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The Cat That Never Scratched

a build story by Christopher Magsino
10
Comments

BACKGROUND

In 1945 East Prussia was divided between Poland and Russia. The capital city of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad and became the capital of the Russian enclave. German inhabitants of East Prussia either escaped in 1945 or were expelled from there afterwards. Only a part of the Polish-speaking population from the southern districts remained. The territory was settled by Poles (the Polish part) and citizens of the Soviet Union. The Soviet's Advance into East Prussia and begin the Seige of Königsberg (January 13 - May 9, 1945).

 

INTRODUCTION

For my first war diorama, I really wanted to capture the feel and look of a battle scene showing all the destruction and dirt that wars create. So using my newly purchased Panther II tank, I began to research about its history, and to my surprise, it was never used in actual combat. But after consulting my friends here at Armorama.com, I was convinced to go ahead with the dio, and as they say, just be creative and have fun.

Copyright ©2002 - Text and Photos by Christopher Magsino. All Rights Reserved.
Project Photos
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About the Author

About Cris Magsino (crismag)
FROM: LUZON, PHILIPPINES

Cris Magsino is Computer Graphic Design artist who runs his own Design Company and spends most of his very limited free time doing scale model kits, mostly of cars, but has ventured on doing some military related dioramas.


Comments

Jeepney
A lot of nice tips for the aftermarket-deprived diorama builder
SEP 26, 2002 - 02:58 PM
REMEARMR
Excellent work! Liked the tip about the flower pots, always like a tip like this that can be used by everyone. Can't wait for your next one. Robbo
SEP 26, 2002 - 03:40 PM
AJLaFleche
Really nice work. Suggestion: I don't know specifically about the Panzerfaust, but it was rocket powereed, I believe. Rockets have back blast and if he's going to fire it off, the guy coming up behind him could be toast. I learned this concept from a 20 National Guard Capt. (Ret) who gave me references on the TOW and who was trained in using the LAW. (If I remember correctly, the TOW has to have 75 meters of clearance directly behind it before being fired or somebody's day is going to be ruined )
SEP 26, 2002 - 09:24 PM
cfbush2000
A very nice diorama. I am impressed with the way you crafted the burned out tank. Very clever work. I can't wait to see more of your work.
SEP 27, 2002 - 04:47 AM
sgtreef
Good job Chris. (:-)
SEP 27, 2002 - 09:00 PM
GeneralFailure
Nice work. I just saw an episode of 'band of brothers" on tv last night. Almost identical scene (yet other tank types) in there. Good tips. Jan
SEP 27, 2002 - 11:38 PM
sniper
Chris, I see that you mentioned that you didn't learn that this particular Panther varient was not used during the war until after completing the dio. I think this is the DML Panther F kit, correct? Or maybe the Panter II kit (that is almost the same as the F)? This was the first armor kit I built too, about three years ago. And, I also didn't realize it was a "fictional" kit until it was completed! But, it does go together nice. One big error is the turret (I think the German word for this particular one is 'Schmalturn' or something). You can see how it actually overhangs the hull on two edges. That's incorrect. If you have the German Tanks of WWII book, there are some nice photos of this Panther prototype and some nice photos of this new turret including an overhead shot that clearly shows that the turret does not overlap. I think it would be really hard to correct this without some major work... Really good job on the kit and dio! Even though this Panther never really existed, I think it looks really great! And, I know those DML track links are a pain and time consuming but don't they look nice after all the hard work?!?! You'll never want to use the 'rubber bands' now! Hope to see more! Steve
SEP 28, 2002 - 01:20 PM
crismag
thank you all guys for your kind comments i have a new dio nearly finished now. everything in it is scratch built including my ruins and buildings....in 1:72 scale! ill be posting pics within this week again thanks!
SEP 29, 2002 - 07:37 AM
salt6
Very good work! You can just call this a Panzer '46 dio. One point, is the burned out tank upside down? If it is I don't think there would have been any camo on the bottom just the orginal primer color.
OCT 02, 2002 - 01:41 AM
clefmmann
Good first dio effort you can only improve from here on. and if the war lasted any longer this cat could have been a painful reality for the allies.
SEP 01, 2003 - 10:48 AM
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