Sd.Kfz. 179 Bergepanther. Italeri 1/35

[Ian M]

Well after the trials and tribulations of my last build, I went for something semi-safe. Good old plastic! Why only semi safe? well its German WWII for a start. Not my area at all. LOL

With the assistance from Allen, I managed to download a PDF file with the destructions, which was both good and bad. Good because now I got the printer running again. Bad because when you have the instructions, you find that they were not the only thing missing in the box. Turns out the PE fret and the Decal sheet went the same way as the instructions. What ever. There is a far nicer fret of PE from Eduard on its way to me as I write.
Hopefully there are a few members that can assist with WWII German armour details. I'll get to that later.
I wont bore you with sprue shots as this is not a GB build. I will though tell that the moulding is crisp and clean and the detail quite sharp to boot! There will be scratching though. The winch drums! For some in explainable reason they are made in two half's worst of all WITH the wire moulded as well. Should be able to sort that out though.



Wheels are always a good place to start. Just need to attack them a bit with the wire brush to give them the used look.


And the lower hull has grown legs ready for some paint.
Am I correct in assuming that the Germans used red oxide primer? As I recon there will be a chip here and there and the odd scratch as well.
Before I go, anyone that can tell which tracks would be suitable for this. I believe its and early Panther but would hate to get the wrong type.
The kit has rubber band tracks that are never my favourite.

 

[scottie3158]

Ian,
Count me in I built one of these a few years back and don't remember having any issues. Some fruli tracks look good.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Ian
I am looking forward to this. Looking at the box-art it is one of the earlier kits from the mid 1990s so the moulds would be nice and crisp.

There is a far nicer fret of PE from Eduard on its way to me as I write.

Bet it will be nicer and more comprehensive although, being Eduard, not as shiney
Jim

 

[Allen Dewire]

Evening Ian,

As far as tracks go, you could use both early and late panther tracks. The late tracks having chevrons on the face of the links would be more appropriate for this kit. This could be a later Bergepanther that has the spade mounted on the back. Without getting to detailed, An early panther had 16 bolt wheels and later panthers had 24 bolt wheels (outer rim). Red oxide primer was used as a base on the outside starting in Sept '44 and was factory applied. It could also have been used earlier by the different parts manufacturers as a base coat.

Friul makes both sets and the late tracks are # ATL-08. There are other manufacturers that make tracks in both metal and plastic, workable or static. Bronco, Master track, Model Kasten and Dragon are just a few.
Have fun!!!

Prost
Allen

 

[grumpa]

Awesome kit, am watching

Jim

 

[Graeme C.]

Hi Ian, good choice of build, I built one a year or so back and did a bit of research into this beast. The Italeri kit is based on the Ausf A, or mid production tank, there are a few minor discrepencies, such as the drivers compartment which you don't see much of, but it builds up nicely. Eduard do an etch set for the Bergpanther, mine didn't have any etch with it either!
I'm here watching & encouraging.

 

[minitnkr]

Where is the floor? Normally the winches are covered by a working floor with winch access doors loaded with tools & accessories bordered by the wooden sides. PaulE

 

[Mini Me]

Good choice Ian. I've always wanted to make one of these so will follow closely.
Cheers, Rick H.

 

[Peter Gillson]

Always had a fondness for berg vehicles so it will be fun following you on this one.

Peter

 

[Steve Jones]

I will pull up a chair and watch you weave your magic. Looking good so far

 

[Graeme C.]

Paul, the Italeri kit is missing the flooring over the winch compartment, you have to scratch build, they aren't hard to do fortunately! That was one of the minor discrepancies which I forgot to mention.

 

[Ian M]

Where is the floor? Normally the winches are covered by a working floor with winch access doors loaded with tools & accessories bordered by the wooden sides. PaulE

Dude, let me take the lid off the box! But thanks for the heads up.

 

[Ian M]

So after a short trip of 30km to the nearest hobby shop to by more filler, I found out that they had closed. As in given up and shut shop. So another 30km to the next and I got hold of the filler. Two lessons can be learned from this. 1) If you want a local hobby shop US IT. 2). Always remember to put the lid on things when you are done and don't tighten it to much... My lid has split and the filler hardened!
Anyway I got the dimples sorted and managed to get some primer down.

Not having any red primer, I will just have to spray them with red oxide later. The tyres of the outermost road wheels have been suitably mutilated. I know that the inner ones would be just as, if not more,worse for wear, but they will hardly show.

I got the main parts for the winches sorted and primed only to find another part that I had forgotten to mount up for spraying! Grr!
I have hacked the moulded cable off the two smaller winch drums as the parts that join the two cables to make the full loop were totally different from the cable on the drums. Also they had some serious ejection pin marks. What does one then do to replace these now missing cables? make a new cable, naturally!

The thicker is for the main winch cable, the thinner for the one that lifts the spade.
Made like real cable, the thick one is made from three wires made from five strands of lamp flex. As we know that is simple, trick is that you twist these clock wise. Once you have the three lengths of twisted wires, you then clamp put all three end loops on your preferred twister, I just use a bit of piano wire bent into a hook in a pin vice. Make sure there are no kinks and are the same length and clamp them to the desk. The twist the tree together anti-clockwise. Job done.
The thinner one is made with only three strands per single wire.
I am getting to the point where I dare not do more until I get my hands on the PE so not sure when the next thrilling instalment will be...

 

[Jim R]

Hi Ian
Those cables look excellent. Something to try Always nice to get to the primer stage.
Jim

 

[Mini Me]

You are off and running, good start.
Rick H.

 

[Jakko]

1) If you want a local hobby shop US IT.

Definitely. In the long term, it’s no good having a local shop (for anything) and then buying things they sell off the Internet because that's a bit cheaper.

2). Always remember to put the lid on things when you are done and don't tighten it to much... My lid has split and the filler hardened!

3) Car body filler from a tube often also works well on plastic kits, and is much more easily available to those of us with no model shop nearby.

 

[scottie3158]

Ian,
The cables look excellent,

 

[Ian M]

Now about this floor...
Så Yesterday I had a hunt for pictures of the missing floor or deck. Actual historical photos of said deck are as rare as chicken teeth. Lucky for me, both Meng and Tacom have done the Bergepanther and there are loads of photos of that. Including a rather useful top view.
Armed with some plasic-card, a ruler and a knife I got some decks made.
Today I found that I had built them the wrong way round. So had another stab at them today.
I used 0.5 mm card, but am wondering if 1.5 mm would not have been better. Scale wise the 0.5 comes out at 17.5 mm which is a bit on the thin side, taking account for the weight it was loaded with. If I do them in 1.5 mm they would have a scale size of about 2" Anyone know how thick they should have been?

Anyway so far I have these, Need cut outs for hand holes to allow placing and removing....

I also fitted an H beam as a cross brace/support.

Ideas and suggestions most welcome.
Does anyone have a photo of the drivers compartment awning in the open position?

 

[MikeC]

Ian,
Thanks for the quick lesson on making cables, that will come in usefull in the future. For filler I used car body stopper, put it on last thing and it is ready to sand the following day, and as it is so fine it fills in all the scratches, and you can get it off ebay.
Cheers, Mike.

 

[Graeme C.]

Hi Ian, the cable & the boards look good, scaffold boards aren't much thicker than your boards, so they should be ok. I have this picture, is this what you are looking for? Photo for discussion only.