Graeme's Dragon Panther D Kursk 1943

[Steve Jones]

In the first picture its pointing to the left. In your latest picture it's pointing to the right. Is that the difference??

 

[Si Benson]

Progress is progress Graeme! Barely had a sniff of glue of late myself....too busy spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need.....got to love Christmas

 

[scottie3158]

Graeme,
Sorry mate missed this up till now. As Si has said progress is progress. I will follow along.

 

[Graeme C.]

Christian & Simon got the differences straight away, putting it a different way round is about as much as I have got done this week, not much bench time at the moment.
Thanks for following guys!

 

[Mini Me]

Whichever way it's pointing it appears to be going in the right direction PCO and keep us posted. Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Graeme C.]

Thanks Rick, I've finally managed a bit of real progress.
The hatches, engine hatch, exhausts & stowage boxes are on, I've put a headlamp on the glacis, but I think Kursk era Panthers should have two, fortunately there's a spare in the kit. Next up is adding the Mig grills for the fans. A couple of photos.

 

[Steve Jones]

Coming along nicely Graeme. The MIG grills certainly look the part.

 

[Graeme C.]

Thanks Steve, I haven't put the Mig grills on yet, I got sidetracked by the turret!
I've managed to build up the turret shell with mantlet without much trouble, the only question being the rain guards over hatches etc. The mantlet has a rain guard over the sight apertures, but this does not seem to be present on Kursk era Panthers, I'm thinking of doing it as no 521, which was captured by the Russians at Kursk, before capture.
A couple more Photos.

 

[JR]

Ha trying to play tricks, but the cat is out of the bag, we want rain guards fitted before it's captured !

 

[Graeme C.]

Hi John, yes, the cat is out of the bag, or should that be box? There will be rain guards, 521 appears to have had them on the rear turret hatch & the small side hatch. I am doing the Panther before capture Comrade Race......

 

[Graeme C.]

A bit more progress, the Mig fan covers have been sanded to remove the casting blocks, this was done with care & a dust mask, as the resin is rather hazardous to health. They were placed on a sheet of sandpaper & rubbed across it until they were down to the engine deck.

The Mig fan covers are much better detailed than the kit parts.

A few more parts have been added to the turret, the pistol port plugs, turret ventilator cover & side communication hatch. The smoke dischargers are the kit parts, but quite good. I've added the second headlight, as these were present on the Panthers used at Kursk (there was only one on Panthers built from July 1943.)

 

[BattleshipBob]

Coming along very well!!

 

[Graeme C.]

Thanks Bob, it's moving along so well, I might be able to start my Stug for the GB!

 

[scottie3158]

Graeme,
The cat is looking good.

 

[JR]

Hi John, yes, the cat is out of the bag, or should that be box? There will be rain guards, 521 appears to have had them on the rear turret hatch & the small side hatch. I am doing the Panther before capture Comrade Race......

Good, box would indeed be better .
Graeme nice work with those resin parts, certainly worth it.
I recently found a early Russian Tank due out next month in resin ! Cost well over 80 eruo, so decided against .

 

[SimonT]

Coming along nicely Graeme

 

[Graeme C.]

Thanks Guys!
A bit more progress, a Panzer art cupola has been used, better than the kit part, which went together nicely despite me cutting one of the vision blocks in half while removing it from it's casting block.....
Still it looks ok despite the extra gluing.

 

[Graeme C.]

The Panther is now almost ready for paint, tool racks & other fiddly bits added. Various bits of photo etch, such as the engine grills, not to mention the many wheels which made the Panther a pain to maintain in the field.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Wow all that aftermarket stuff is really improving this build keep up the great work

 

[Graeme C.]

Thanks Lee, It's a bit time consuming, but worth the effort.