1/35 - German Panther Aus A - My First Historical Model

[Jakko]

Basically it is a heavy body acrylic paint with sawdust in then LOL….

“You know that thick structure gel artists use …?”
“Yes?”
“How about we put a layer of that on our tanks?”
“Good idea!"

oh, and it would therefore chip yellow….not grey, as I have seen on models many times!

I would guess because it’s usually described as being “cement-like” or something along those lines, so people think it must have been grey in colour.

 

[KevWhalen90]

Hey all......

Its a wet and gloomy day here in Bonnie Scotland so decided to get stuck in and get the lower hull and roadwheels etc added to the Panther.....

That was a learning experience for sure!! but in the end am really happy with how they are fitted and how they are looking....

A few more bits and pieces of deck equipment and tow ropes etc to finish off and then have a go at adding the tracks. I also have a lot of wee pieces of Zimm left over and think I will add some extra parts to maybe even the front fenders... (even though I am aware they prob wouldn't have received it originally)

Finally.... I added a little radio antenna to the turret.... its actually a piece of plastic from a new t-shirt I got and kind of liked how it looked there

Anyways........ I think we are actually looking at something that may well resemble a tank now guys!!!

 

[Dave Ward]

Kev,
that's looking good - I hope its whetting your appetite for another model! As long as you are enjoying it, then it's a successful model!
Dave

 

[Mark1]

That's coming on a treat.

 

[minitnkr]

A real beauty. Kev, your A has a later turret w/monocular sight and pistol ports deleted, hence the zim void next to the rear hatch, also they painted turret #s over the zim so I'd use left over zim pcs. to patch these voids. Just a thought w/second cuppa.

 

[KevWhalen90]

Evening Chaps,

Looking for a wee bit of advice......

Thought i would have a go at trying out the one piece tracks onto the Panther this evening but have come up against a couple of issues..... It seems that to connect each end of the tracks properly... the tracks themselves need to be under a bit of tension.....trying to do this on the model itself was becoming a pain in the back end.... and a risk of snapping something in the road wheel assembly.......

I had thought t connect and glue the tracks first and then almost stretch them a bit to get them to fit over the wheels but again this would pose its own issues.

Just looking for a bit of advice on what to do next.... any thoughts or words of wisdom from those who have tread this path before!

Many thanks,

Kev

 

[Mark1]

Evening Chaps,

Looking for a wee bit of advice......

Thought i would have a go at trying out the one piece tracks onto the Panther this evening but have come up against a couple of issues..... It seems that to connect each end of the tracks properly... the tracks themselves need to be under a bit of tension.....trying to do this on the model itself was becoming a pain in the back end.... and a risk of snapping something in the road wheel assembly.......

I had thought t connect and glue the tracks first and then almost stretch them a bit to get them to fit over the wheels but again this would pose its own issues.

Just looking for a bit of advice on what to do next.... any thoughts or words of wisdom from those who have tread this path before!

Many thanks,

Kev

I've only done a couple sets of these tracks and have managed to stretch them on, all I can think if there that tight is maybe sit them in some hotish water to see if it will soften them up and became a bit more plyable or remove a few of the teeth on the inner edge of the track so it will slide on to the rear wheel rather than having to be stretched over it.personally I would probably try the latter option. Someone with better experience my come up with a better idea yet.

 

[minitnkr]

Back in the day when I modeled larger scales I would wrap the tracks around the wheels & have them meet on the bottom where I had inserted wires through the tracks to draw the tracks to closure by pulling the wires together & twisting them achieving a bond.

 

[Jakko]

Thought i would have a go at trying out the one piece tracks onto the Panther this evening but have come up against a couple of issues..... It seems that to connect each end of the tracks properly... the tracks themselves need to be under a bit of tension.....trying to do this on the model itself was becoming a pain in the back end.... and a risk of snapping something in the road wheel assembly.......

Do the instructions say the tracks should be glued, or that you need to melt pins with a heated screwdriver? I would guess the latter.

If so, just do that and put them around the wheels (after painting). These kits were designed to be motorised — that’s why there’s the ridges inside the hull, the holes in the bottom, etc. — and so have sturdy suspension that can take the strain of the tracks.

 

[KevWhalen90]

Evening all....

Hope all's good..... Thanks for the info re. tracks.... I will leave them for now and deal with them once its all painted and "done"

Call me a glutton for punishment but I was looking at the Zimmerit again and decided I liked the placement and the random layout of the panels...... but the hard edges and raised edges were just not sitting right with me..... especially after reading about the clay / thick plaster nature of the material that some of you were kind enough to inform me about.

I wanted to try and soften the edges and give it that hand applied effect so spent a little time today with some fine poly filler and a craft knife to try and soften the edges and give more of a "homemade" effect. I have left some patches of filler on the panel itself to give more of a rough appearance....

Only done one side of the turret so far..... and I think its actually quite effective! Going to let it try and perhaps smooth off some of the thicker bits but overall I am happy!

Love to hear your thoughts,

cheers,

Kev,

 

[CarolsHusband]

Evening Chaps,

Looking for a wee bit of advice......

Thought i would have a go at trying out the one piece tracks onto the Panther this evening but have come up against a couple of issues..... It seems that to connect each end of the tracks properly... the tracks themselves need to be under a bit of tension.....trying to do this on the model itself was becoming a pain in the back end.... and a risk of snapping something in the road wheel assembly.......

I had thought t connect and glue the tracks first and then almost stretch them a bit to get them to fit over the wheels but again this would pose its own issues.

Just looking for a bit of advice on what to do next.... any thoughts or words of wisdom from those who have tread this path before!

Many thanks,

Kev

It must be a Panther thing. My Italeri Bergepanther build stopped in its tracks (so to speak) decades ago for just this reason. I snapped the rear idlers off trying to fit the tracks. It's finished now (it's not too far down the armoured thread) but once I'd drilled and braced the rear idlers I still had to do as Mark suggests and trim the inner teeth off the tracks at the rear. I t worked, but if I do another Ill go for individual links.

Good luck when you get there !

 

[JR]

Looks better with those rough edges Kev, agree with smothing of the edges, would make it look more to scale .

 

[Mark1]

Yeah I agree with John, think I would be inclined to maybe put a few scores in with a blade to blend the grooves lightly out to the edge a bit more..but saying that I know bugger all about zimmerit lol.

 

[Jakko]

I know bugger all about zimmerit lol.

Basically, it’s a paste that was applied to the tank and then given a pattern using some basic tools; the point of it was to prevent magnetic charges (explosive devices equipped with magnets) from sticking to the tank. The idea is simply that if there is a thick enough non-magnetic layer on the armour, the magnets won’t get enough grip and the charge won’t stick to the vehicle. The pattern served to raise some of the material to a greater thickness and thereby increase the distance between magnets and armour, making them even less likely to stick. (For this reason also, it was only applied to vertical and sloping surfaces, not to horizontal ones where it would be pointless, and only to the main armour — not to side skirts, stowage bins, mudguards, etc.)

The most common way to make the pattern was with a wide spatula, which was pressed into the paste at regular intervals to create columns of ridges all along the armour plate. Other patterns and methods were used as well, though. On the Panther, for example, the ridged columns were commonly combined with a grid pattern scored into the material, for reasons I don’t know (maybe to stop large chunks flaking off by creating break lines?).

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Kev, good thing you're tackling the tracks later and you could do with this suggestion. Tamiya have their wheels with poly caps that are inserted or are imbedded in the wheel for easy fitting onto the arms. So leave off the idler fit the tracks and then just insert the idler back or you could also do it with the sprockets.
As for the zimmerit it be a lot easier to work with two part putty. Get the ones that have a longer working time. Knead small portions that you need for the time you have to work with. It's easier to spread, stick and sculpt onto the corners. Better still to use it as full zimmerit and sculpt the pattern.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[KevWhalen90]

Hi All,

Hope all's well and everyone is doing good!

Apologies for the radio silence, the last number of weeks have been incredibly busy and challenging starting my new career in a new school!

But..... the workload is becoming more manageable and today was my birthday where a couple of generous friends have gifted me some additional models to be getting on with!

So.... no real update on the Panther currently however there are a couple of additional kits I now have to be adding to the queue!

Hoping to have some more pics of the Panther soon!

Thanks all and take it easy!

Cheers,

Kev

 

[adt70hk]

Nice additions there Kev.

All the best.

Andrew

 

[dalej2014]

Evening all....

Hope all's good..... Thanks for the info re. tracks.... I will leave them for now and deal with them once its all painted and "done"

Call me a glutton for punishment but I was looking at the Zimmerit again and decided I liked the placement and the random layout of the panels...... but the hard edges and raised edges were just not sitting right with me..... especially after reading about the clay / thick plaster nature of the material that some of you were kind enough to inform me about.

I wanted to try and soften the edges and give it that hand applied effect so spent a little time today with some fine poly filler and a craft knife to try and soften the edges and give more of a "homemade" effect. I have left some patches of filler on the panel itself to give more of a rough appearance....

Only done one side of the turret so far..... and I think its actually quite effective! Going to let it try and perhaps smooth off some of the thicker bits but overall I am happy!

Love to hear your thoughts,

cheers,

Kev,

Looking very good so far. Nice work. I bought this exact kit at Bovington last week, so I'll take a seat at the back if I may. The pics of the Stug III here show the Zimmerit quite well. I'll post the pics I took of the Panther too for you. I also got a manual on the Panther if there's specific info you may want. Looking forward to seeing this progress

 

[rtfoe]

Happy Birthday Kev, nice additions.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[boatman]

HI Kev sorry im late to the party well im not a tankie but a floaty thingy but i still like lookin at these tank builds BUT PLEASE COULD YOU FIT ON FULL SIZE PICS AS I CANT SEE THEM PROPBERLY ON WINDOWS 10 AS SOME OF THE PIC IS CUT OFF AN ANYONE ELES WHEN YOU ARE FITTING PICS ON PLEASE REMEMBER POOR OLE BOATMAN SO FULL SIZE PLEASE IF POSSIBLE
chris