Global Scale Modeller

With the Abrams all done I struggled to pick a new subject yesterday. It came down to 3 great Tamiya kits. The 2004 Challenger II release, the new tool Panther or the new tool Sherman Easy Eight. I've got more in the stash but I wanted a tank and I wanted a straight forward build. I start my new job on July 1st so a new tool Tamiya was perfect.

I picked the Panther in the end over the Sherman, mostly because its a more interesting build to me. So here we go.

Bit of info on the Panzer V (from Wikipedia)

The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV 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, although its reliability was less impressive.

The Panther was a compromise. While having essentially the same Maybach V12 petrol (690 hp) engine as the Tiger I, it had more effective 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 described by some as "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 by late 1943 and early 1944, 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 the tank's effectiveness.

Though officially classified as a medium tank, its weight is more like that of a heavy tank, as its weight of 44.8 tons puts it roughly in the same category as the American M26 Pershing (41.7 tons), British Churchill (40.7 tons) and the Soviet IS-2 (46 tons) heavy tanks. The tank had a very high power-to-weight ratio, making it highly mobile regardless of its tonnage. Its weight still caused logistical problems, such as an inability to cross certain bridges.

The naming of Panther production variants did not, unlike most German tanks, follow alphabetical order: the initial variant, Panther "D" (Ausf. D), was followed by "A" and "G" variants.

Something Wikipedia leaves out of their general narrative is that only approximately 6000 were built, a number dwarfed by allied tank production on both the eastern and western fronts.

Box and contents shots



Standard Tamiya plastic, crisp and detailed, nicely packed is separate bags. The PE grills were extra, its my only grumble with Tamiya, they refuse to include them, even on their brand new offerings. Rubber band tracks, another reason I picked this kit given the time allowance I have given myself.







Polycaps for the wheels, rope for the tow cables. I may cut up the skirts to show more of the tracks, not sure yet.



There we go. Will start on the lower hull today.

Always a sucker for a Panther - count me in

Never realized the panther was lighter than a tiger 1 I just assumed newer tanks would be heavier because of increased armor and firepower. I know the panther gun was 7.5 as opposed to 88 yet the 88 was a cut down round and not the same as used in the flak 88.
It looks a cracking kit mind you they needed to do a little catching up.

digger303 wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2020 11:46 am Never realized the panther was lighter than a tiger 1 I just assumed newer tanks would be heavier because of increased armor and firepower. I know the panther gun was 7.5 as opposed to 88 yet the 88 was a cut down round and not the same as used in the flak 88.
It looks a cracking kit mind you they needed to do a little catching up.

The Panther came about because the Tiger was so heavy and expensive. They even named it 'Panther' in contrast to the Tiger because it was faster and more agile (it had the same powerplant as the Tiger). And although it had a 75 instead of an 88, the 75 was a KwK 42 which was a better gun than the Tiger 1's 88. The Tiger II would have a better 88 on it but when the Panther came into service in 43 it had the best gun of any German tank.

I know what you mean about Tamiya's tank releases. When other companies are falling over themselves to release Panthers and Tigers this kit is the only new tool release of either vehicle from Tamiya for decades. Their last new tool Tiger was 1989, their last Panther (before this one) was 1993.

Started work this afternoon. Got the lower hull and running gear done. The wheels are all on poly caps so can be taken off and put back on at will.



One side done



Both sides done





Detailing the back end is up next then its on to the upper hull.

Nice start on the build and looking good

Good start, looking forward to seeing this come together quickly!

And congrats on the new job

Nice kit! Looks to be a fun build.

Thanks Guys

Got started on the back end today





Then it was greebly time on the hull













Turret and gun added



Rear hatch is hinged. I may leave it open because there is a figure that is posed on the rear deck just left of the hatch, leaning on the turret with binoculars and looking over the commander in the main hatch.





Looking like a proper Panther now



Still a fair bit of detail work but I should be priming by this afternoon.

Nice.
Details are pretty good, still the old molded on tool clamps ?
Congrats on the new job .....what is it ?

digger303 wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 1:13 am Nice.
Details are pretty good, still the old molded on tool clamps ?
Congrats on the new job .....what is it ?

I don't mind the moulded clips on the tools as long as the lines are crisp. I'm not interested is replacing them with PE because of a, the cost, and b, the reduction in enjoyment. Its just not my thing. I know they look good but I'm not willing to increase the cost of the build by 30-40%

Thanks for the congrats. Its a finance job, working at a mortgage brokerage. I'll be running the application process to completion once a mortgage has been agreed and also training up new brokers on how to package their cases so they know what they're doing! 8 days left to finish the panther.

Took a bit longer than planned today but she's all togged up for priming now.

Turret greeblies done





Crew figures look good. The guy standing behind the turret will have bins in his right hand while the guy in the cupula gets some headphones (which look way too big to me).









This is what I like about Tamiya. With the exception of the front mudguards, everything is on the kit, I don't have half a box of spares I'll never use.



Construction complete

















PE grills attached. Ready for priming now.

Looks pretty damned good without any paint. Can't wait to see the finished item!

WW2 German crew headsets did look a bit big - the frame carrying the ear pieces came out quite wide as opposed to the British/American ones. If memory serves - German tank crews didn't wear the same kind of helmet inside the vehicle that the Allied forces did and they used the same larnygaphone (sp?) mics the Russians did - and still do - that fastened tight around the throat.

RangerNeil wrote: Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:17 pm Looks pretty damned good without any paint. Can't wait to see the finished item!

WW2 German crew headsets did look a bit big - the frame carrying the ear pieces came out quite wide as opposed to the British/American ones. If memory serves - German tank crews didn't wear the same kind of helmet inside the vehicle that the Allied forces did and they used the same larnygaphone (sp?) mics the Russians did - and still do - that fastened tight around the throat.

Thanks Neil, that’s good to know. I can go ahead and use the headset fir the chap in the hatch.

Really nice and clean build job, I always end up with glue marks all over my tanks. Couldn't agree more on photo etched tool clamps, they're a royal pain in the behind to build and then will probably get broken or fall off during painting.

Couple of interesting points: Germans "only" made about 6,000 Panther tanks, but contrast that to only 8,500 or so Panzer IVs of all variants, despite the Panzer IV having a four or five year lead-up in production. Also I think the 7.5cm L/70 gun was only marginally better than the 8.8cm L/56 gun in the Tiger. Both were way effective on most of the allied armor until the end of the war, but the 8.8cm shell would have had more high explosive power vs. infantry and fortifications. And since I'm picking nits, the Tiger's gun was a direct adaptation of the feared 8.8cm flak gun, the longer barreled version only came later with the Tiger II.

Tracks are nicely sharpish and those PE screens fit well with and even have the bolt holes where they are bolted down. A small thing yet makes it look more natural and a cracking build all round I would say.

This is coming along nicely. Really well done so far.

Thanks Gents

digger303 wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 12:22 am Tracks are nicely sharpish and those PE screens fit well with and even have the bolt holes where they are bolted down. A small thing yet makes it look more natural and a cracking build all round I would say.

The grills are 1 of 3 after market sets by Tamiya specifically for the kit. They also do a Maybach engine and a metal barrel with full breach. I thought about getting the gun but the kit comes with a slide moulded single piece job anyway so there's not a lot of upside to shelling out for the metal replacement.

The grills fit like gloves and having the bolt holes means they can have CA applied without it fouling the mesh and showing up when painted

You've got your Mojo back for sure mate, this one's flying together

that came together quickly and it looks really good!

Paul

Quax wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 3:57 pm that came together quickly and it looks really good!

Paul

Thanks Paul. I can’t be arsed to paint it now though. It’s too hot!

That really does look great mate - hope you get chance to throw paint at it before your freedom ends Looks like we might be in for something cooler this weekend.

Did you bother adding any sag to the tracks or just give it a miss and leave the full skirts in place?

Tomcat64 wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:21 pm That really does look great mate - hope you get chance to throw paint at it before your freedom ends Looks like we might be in for something cooler this weekend.

Did you bother adding any sag to the tracks or just give it a miss and leave the full skirts in place?

Thanks mate. The jury is very much out on the tracks. With the skirts on there is no point doing anything with them. If I leave the skirts off, I will correct the tracks with CA on the back end of the sprocket and the 2 middle road wheels. That will create the fall off the back of the sprockets onto the wheels. I will then also need to apply wet pigments to the hull behind the tracks as its an area highly visible on a Panther.

The tracks and most of the wheels are off at the moment for the paint phase. I will decide what to do when I have done the base coat and camo.

Its been too hot for working on the Panther. Its not much cooler today but I wanted to get on with it.

All set up for priming. You may notice the upper hull is missing. I had some kind of brain fade today, got through the whole priming process, even cleaned the AB, pleased with myself that I hadn't had to refill the primer in the cup then I saw the upper hull right where I left it, resting on my tools box and looking just a tad pale!



So instead of painting the tracks with Vallejo metal colour, I went back to the primer and the hull. Then I did the tracks. What a plumb.



Still, it all went well, Ultimate Primer so its nice and smooth, the Vallejo metal range sprays beautifully straight out of the bottle so the tracks were no bother.

As for what I'm gonna do with the tracks and skirts? The skirts are removable and sit without glue so I've decided I will do the tracks properly, creating the sag and sitting them nicely on the 2 middle road wheels. I'll also add wet pigments for mud effects behind (I may use snow paint for this and paint it brown/black. The Panther D and A side armour shows much more of the area above the tracks than the later G model so if you leave the skirts off you have to do something. D versus G below, you can see what I mean.

D



G



Hopefully get the base colour on this afternoon.

It really has been way too hot most if this and some of last week. I'm planning on some bench time later with luck

The primer looks as good as ever mate, looking forward to the cammo to start

Kevthemodeller wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 1:00 pm It really has been way too hot most if this and some of last week. I'm planning on some bench time later with luck

The primer looks as good as ever mate, looking forward to the cammo to start

Thanks Kev.

Got the base coat done this afternoon but gave up before the camo. I was sitting there sweating and thought enough's enough!

Tamiya acrylic paint. I used circle templates for the wheels. They're not perfect so I need to do a little touching up where required.



Managed not to forget the hull this time





All ready for the camo now. Its supposed to be 10 degrees cooler tomorrow so hopefully It'll get done in the morning.

It's coming along nicely! Great build so far!

Great looking first colour coat

I didn't even attempt any bench time just too hot today is defiantly looking good though

clean looking Panther. I like the shape but my painting skills would never do one justice in terms of camouflage... looking forward to the rest of it

what they said with a and a chucked in

Really cracking this one out - looking good. Sure it'll turn out amazing (as did the Abrams)

Thanks Guys,

A combination of the hot weather and then all that wind put paid to my plans to finish the Panther by 30/06. My booth hose extracts through an open window and the wind would have blown it back in and also impacted on the airbrushing itself!

I finally got the camo done on Tuesday but was back at work on Wednesday. Will post a proper update as soon as I can.

Also, work has started well so thanks for all your good wishes. Gotta go, I'm due in a mortgage webinar in a bit!

Hope work has continued well for the rest of the week mate and that you get chance to show off the camo work this weekend

Tomcat64 wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 3:52 pm Hope work has continued well for the rest of the week mate and that you get chance to show off the camo work this weekend

A good week thanks but I was determined to get back to the bench. I did the camo the day before I started work but I didn't get back to it until this morning.

Still planning to have the turret hatches open so I painted the interior surfaces white.



I did all the detail painting and the few decals. Once the decals were done I sealed them with a matt varnish. I brushed it on just over the surfaces where the decals were and also the areas where I will be applying filters. You'll see a little residue on the turret from the brush work but that will disappear under the filters, gloss and final wash. Not my finest hour but I couldn't be arsed to fire up the airbrush.











I painted the inner wheel edges with silver to show the wear against the guide horns, sprockets too.



Greeblies and track spares





Little bit of touching up on the exhausts but they will get wet rust pigments applied on top anyway.



Skirts on





And I've not forgotten Herman and Jerry. Primed and put aside for now.



Next up is chipping then oil filters.

Great looking cammo mate what paint did you use?

Spot on paint and weathering

digger303 wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 2:10 pm Spot on paint and weathering

Thanks mate

Kevthemodeller wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 1:54 pm Great looking cammo mate what paint did you use?

Cheers Kev. Tamiya acrylics, sand, dark green and red brown. I've always like Tamiya, that and Mr Hobby's acrylics too.

Great work! It's coming along nicely!

Looks great. I'm going to use Tamiya sand on my next German armour build. I've always used Vallejo model color dark yellow but it's too greenish in my opinion.

I'm worried about Jerry though...he claims to be head and shoulders above the rest, but it's clear to me he's half the man he was when he signed up.

ElCapitan wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 5:44 pm Looks great. I'm going to use Tamiya sand on my next German armour build. I've always used Vallejo model color dark yellow but it's too greenish in my opinion.

I'm worried about Jerry though...he claims to be head and shoulders above the rest, but it's clear to me he's half the man he was when he signed up.

Herman's not that popular either, behaves like he's got a stick up his arse, so I'm told.

Stokesy44 wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:42 pm Tamiya acrylics, sand, dark green and red brown. I've always like Tamiya, that and Mr Hobby's acrylics too.

Same here mate, I've stopped using Ammo Mig now for anything other than base colour. All the tip dry and messing about, couldn't be doing with it any longer, it's a shame as the dropper bottles are great in use.

-

Kevthemodeller wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 7:00 pm

Stokesy44 wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:42 pm Tamiya acrylics, sand, dark green and red brown. I've always like Tamiya, that and Mr Hobby's acrylics too.

Same here mate, I've stopped using Ammo Mig now for anything other than base colour. All the tip dry and messing about, couldn't be doing with it any longer, it's a shame as the dropper bottles are great in use.

It seems to me that paint companies that use dropper bottles are great at producing specialty sets for certain types of kits whether its weathering or for things like RAF colours 1939-45 etc. but the acrylics that come in glass pots are better paints but don't come in any type of set!

Yours, Annoyed of Tonbridge Wells!

Got back to the bench today.

Chipping was first up











I also applied the mud for when the skirts are not on the kit. Tamiya snow paint plus a little brown paint. I'll wash it with black and lighter brown highlights before the tracks go on.



Then it was time for oils. I put the oil paint on a piece of kitchen roll as it sucks out the excess oil and grease from the paint.



For thinner its low odour turpenoid. Its softer than enamel thinners and obviously there's no smell either.







I'm gutted by the silvering on the turret decals. I don't know why its happened. The paint was smooth and I used decal solvents. I'll have to fix it with the base colours or oils before I gloss it for the wash. Probably should have done it before the filtering but hey, that would have been too easy!















With the skirts off, the mud effect will definitely be seen.



Skirts on



Fixing the turret decals is next then its a gloss for a wash. Tracks need applying and weathering too. Spare tracks need weathering, individual rust streaks need more work and stains on the engine deck...……

It's looking great! Nice job on the camo. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result.

bugger the decal turning up it's silver sided toes to you, hope it's fixable. The rest looks spot on

Just loving it mate, the chipping and oil wash have really made the cammo pop out but at the same time give it that combat weathered look

Great work on the chipping & camo mate but that's a real bugger about the turret decal

Hope you can get that sorted out in your next session - this is coming together really nicely

BigWall wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:51 pm It's looking great! Nice job on the camo. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result.

Kevthemodeller wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 9:03 am Just loving it mate, the chipping and oil wash have really made the cammo pop out but at the same time give it that combat weathered look

Thanks Gents

Tomcat64 wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 9:38 am Great work on the chipping & camo mate but that's a real bugger about the turret decal

Hope you can get that sorted out in your next session - this is coming together really nicely

digger303 wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 1:00 am bugger the decal turning up it's silver sided toes to you, hope it's fixable. The rest looks spot on

Thanks Gents

I think the plan is to use a cotton bud and thinner to clear the filter effects then use the base colours to paint round the decals. I'll then reapply the filters and hopefully it should be seamless. I may remove the oils from the whole turret side as its a clearly defined slab then redo the filter from scratch for that panel (both sides of the turret).

Then I'll stand by the open farm gate and wait for the horse to come back - if you know what I mean

Wonderful work all around. I'm confident you will remedy the stubborn turret decals.

This will be a stunning reveal when fully done.

Ben

I went to work on the turret decals.

I used the thinner to remove the oil work I had done previously then painted round the numbers before touching up the numbers themselves. For the panther decals I painted inside the lines then painted the outline again.

Repainted, its no where near perfect but its way batter than what it was.





Then I redid the filters, I used more paint than usual to blend the colours better and also cover some of the edging that was still silvering





Then it was back to the bench for a gloss coat of Aquagloss.











I'll let the gloss cure overnight then its a dark dirt wash tomorrow then on to the tracks.

Very nice detail