Tomcat's Meng 1/35 JagdPanther

[Tomcat64]

Back from a few days holiday and with the broadband connection now repaired it's time to get started with this


First up some background courtesy of our friends at Wiki:
The Jagdpanther (German: "hunting panther"), Sd.Kfz. 173, is a tank destroyer built by Germany during World War II based on the chassis of the Panther tank. It entered service in 1944 during the later stages of the war on the Eastern and Western Fronts. The Jagdpanther combined the 8.8 cm Pak 43 cannon, similar to the main gun of the Tiger II, and the armour and suspension of the Panther chassis, although it suffered from the general poor state of German ordnance production, maintenance and training in the later part of the war, which resulted in small production numbers, shortage of spare parts and poor crew readiness.

Development
The Jagdpanther had been preceded by two attempts at mounting an 8.8 cm gun as a self-propelled anti-tank weapon; Ferdinand using the 91 leftover Porsche-built VK 45.01 (P) chassis from the Tiger tank competition it had lost to Henschel in 1942, and the Nashorn using a Panzer III/IV chassis. Ferdinand proved to be too heavy and Nashorn too lightly armoured and underpowered.
A heavy tank destroyer design based on the 8.8 cm Pak 43 gun and the Panther tank chassis was ordered in late 1942. The full-size model by Daimler-Benz was demonstrated in October 1943 before Hitler. MIAG-built prototypes followed in October/November 1943.
Production started in January 1944; in February, Hitler specified the simpler Jagdpanther name instead of its original "8.8 cm Pak 43/3 auf Fahrgestell Panther".



To accommodate the heavier-calibre gun, much as on previous Jagdpanzer-style unturreted tank destroyers, the glacis plate and sloped hull sides of the Jagdpanther were extended up into an integral, turretless fixed casemate as part of the main hull itself to provide a roomy interior. The Jagdpanther had side armour of increased thickness (50 mm) to offset the slightly reduced angle of the side armour necessary to provide enough interior space. Lower frontal hull armour was reduced to 60 mm while upper hull frontal armour was kept at 80mm. The chassis armor changes were also introduced on the main Panther tank assembly lines with the Panther Ausf. G in spring 1944.
It was armed with the long-barrelled 8.8 cm Pak 43/3 L/71 gun, similar to the main gun of the Tiger II "King Tiger". The gun was mounted in a central mantlet, which gave it a limited traverse of 12 degrees to each side. A single 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun for local defence was in a ball mount on the right side of the front glacis plate. The machine gunner was also the wireless operator. The driver sat on the left. The gunner had a rangefinder and a periscope telescopic sight. The periscope - linked to the gun mount - was under an armoured housing on the roof.
The Jagdpanther had a good power-to-weight ratio and a powerful main gun, which enabled it to destroy any type of Allied tank. Based on the existing Panther Ausf G chassis, the vehicle did not suffer too many mechanical problems. It was manned by a crew of five: a driver, radio-operator, commander, gunner and a loader.

The two main variants can be distinguished, the earlier G1 1944 model has a small welded main gun mantlet, one piece Pak 43/3 gun, a modified Panther A engine deck and had two vision openings for the driver. The G2 JagdPanther used a Panther Ausf. G engine deck, a larger gun mantlet bolted externally (possibly to cut down on production time) and a two piece KwK 43/4 L/71 gun. Some later G1 models may have possessed G2 features such as the larger G2 mantlet because changes to the design were implemented gradually and lack of spares turned many Jagdpanthers into 'hybrids'. Zimmerit was applied to G1's up to September 1944 in a distinctive "small-squared" pattern when it was withdrawn for fear of fire risk and to speed up production time. Early Jagdpanthers had two vision openings for the driver, whereas late versions had only one. The main gun originally had a monobloc gun barrel, but from May 1944 on it was gradually replaced by a two-part barrel which was more economical as barrel wear was not even.



Production and service
A total of 415 Jagdpanthers were produced from January 1944 by three manufacturers. MIAG in Braunschweig produced 270 from January 1944 until the end of the war. Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen-Hannover (MNH) produced 112 from November 1944. Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf (MBA) in Potsdam produced 37 vehicles from December 1944. Planned production had been 150 a month, but the disruption to German manufacturing had made this impossible.
The last 'production' Jagdpanthers were produced at the factory by German staff just after the end of World War II under the supervision of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) using available components. 9 Panthers and 12 Jagdpanthers were produced and shipped back to Britain for post-war trials. A complete Panther and a complete Jagdpanther produced this way are now at the Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, with brass plates on them, explaining their history.
Jagdpanther equipped heavy antitank battalions (schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilungen) and served mainly on the Eastern Front. In the West, they were first encountered in very small numbers late in the Battle of Normandy, where the German 654 schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung ("654th Heavy Antitank Battalion") deployed about 12 Jagdpanthers against British units. Later, significant numbers were concentrated in the West for the Ardennes Offensive.


Survivors
Three surviving Jagdpanthers have been restored to running condition. Two German museums, the Deutsches Panzermuseum at Munster and the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung (WTS) at Koblenz, each have a running Jagdpanther. The Sd.Kfz. Foundation in the UK has restored one Jagdpanther to running condition, using two wrecked Jagdpanthers to complete one. The other wreck will also be restored.
There are at present seven other known surviving Jagdpanthers, which are on display at:

• Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, UK—one of a number assembled by British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers for trials, late production model.

• Imperial War Museum Duxford, Duxford, UK. Early production variant. This has three shot penetrations on the right side of the engine compartment while the left side has been sectioned and opened to public view. Was hit during the battle of Hechtel, Belgium by Hugh Griffiths, Baron Griffiths

• Kubinka Tank Museum, Moscow, Russia

• Musée des Blindés in Saumur, France

• Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, Sinsheim, Germany

• Panzermuseum Thun, Thun, Switzerland

• Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, Alabama, USA - In storage at Center for Military History Museum Support Center - Anniston

• The Wheatcroft Collection in the UK owns a small collection of parts of Jagdpanthers and hopes to restore one to running condition

This is my first foray into a Meng kit and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in - the sprue frames were all bagged up in the sturdy box but here they are broken out






Being a German AFV there are plenty of wheels...


Here are the tracks included in the box - I won't be using these but they're here for completeness...


Some photo-etch (including the schurtzen) and clear parts for view ports - I'm leaving these bagged for now


The instruction booklet runs to 23 pages with 33 build steps


They look clear enough at first glance


Colour schemes for four variants


And here's the reason I'm not using the original kit tracks


I'm leaving this all bagged up for the moment too... there's lots of teeny bits in here


With the instructions on the back of the box


Hoping to make a start on this one in the next couple of days

[Quax]

Looks good Neil, I've seen quite a bit of the Meng Panthers and JP's online so it'll be interesting to see how it comes together
Paul

[DRUMS01]

Hey Neil,

That looks to be quite the kit. I can already see the cross eyed squint while building the tracks (smile). No doubt with your skills this is going to be a masterpiece.



Ben

[ElCapitan]

Very interesting. Definitely more involved than the Tamiya, with the tracks and the fact you have to put the upper hull pieces together. Looks like it's going to be a fun build!

[Stokesy44]

Let battle commence my friend

Man alive those tracks look a lot of work!

[Kevthemodeller]

Man alive those tracks look a lot of work!

They do but they go together really nicely and they make a very nice track, well the ones of my Leopard A2 did

[MarkVerploeg]

Intresting kit
Besides that you can't go wrong with JP
Allthough i think it is a shame they sell the interior and the working tracks and suspension as seperate items
Good luck with the build

[digger303]

should turn out well, I don't envy you having to glue on all those guide horns though.

[Tomcat64]

Thanks guys - I really need to get cracking on this.

I think I'm going to tackle the tracks in short sections so I don't go completely cross eyed.

When I used the Kaizen tracks on my StuG I think I did them in chunks of ten links to try and keep my sanity.

Talking of Kaizen, anyone know what's happened to them? They seem to have vanished off the face of the planet which is a shame as I was impressed by the way they worked.

[digger303]

Thanks guys - I really need to get cracking on this.

I think I'm going to tackle the tracks in short sections so I don't go completely cross eyed.

When I used the Kaizen tracks on my StuG I think I did them in chunks of ten links to try and keep my sanity.

Talking of Kaizen, anyone know what's happened to them? They seem to have vanished off the face of the planet which is a shame as I was impressed by the way they worked.

Maybe it's just a local thing or supplies are running out cause I didn't see a lot around with my quick search.
These have some.
https://www.hobbyeasy.com/en/category/A ... 1553087643
https://www.hqhobbies.com/collections/kaizen-tracks

[Stokesy44]

Was really impressed with Kaizen. Bit fiddly taking them off the sprue but great looking and half the cost of metal track replacements.

[Stokesy44]

Be careful when you put the wheels onto the suspension arms, they're a really tight fit with the rubber plugs so you may need to sand the connectors a bit or the arms just bend back against you.

Only gripe so far on mine.

[Tomcat64]

I finally managed to make a start on this one

Being a German AFV the first thing to tackle appears to be a pile of wheelie bits...


The casting on the parts is great for the most part with very little clean up required aside from attachment points and minor flash. The attention to detail is also quite something as in the casting on the inside of the inner wheels... invisible once glued together


Aside from a couple of EPMs on the inside faces on the idlers the only other casting issue I've seen is a pin hole on each face of the drive sprockets - @Stokesy44 does yours have anything like this? It's not a huge problem as the holes can be filled or hidden behind the tracks but it was a surprise given the general quality of the casting


Anyway after about an hour of therapeutic cleaning up and glueing I ended up with a pile of wheels


Next step was basic hull tub assembly - as I'm using the suspension set I needed to leave out the indicated parts


Nothing too onerous here, but in terms of build order I found it easier to install the bracing beams into the floor before sliding the sides into place


That's all so far but really happy that it's finally started and still got a couple of months to go to get it finished

Thanks as always for looking

[digger303]

I finally managed to make a start on this one


Aside from a couple of EPMs on the inside faces on the idlers the only other casting issue I've seen is a pin hole on each face of the drive sprockets - @Stokesy44 does yours have anything like this? It's not a huge problem as the holes can be filled or hidden behind the tracks but it was a surprise given the general quality of the casting


Thanks as always for looking
@Stokesy44

Neil that's a timing mark so that your can synchronize your tracks with the driver, the idler and the right an left side do you see what I mean.............................

[Tomcat64]

Neil that's a timing mark so that your can synchronize your tracks with the driver, the idler and the right an left side do you see what I mean.............................

[digger303]

Neil that's a timing mark so that your can synchronize your tracks with the driver, the idler and the right an left side do you see what I mean.............................

.... there's no getting one past you

[Tomcat64]

Neil that's a timing mark so that your can synchronize your tracks with the driver, the idler and the right an left side do you see what I mean.............................

.... there's no getting one past you

I got a bit more time at the bench last night and moved onto the next stage of adding bits to the outside of the lower hull


Nothing too taxing here except for a desperate attempt by the carpet monster to swipe a small part but he was thwarted


So next up will be the suspension set which doesn't look too bad at first glance as long as I'm paying attention.

[Stokesy44]

Neil that's a timing mark so that your can synchronize your tracks with the driver, the idler and the right an left side do you see what I mean.............................

.... there's no getting one past you

Mine had those on both sides. Looking at Panther History on www.obsessedwithjerrytanks.com they holes are actually charging ports for the driver and radio operators mobile phones. Obviously they could only be used when the tank was stationery or the charging cable would tangle up the tracks and tip up the tank. I believe George Lucas used this as his inspiration for the harpoons on the snowspeeders in the Empire Strikes Back.

[Stokesy44]

I should get back into mine this weekend. The roof needs to go on and then its greebly time for all the ickle bits that go on the deck and roof.

I also need to sand each swing arm so the wheels go on without breaking them.

Bench is almost ready after the move, just a bit more unpacking and setting up then I'll be good to go.

[Quax]

Hi Neil, great job so far! The answer to the conundrum is it's for the track mounting cable. The pictures below are from Panther in Detail, Culver and Feist, Ryton Publications




Cheers
Paul

[digger303]

.... there's no getting one past you

Mine had those on both sides. Looking at Panther History on www.obsessedwithjerrytanks.com they holes are actually charging ports for the driver and radio operators mobile phones. Obviously they could only be used when the tank was stationery or the charging cable would tangle up the tracks and tip up the tank. I believe George Lucas used this as his inspiration for the harpoons on the snowspeeders in the Empire Strikes Back.

I can see that being very useful when using it as cover and you needed a quick charge up......

[jmurphy18]

Very cool build you have going here! Looks awesome. Quite the detail. Never tried a tank yet

[mick]

good progress

[Tomcat64]

Mine had those on both sides. Looking at Panther History on www.obsessedwithjerrytanks.com they holes are actually charging ports for the driver and radio operators mobile phones. Obviously they could only be used when the tank was stationery or the charging cable would tangle up the tracks and tip up the tank. I believe George Lucas used this as his inspiration for the harpoons on the snowspeeders in the Empire Strikes Back.

Thanks mate - finally a plausible explanation!

Hi Neil, great job so far! The answer to the conundrum is it's for the track mounting cable.

Are you sure about that mate? I mean Stokesy's answer just sounded so much more likely

Seriously though thanks for that - it's not something I'd come across before

Very cool build you have going here! Looks awesome. Quite the detail. Never tried a tank yet

Thanks mate - give armour a go when you get chance; despite the number of wheels involved I find it the most forgiving subject as any of my inevitable cock-ups can be referred to as battle damage

good progress

Thanks Mick - appreciate you dropping in

[Tomcat64]

So back from a week away and managed to get some time on this today while Mrs Tomcat was out in the garden

It was time to tackle the suspension set - and as reminder here were the instructions on the back of the box


The blocks were installed in the hull - paying attention that the front left one (bottom left in this shot) was a different part number from the others


Each of the suspension arms consisted of the wire rod from the suspension set along with two kit parts


Which went together with no real problems, I used Tamiya standard cement for this (white top) to make sure the join was well welded - just needs a bit of tidying up


There were three different types of arms, so just need to pay attention to the part call outs but here they are completed. From left to right we have four Type A, two Type B and ten Type C


These are then inserted through the holes in the hull side and the wire sits in the groove in the blocks we already installed and are then secured by additional blocks. Once again the front left is a different part number.


I used a blob of CA on each of the locating pins and then added Tamiya glue around the joins to make sure everything was going to stay where it was supposed to


All done and left to set, some of the arms are a little snug in the locating holes so could probably have done with a little gentle sanding.


Over the page and we start on the upper hull


I don't know how much of the fan/vent assemblies (F16) will be seen after the build is complete but I think these would have been painted red-oxide primer so I'm going to leave these off and dry fit the rear deck (D22) until it's painted and hope I don't come a cropper later on. I think it should be ok from a quick glance through the instructions but will be test fitting as we go on


So I fitted the upper hull "chassis" and was slightly alarmed to find quite a gap down the front on the right side.


My initial instinct was to try and pinch that in with some CA, but in a rare outbreak of common sense I whipped the front glacis plate off the sprue frame and dry fitted it... which went in very neatly so I'll pretend the gap is supposed to be there


Down the back the dry-fitted rear hull deck appears to be ok so far


The next instructions call for the fenders to be fitted


So I went ahead and added those to help with the rigidity of the structure


I don't normally leave a build part-way through a section but in this case I wanted to set it aside to completely cure before I start adding the extras and building out the casemate. Hopefully I'll get some time in a couple of evenings this week to keep it moving along.

Thanks as always for looking

[digger303]

I'm still looking and it's looking very neat and my wallets getting a quiver

[Tomcat64]

I'm still looking and it's looking very neat and my wallets getting a quiver

[digger303]

I'm still looking and it's looking very neat and my wallets getting a quiver

[jmurphy18]

LOL on Digger! I will have to resist the Force right now. Just bought two new kits and if I value my sanity.......
One that I ordered 6 weeks ago from Japan will be here tomorrow and another I bought on clearance will be here Friday. Plus I need to go buy a SiFi kit or a certain someone will not let me forget a promise I made

Although the Panzer does look good.........Damn wonder how much I can squeeze out...... Darn you Neil.....
LOL!

[Kevthemodeller]

She's coming together really nicely Neil

[Tomcat64]

LOL on Digger! I will have to resist the Force right now. Just bought two new kits and if I value my sanity.......
One that I ordered 6 weeks ago from Japan will be here tomorrow and another I bought on clearance will be here Friday. Plus I need to go buy a SiFi kit or a certain someone will not let me forget a promise I made

Although the Panzer does look good.........Damn wonder how much I can squeeze out...... Darn you Neil.....
LOL!

This place is definitely not good for the wallet

She's coming together really nicely Neil

Cheers Kev

[Tomcat64]

So it's pottered along a little more this week; firstly I finished off the rear plate that I left half-done last time around - all the bits are there despite the carpet monster making a lunge for the little ones!


Next I added a strip of wheel weights by attaching them to a piece of styrene sheet and securing that to the cross-members. This isn't strictly necessary but I like to add a little heft to AFVs these days if I can as I think it makes them sit into the tracks better (although that's probably psychological rather than real )


Next stage involved the wheels which will be added later; but also the jack which was built and again protected from the carpet monsters attentions


And then I ignored the stage which adds the tracks as they'll be built up from the add-on box later


Over the page and we get to add the front armour panel after drilling out some holes


So guess who got carried away and stuck the plate on without adding the two additional pieces (A15, E2) first...


Luckily there was just enough room around the back to squeeze them into place without causing any damage


Next was more drilling...


And then installation of the sidewalls and rear (after double-checking that there were no bits to add first...)


These were held in place overnight with a few Mk 1. Clothes pegs and some sticky tape and everything came together nicely


Down the back can the rear panel still be added and removed ok?


Yup looks like it - although I think I'm going to have to leave the hatch dry fitted as well so I can get the necessary leverage later on


I had the airbrush out for another project so quickly gave the fan decks a layer of Ultimate Black followed by Ultimate Oxide to get them started.


So that's where we are for now... at least it's starting to look the right shape now


Next up appears to be a pile of fiddly PE so maybe I'll take a swipe at it this weekend.

Thanks as always for looking

[Quax]

All coming together rather nicely Neil!
Paul

[mick]

great progress

[Kevthemodeller]

That's a very neat trick with the wheel weights Neil

[Tomcat64]

All coming together rather nicely Neil!
Paul

great progress

That's a very neat trick with the wheel weights Neil

Thanks guys

[Tomcat64]

Spent some time at the weekend fiddling with PE bits... here's the instructions


As you can see it informs you to bend X23 but doesn't actually say how... I guess the clue was in the header about "tie-down Loops" but I went back to the box art for clarification


Part X23 is a flat bit of PE, so I brought out a suitably curved item (a 1.2mm drill bit) and wrapped the parts around that to get the desired result


By my calculations I needed 20 for this section and 2 further down the line - the kit includes 30 so they're obviously expecting the carpet monster to get some! Anyway I bent up 22 of them and put them all together in a cup to make sure I could knock them all over in one go


These were then carefully picked out one at a time and CA'd into place on the hull sides


The next stage was pretty straightforward but also included some tiny PE which needed bending the right way... on the 2nd attempt in one case


And here it is all installed - I love that they've included the cable for the light


That's all for now - looks like the exhausts are up next

Thanks for looking

[Kevthemodeller]

Very neat PE work there Neil

[Tomcat64]

Very neat PE work there Neil

Thanks Kev

So this update contains a little progress and an impressive own-goal...

First up was the exhaust system - there's a different option available for each of the four build options


Here's a close up of the Option 1 instructions since that's the build I'm doing


And here are the parts - some are fitted but others have been left off to be attached after painting as the pipes will be a little tricky to get to once installed


Next up the rear stowage bins and various griblies


And all installed


So here's the own goal I promised you... unrelated to this kit I was cleaning some bits up with acetone... and didn't notice the bloody stuff had leaked out of the container And the only part within striking distance of resultant pool was the rear deck - here's the underside after its bath


I tried to straighten it out using heat and weight and then decided to install it onto the hull to see if that would sort it out... so first up I gave the fan decks a quick dark brown wash


And here's everything installed


Sadly it's still warped and unless it's my imagination it's warping a bit more than when first installed...


So I've pinged Meng customer service to see how much it'll cost to get a replacement sprue frame D.

In the meantime I'll plug on with this aside from anything to do with that rear deck.

bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger

[Kevthemodeller]

Mate that's a real shame, I don't have this kit in my stash, I'd give you the part if I did and you could replace it when you get your replacement.

I hope you get the part in time Neil.

[ElCapitan]

Aw man that's a bummer. Hopefully they will get back to you quickly and you can get another sprue!

Looking good aside from that issue!

[Tomcat64]

Mate that's a real shame, I don't have this kit in my stash, I'd give you the part if I did and you could replace it when you get your replacement.

I hope you get the part in time Neil.

Aw man that's a bummer. Hopefully they will get back to you quickly and you can get another sprue!

Looking good aside from that issue!

Thanks guys

I've been impressed with Meng's customer service so far - they responded to my initial e-mail within 5 minutes with the cost of the replacement frame.

And followed up this morning with shipping costs - and the PayPal acct id to pay.

All good so far - let's see how quick it gets here

I've also managed to remove that buckled rear deck without causing any damage so just a little cleaning up to do and we should be good to go.

[jmurphy18]

This looks awesome and the extras look like a great build. The tracks now......
LOL coming from someone that was drilling .4mm holes in break rotes last night for 40 min to just do one rotor.

[Tomcat64]

This looks awesome and the extras look like a great build. The tracks now......
LOL coming from someone that was drilling .4mm holes in break rotes last night for 40 min to just do one rotor.

Thanks John - appreciate you dropping in

So after the mojo-sapping effect of the Acetone incident I'm happy to report that Meng customer services are as responsive and helpful as their original contact indicated and a replacement sprue is on its way - it's cost me £7 posted (most of which is the postage) via PayPal so that'll do for me since it was completely self-inflicted. Not sure if the sprue will be here in time for me to get this painted prior to the finish date but here's hoping.

With that sorted I felt more inclined to get on with things - so first here's the back end after removing the warped plate - it might need a little more clean up when the new part arrives but happy that I'll be able to slot it back in again; I've had to re-drill the locating holes and do some light sanding but that's about all


Next up I added the PE "shelves" down the sides. This proved a little fiddly as the parts were of a length and thickness that when they were in the PE tool there was more pressure on the rear than on the front so while I was applying pressure to bend the front had a tendency to pop out


The next couple of sections dealt with adding some of the tool racks as well as details for the rear deck which will wait until later


Although I did build up the rear deck hatch ready to go on when the time comes


As usual for me when I'm building AFVs the tools will be left off until they've been painted as I find that easier






More of the same and no real dramas






As you can see from the previous shot the machine gun mount has also been dealt with


And a few details added to the rear panel of the casemate






Then it was onto the fighting compartment roof


I didn't bother with the internal details as this will be completely closed up but here's the instructions anyway


The roof has been built without the clear parts as I'll dry fit the roof for main painting and then fit the scopes and attach the roof permanently. The cleaning rod tube has also been put together but needs a little filler - so here is the roof, hatches, jack block and rod tube


And finally the roof was put in place (not sure this needed an instruction section all to itself mind you)


So that's where we are for now... next up will be the blammy bit


Thanks for looking

[alextheblue]

Great work Neil and the PE bits look great. It's not easy working with long bits like that. Also, great news about the warped part, glad you got that sorted!!

[spock1701]

Looks like a great build so far! Interested to see how those tracks turn out for you

[jmurphy18]

Great on the warped part Neil! Awesome so far and your experience really shows on this build with how to paint and place parts.

[Kevthemodeller]

Very nice looking fenders Neil

Good news on the rear decking

[Tomcat64]

Great work Neil and the PE bits look great. It's not easy working with long bits like that. Also, great news about the warped part, glad you got that sorted!!

Thanks Alex

Looks like a great build so far! Interested to see how those tracks turn out for you

Hey Spock! Long time no see - thanks for dropping in

Tracks will be up next by the looks of things so hopefully they'll behave.

Great on the warped part Neil! Awesome so far and your experience really shows on this build with how to paint and place parts.

Thanks John

Very nice looking fenders Neil

Good news on the rear decking

Cheers Kev - Fenders! That's the word I was looking for when I posted that last update!

[Tomcat64]

Ok I managed to get some time on this on Sunday and it was the gun up next


Since this was not going to be on show once it was all closed up this was pretty quick and dirty but went together reasonably well; the one point that this kit has had slight problems is where two semi-circular halves are joined up to make a cylinder - there's been an uneven gap each time. Nothing drastic but something to watch out for


And the next section


Something to note here is that part C66 should have two "prongs" on it to locate into the tubes on top of the gun; on mine the smaller prong was non-existent (I rechecked the sprue to make sure it wasn't just me cutting it off too close). Again if I'd been putting this on show I'd have installed a bit of rod to fill the gap (red arrow)


And here it is finished up


Next up the mantlet


No real dramas here


Next we needed to install it through the hole in the front - the two ammo tie downs were left until final construction


I did have a minor panic here as I'd not checked this before installing the wheel weights way back, but there was just enough space although the installation took a little wriggling to get it in place


Moving onto the gun barrel - and again Parts C47 & C48 didn't meet up precisely and left a small gap


This was filled with CA and sanded down once set


Time to install the barrel


And here we are then... the barrel is just dry fitted as I'm thinking it might be useful to have that removeable for painting purposes


So... since I'm waiting for the replacement sprue to arrive for the rear deck construction it looks like I have no alternative but to tackle those tracks!

Thanks for looking in as always