine.

Which pegs exactly? Could you PM me a picture pointing to which part?

And a small update! My last goodie came in today... Friulmodel tracks!


It comes with track shoes and connector links, side links (dunno what to call them but they're the tiny things on the bottom right), wire for the track pins, instructions, and what I believe is a template to assemble three links at a time. Handy! I've heard many good things about Friulmodel tracks so I have high hopes.


Here are all the goodies I have planned for this kit so far. An infrared scope for the commander's cupola (because I think it makes the kit look a LOT cooler), two antennae (not pictured, one for the turret and one for the hull), Friulmodel tracks, and Aber side skirts! I did some research and concluded that Aber side skirts for the Panther G would work with the Panther II.


This is gonna be fun!

[haxorb]

This kit looks well good! I would love to see more!

[Stands24]

Update time! I didn't like the turret that came with the kit (too big and not enough accurate details) so I ordered Trumpeter's E-50 and used that kit's Schmalturm. Overall a very nicely molded turret. If I make the E-50 itself, I'll use this Panther II's original turret. It'll be too big but oh well.

First, the old turret. You can see a snapped bar in the back; the plastic was way too thin. :/


And its gun.


New turret!!! Weld lines are much better, the commander's hatch is correct, as well as a couple other details. There are also spots for the camo loops (whatever you call them)!


To make the turret fit on the Panther II hull, I had to remove its locking tabs and add a few of my own. Very basic improvising, using sprue numbers as the tabs. In the first image you'll see one of the old tabs on top. Then I had to trim away the tab slots on the hull to make them larger and sand them down.


Unfortunately, after I did this and made it fit, I found out it sat too high on the hull so I'll have to sand down the large exterior ring...

Even more details!


Completed!! The kit came with its own IR scope, but it was very basic and underdetailed for my liking so I used the IR scope I had originally planned to. It required some modification in order for it to fit. As for the gun, I used the original Panther II gun because I really do not like the shape of the E-50's gun mantlet. Luckily the gun fit right inside the slot, though I may have to secure it some more later. VERY pleased with this turret.



The new turret beside the old turret. Here you can see the old one is too big with some improper dimensions.


And the scope that came with the E-50 kit, compared to Greatwall Hobby's scope.





That's all for now, let me know what you think and I'll get started on the upper hull eventually.

[digger303]

"You're going to have to trim the pegs the wheels mount on, if you haven't found out already. They are ok for the outer road wheels but way too long for the inner. Leave a 1/4" or so is plenty long enough. They'll bottom out on the lip on the peg. I trimmed all of mine."

Darklen is referring to the stub axles on the suspension arms.

[Stands24]

Another update! Work is progressing on the upper hull.

First off, we have the front of the upper hull. The hatch handles were horribly bent in the kit when I got it. I'm not sure how to fix it but I attached them the best I could. The next problem I encountered was a lack of periscopes provided in the kit. It has none! I went back once again to my Dragon King Tiger kit which has like 10 extra periscopes and grabbed two.


They didn't fit straight from the kit, so I had to modify them. I cut off the flat part that extends outward from the periscope itself, and sanded down the sides of the outer periscope half.


Then they fit!



One issue I had with this kit when I opened it was the incorrect rear attachment points for the cable hooks. Or whatever they are. I looked for hours on the internet to find a kit with the proper ones to no avail... Only to find that REPLACEMENT tabs were included in this kit, and I had to cut off the existing ones. It went off without a hitch! I like the way these look. The old tab is on the left, and the new on the right.



Then work proceeded on the side parts, mostly just the attachment points for tools. I cut the tools out of the sprue and will paint them separately.



A shot of the engine deck detail, then one of the front detail. That machine gun in the ball mount was INCREDIBLY brittle. I had to super glue it back together after it snapped in half.



That's all for now. I'm doing my best on keeping this build going now that I have a new job. c:

[digger303]

work sucks , but a necessary evil it seems.

[Stands24]

Another update! I finally fixed the Trumpeter kit's turret to fit the Dragon kit'/ hull.

First I had to get a razor saw... But because every blade I saw was absolutely huge, I just bought small sawblades for my X-Acto knife. They were too wide to cut the ring OFF so I just went around over and over again using it as a super sander. After a couple hours the big ring was sanded down quite a bit and the tall interior ring popped off. Looked like this.


I like how I accidentally made this cool, perfectly symmetrical scratch pattern. (:


So I wasn't expecting the inner ring to pop off as well... it was too small in diameter to be glued back to the turret. Luckily earlier that day I had gone to my local hobby store and FINALLY found some spare Evergreen styrene sheets! I cut off little squares, cemented them inside the turret as a platform, and cemented the ring on them.


On goes the ring, but the makeshift locking tabs sat too close to the turret bottom! D: Never fear, Evergreen sheet came back to the rescue. I cut off tiny rectangles to use as spacers and cemented the tabs on top of them, which I put on the ring.


And after all that extensive surgery, our Schmalturm patient is back together and better than ever! It now sits back on the hull properly instead of sitting way too high. (: I'm actually quite happy with this result, especially considering how most of the solutions and improvisations here were thought of in a matter of seconds. xD



Side note, I cut off and primed all the tools so they're ready for painting and they will be attached after the tank itself is painted. I think I'll prime the tank and then work on the Friulmodel tracks. Or maybe the Aber side skirts...

[digger303]

fits well

[Stands24]

Work is progressing on the tracks!!



That's one side done. I have about a fourth left to go on the other side. I also adjusted the idler arm to the proper length and cemented it into place, so then all I have to do is attach all wheels and the tracks after they're painted! I tried to replicate the proper length and sag as seen on the Panther II in Fort Benning.

I'm really excited. Friulmodel tracks are AWESOME.

[Stands24]

ALRIGHT! Both sets of Friulmodel tracks done. These were a JOY to work with; no frustration! They sag automatically due to the weight and you don't have to cement them together!! Just slip the pins in, glue the tip to seal, and BAM! After a while you've got a sturdy, reliable, weighted track set! I absolutely love the way this tank looks. ALSO, I tried to get it just right with the track sag, to match the Panther II in Fort Benning. You guys can check to see if I got it right.





And here we have our Panther II sitting in its cute little cubbie for the night! ^_^


That's where I keep my in-progress tanks. Currently the Panther II and Leopard 2A6 (Tamiya). I also have a Ta-152 C-11 but that's elsewhere, and my Tiger II with zimmerit is in "storage."

Thoughts?

[digger303]

Looking good. Sighting equipment on the turret looks nicely complicated/detailed and intriguing.
I was checking out the tracks and the way the wire is used as pins. My question is this as I have never used metal tracks, some one is kindly sending me a set for a half track 251. What does the end of the pins look like at the finish. Is it noticeable that they have a bit of wire with a sniped off end that may be the wrong shape or is there a way of finishing to over come that. I can't quiet see in the existing posts.
cheers

[Stands24]

Looking good. Sighting equipment on the turret looks nicely complicated/detailed and intriguing.
I was checking out the tracks and the way the wire is used as pins. My question is this as I have never used metal tracks, some one is kindly sending me a set for a half track 251. What does the end of the pins look like at the finish. Is it noticeable that they have a bit of wire with a sniped off end that may be the wrong shape or is there a way of finishing to over come that. I can't quiet see in the existing posts.
cheers

Good question! I used a dab of gorilla glue to seal the pin tips in. On some it created a rounded edge. What I will try to do is repeat this effect with paint when I paint it. However, I am sure there are many methods on YouTube and other sites. (:

[Stands24]

Working on the side skirt holders.


Then I sliced myself trying to bend a part.



After I attached the first bar, I realized it would be a huge pain in the anus to attach each bar without any sort of support. SO, I whipped out the styrene sheet! I cut off little tabs and cemented them to the hull, so they can provide a sort of platform to set the bar on to hold it in place while the super glue is applied.


Worked like a charm!!



More to come. (:

[digger303]

nicely done with the pe bending and assembly.

[chalkyw]

Top PE work there

[Stands24]

nicely done with the pe bending and assembly.

Top PE work there

Thanks guys! Here is my work as it stands now. I think it went pretty well.



However one of the hooks for the bars on the right side has disappeared into thin air without a trace. I have searched my entire room and it's literally gone. I don't know how. I am quite disappointed but I'll try my best to scratch build another hook with my Evergreen sheet.

EDIT: Holy Henschel... I just found the hook. Still attached to the fret. Lord help me.

[Stands24]

Done with the bars, now moving to the side skirts.



I ran into a problem with the rear hooks. They're too close together to mount the skirt for some reason even though the instructions indicate to put them that close. It will take some time to fix it.

[Stands24]

Alright, FINALLY figured out the problem with the side skirts!! I bought the wrong set from Aber; they have two for the same tanks... I had to remove the super glue on the hooks I altered to accomodate my first set of skirts, and move them back into their original positions. Tedious, tedious...



Next came a test fit of the skirts on one side. PERFECT!



Then it was time to beat them up a bit and permanently attach them.






I'm so happy with them. They add a great sense of completion and it makes the tank look more full!

[SergioSolo]

Impressive detailing work!

[Stands24]

I got a small update. I primed everything, but with difficulty. I have to prime outside because my brother doesn't want it in the house (fair enough) and the garage is full. It was very windy yesterday thanks to a big storm that rolled in. I was in the middle of priming when it began to drizzle rain!! Some drops got on the wet primer, forming bubbles and whatnot. Even the parts that weren't rained on had bubbles or bumps, probably due to the wind or humidity. This is Florida after all.

Everything all together.



Here is a close up on the areas I had to sand down due to bumps and bubbles. Thankfully the side skirts didn't have much wrong with them in the way of bubbles.




The texture issues that persisted will be eliminated by the time I paint everything, I think. The gun barrel had a massive buildup on the end that has been nicely sanded down too, but it's hard to see in pictures because of the curvature of the barrel and the lighting.

So now my plans for camo schemes... I've decided to go with an octopus scheme, with a base coat of black to darken all the colors I will put on top. Here's my logic behind this: The octopus pattern was slated to be introduced in June of 1945. However only ONE vehicle was ever painted with it by war's end, that being the famous King Tiger of Kassel. It was built with parts presumably lying around the factory, and sent out to defend that very factory. Images are on Google, just search "Kassel King Tiger" if you aren't familiar with that tank.

Anyways, since Panther IIs "would" have gone into production in late 1945 or early 1946, it makes sense that this one be painted in octopus camo. HOWEVER, mine will differ from the Kassel KT in that I will paint it in a tricolor octopus pattern, not the bicolor as seen in the photos of that tank. I think I'll go with green base coat, then stripes/curves of yellow and red-brown, with green circles. I had two other ideas on how to make it a tricolor scheme, but ask if you want to hear them. c:

That's all for now, I will work on this as much as I can! I LOVE this tank!

[Bissyboat]

The octopus scheme is a great choice. Can´t wait to see your King Tiger with the camo.

[Darklen]

Great build so far. Unfortunate about the primer though. For camo, pretty much any late war scheme could be used. The Panther II project started in Feb. 1943 with production initially planned for Sept. 1943. (as per Jentz/Doyle Panzer Tracts 5-4 on the Panther II & Panther F). By May/June 1943 design elements of the Panther II were being incorporated into the Panther I and the Panther II project was canceled. So even if it weren't canceled and production was delayed, late 1943/early 1944 would be a good guesstimate for a production start date. Of course,being a What If project, your imagination is your only limit.

[Stands24]

Alright guys, here is a picture I made from three images from Google. I used it to test my four variations of octopus camo. Only the bicolor one was used in the war, but I wanted a tricolor since the bicolor looks too bland for me lol.

I feel kind of odd/special for creating a variation on a real-life camo to predict what they might have actually used as the war progressed (had it not ended in May 1945 in Europe). You know what I mean? Just a strange feeling, like I'm going back to that time and writing my own bit of history.

Sorry for the poor quality of the image editing, I was hurrying. xD The key explaining each variation is below the image. Please post your votes! I personally like 4 and 1.



1: Green base
yellow stripes/curves
red-brown circles

2: Bicolor

3: Green base
yellow & red-brown stripes/curves
green circles

4: Green base
Yellow & red-brown stripes/curves
Yellow circles in red-brown areas, red-brown circles in yellow areas

[digger303]

Just to pass on something an auto spray painter told me. Do not spray paint when it is raining. I never asked why, but I guess I do now.

[Stands24]

Just to pass on something an auto spray painter told me. Do not spray paint when it is raining. I never asked why, but I guess I do now.

Yep, I guess because the air is humid even before it starts raining, but then the rain itself makes it even worse!

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So here's an update. I painted the tank black in an attempt (key word, ATTEMPT...) to pre-shade. I didn't remember that you aren't supposed to paint the whole thing black. :/ Even then, I sprayed heavy on the corners and whatnot and TRIED to spray lighter in the open areas. I don't think that showed up too well.



Then came the base coat of Olivgrun! Model Master's RAL 6003 was used for this.



The wheels got it too. For now they will all remain the base color as was custom for the wheels, but I MIGHT paint them different colors after I see how they look on the finished tank.



Here we see our young Panther, not fully grown, but still eager to defend the home of its master!



And a little treat for you all... I finally got around to testing the damage method someone told me about on Armorama. I used my E-50 hull for this as when I get around to making that tank, I plan to have it "knocked out." Might as well get started somehow lol.

First step was to reinforce the chosen areas to the proper thickness of the armor. I cut small rectangles from my Evergreen sheet and cemented them on top of one another until they extended out to where the weld seam indicated the armor "stopped."




A second set of rectangles were attached to support a ricochet. Only two this time instead of four, since the ricochet won't go as far into the armor.



Then a paperclip was bent into the appropriate scale size. I wanted this damage to be from 122mm shells, so I divided 122 by 35 and the result was 3.48. I rounded up to 3.5 for easiness.



After that, the paperclip was heated with a lighter (I wore heat-resistant gloves lol, don't worry) and I pushed it into the armor while twisting. To get all the way through I had to reheat about 5 more times. For the ricochet, I had to repeat six times total in order to make it neater and less "jagged." The third mark is an attempt to show the shell grazing the hull. It is above and to the right of the ricochet.






That's all for now! I am attempting to figure out the best way to mask the hull for finishing the camo. Part of me wants to use liquid masking tape but the other part of me wants to go with sticky tack and paper towel... I don't want to use the liquid because I may encounter problems with peeling it off, but I don't want to do the tack & paper towel because it takes SO LONG... I'll figure something out though.

[Bissyboat]

Looking good.

[Stands24]

Looking good.

Thanks! ^_^

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Time for another update! A collection of small things. First on the docket was to paint the inner part of the lower hull black, since it's completely visible through the engine grilles. The gray made it look really weird which is why I painted it black.



Then work began on the tow cable. I can't remember but I think this kit came with string intended to be used as the cable. Since I have plenty of twisted copper wire left over from my Cobra King build, I cut off the proper length and began!



However before I could continue, I had to re-add these little parts that broke off earlier in the construction stage. I had forgotten to add them back before painting!



With the tow cable pins back in place, I then dry fitted the ends to the cable and did a test fit of the full thing. My guesswork measuring from when I cut it was JUST right! Any shorter and it would have not fit!



Darth Vader can't believe how well this kit is coming along!!!



Next I turned my attention to the turret. See, the Schmalturm (even though it was not intended to be used on the Panther II) had the coaxial MG on the right of the main gun, and the gunsight was originally to be mounted on the left of the gun in front of the gunner. But for a reason I cannot remember, they moved the gunsight to the top of the turret directly above where it was first planned to be mounted. I'm not sure if the hole for the first gunsight spot was drilled and then filled, or not drilled at all. Either way it bothered me. Here you can see them both clearly.



Both of these holes just didn't look right to me, so I took action!

The first step was to locate something that would be suitable to pass as an MG... Luckily I didn't lose the half of the hull-mounted MG that broke off twice. I think the remaining half looks fine as it is, and the whole thing being put back together would look much too long. Therefore I repurposed the broken-off half! Note how similar they look here. You'd have to get close to notice the differences.



So the next step was to get it inside the turret and into its slot. The inside of the turret is bare, not even a breech. There is no intended mount for a coax MG. The MG itself was too slim to simply be cemented to the sides of its slot, so I had to get creative and make my own mount... Once again, Evergreen sheets to the rescue!

I cut off three small rectangles, each smaller than the one before. The first acted as the base upon which the MG and the other two pieces would be cemented. The top piece is shorter than the bottom in order to compensate for the angle of the turret front, thus allowing the MG to be mounted centered and not angled up or down. Here is the completed rig.



And here is the new coaxial MG! It looks perfect! I'm amazed at how close my guesswork was; I took no measurements of the angle. The only thing I did was open up War Thunder to see how far the MG stuck out, and based my entire rig off of how that looked. At first the angle was off, but I trimmed the ends down bit by bit until it was perfectly centered. You can also see the rig after being attached. It's so small! I used super glue in order to ensure a strong bond.




Then I turned my attention to the gunsight hole... There was nothing I could do about this except fill it in. I was cautious about this since I had already done the base coat, but it turned out better than I expected. Here is the putty before painting.



Here is the NOW-fully completed turret. c: Love it! While the filled-in gunsight does still have a visibly uneven surface in certain lightings, I can go over that with more paint later if needed.



Then came the tools. My least favorite part of any kit aside from the running gear lol. Here they are, all primed and painted (where appropriate) with a bare steel color. The wooden box is fully painted. I read that the metal parts that connect to the tank were painted the same color as the tank (depending where on the tank they were located), so for now all those specific sections will be painted Olivgrun.



Here they are after initial painting. I did use the hairspray method of paint chipping (since these parts would definitely be chipped from usage), but in this picture only the shovel is chipped. You will see the other chipped ones later. c:



Here's the tube thing. I focused my chipping and stuff on the hard edges which would have been touched/scraped more often than the curved surfaces.




This is a close-up of the shovel. I focused chipping on the high-contact areas, like the end of the shovel for sure and the parts where you push down with your feet to get the shovel deeper in the dirt.



So this is the only bit I'm worried about... Vallejo's Model Color doesn't stay on the edges of things. This is their "Natural Steel" color, number 70.864. It likes to pool up on itself whereas my ModelMaster paints stay wherever you put them. However, when it dried it looked like it had already been chipped reasonably. The edges are worn to the steel color underneath as well as some other random areas. Do you guys think I should give it another coat of paint and chip it myself, or is the self-chipping by the paint itself sufficient?



That's all for now! Remember to comment and definitely tell me if you think I should do more work on those last metal parts in the last picture. xD See you next time! Hopefully I will have decided between using liquid masking tape or the tack-and-towel method for the camo.

[OneSmallStep1966]

I think you're doing a superb job here, well done

[Bissyboat]

Great job on the tools. The close-ups show how well painted they are.

[Stands24]

So, the paint job came out terribly and I hated it. I stripped off the paint only to strip off important parts too... One new E-50 kit and one new Panther II kit later (hooray, another $100 down the drain...) I replaced the parts and now we're back in business.

Here is whatever this is (don't know what to call it) but it goes on the tank and the drive sprocket goes near it. Some kind of hub? Anyways, it turns out that the new Panther II kit I got had UPDATED parts! Bonus!!! This one has that hook-looking thing. Old part on left, new on right.



Here it is on the tank. Looks much better!



Two branch-holder loops (I think that's what they are) replaced on the turret. I had to re-drill the holes for these because parts of the old loops were broken off in the sockets molded into the turret.



Then the two little tow cable holding pegs were reattached for the fourth time... I also gave it a new bow MG since the old one broke off (and was already broken in half). This is easily the most flimsy piece in the kit. This one broke in half too when I was trying to slice off the excess plastic.



So here is where we are now! Everything is dry-fitted together (including the antennae, spare tracks, but minus the tools). I didn't think it was necessary to remove the paint on the IR device, wheels, or gun barrel. Those were fine.








Next step is to get the green base coat on again... I'm not going to prime it again because that I feel will only serve to fill in the gaps that need to NOT be filled in. You know?