Here is a list of acceptable vehicles for this campaign. It is not an all inclusive list and only covers 1/35th models. Anyone who wishes to create a list of larger or smaller scales is welcome to do so and anyone who knows what I have missed please add the info and I will combine it with this list.

Dragon
1. 6027 - PANZERKAMPFWAGEN PANTHER II
2. 6160 - Sd. Kfz. 171 Panther A Early Type (Italy 1943/44)
3. 6164 - Sd. Kfz. 171 Panther D, 52nd Battalion, 39th Panzer Regiment (Kursk Offensive, July 1943)
4. 6168 - Sd. Kfz. 171 PANTHER A LATE TYPE
5. 6268 - Sd.Kfz.171 Panther G Late Production
6. 6299 - Sd.Kfz.171 Panther D
7. 6346 - Panther D w/"Stadtgas" Fuel Tanks - ch.c exclusive
8. 6358 - Sd.Kfz.171 Panther A Late Production
9. 6370 - Panther G w/Steel Road Wheels
10. 6382 - Panther F (2-in-1) - ch.c exclusive
11. 6384 - Sd.Kfz.171 Panther G w/Zimmerit
12. 6393 - Jagdpanther Late Production
13. 6403 - Panther F mit Gummigedämpften Stahllaufrollen
14. 6428 – Sd.Kfz 171 Panther Ausf D with zimmerit
15. 6458 - Sd.Kfz173 Jagdpanther Ausf.GI Early Production
16. 6494 - Jagdpanther Ausf. G1 Early Production w/Zimmerit
17. 6551 - Befehls-Panther Ausf.G
18. 6561 - Ersatz M10
19. 6659 - Panther Ausf. G Late Production
20. 9008 - PANZERKAMPFWAGEN V Ausf. F 'PANTHER F'
21. 9012 - Jagdpanther early version
22. 9016 – Jagdpanther Command
23. 9045 - Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf. G 'NIGHT FIGHTING PANTHER'
24. 9046 - Pz.Bef.Wg. PANTHER Ausf. G
25. 9103 – Panther II
26. 9121 - Flakpanzer V Coelian with Panzer Rider Lorraine 1944


ICM
1. Bergepanther with German Tank Crew # 35342
2. ICM 1/35 Pz.Kpfw. V Panther Ausf. D # 35361
3. ICM 1/35 Beobachtungspanzer Panther # 35571

Italeri
1. Italeri 1/35 Panther Ausf A # 270
2. Italeri 1/35 Sd kfz 173 Jagdpanther # 6275
3. Italeri 1/35 Sd.Kfz.179 Bergepanther w/ photo etch # 6472
4. Italeri 1/35 Panther Ausf D w/ photo etch # 6473

Revell
1. Revell 1/35 Pz.Kpfw. V Panther Ausf. D # 03095

Tamiya
1. Tamiya 1/35 German Panther Med. Tank # 35065
2. Tamiya 1/35 Panther Type G Early Version # 35170
3. Tamiya 1/35 Panther G w/Steel Wheels # 35174
4. Tamiya 1/35 Panther G Late Version # 35176
5. Tamiya 1/35 Jagdpanther LV # 35203

Tom,it's not burned out,it's just a little tired.Looks nice though,I will get back to research to find the perfect kit when I deside I will post it here to make sure I am good to go ..........Geraint,sounds like ',m a real newbie compaired to you.But the campaignes really are a lot of fun,and as you can see filled with great info Jeff

Not quite. Other vehicles also had large road wheels like the Panzer II Ausf.L (Luchs)

and the Panzer 38(t) (and variants).

Darren Great list, you've also got the Dragon Aust D with Zimm. I'm going for Quite a rare beast if its OK. Its an Aust A without Zimm,early wheels with 8 not 16 bolt type and a BefhlsPanther. It was part of "Wikings" 5th SS Pnz Div. More on it when the Campaign starts. One Question. Is it OK to use spruces from a few kits Eg use Dragons Early Aust A as the main kit then use the wheel sruces from Dragons Aust D and some other stuff from the Aust F with steel wheels etc etc

I'm In!

Geraint I have added it to list.

Richard welcome to the throng.

Darren,thanks for the list,it helps alot .Nicely done Jeff

Jeff please note the list is not a complete list of what is out there in 1/35th. Out of the box DML does produce the most complete and accurate models providing you stick to kits starting with a six. If you fancy taking a crack at some scratch work I think I can come up with some pictures which will get your creative juices flowing.
Here are some examples.

Ah, the naming of tanks

Each german tracked and half-tracked vehicle could have up to three official names:

Sonder-Kraftfahrzeug Nummer

Shortened to Sd.Kfz in daily use this is the official and unique nummerical designation. EVERY vehicle in service had one and they where applied by official offices

I.e Sd.Kfz 7 is the Halftrack commonly used to tow the 88mm Flak.

Within that Sd.Kfz nunbers production variants are known as "Ausführung" or "Model" (short: Ausf)

The Panthers have the Sd.Kfz Numbers:

Sd.Kfz 171 - This are the basic Panther tanks with turret, Ausführungen are D, A, D2, G, F

Sd.Kfz 173 - The Jagdpanther, turretless tankhunter with an 88mmL71 gun (Same as on the Tiger Ausf. B)

Sd.Kfz 179 - The Bergepanther, recovery tank.

Sd.Kfz that where a relatively minor variant of an existing chassis, even more so if they where small production runs, often got a slash designation like Sd.Kfz 234/9

The Panzers

Since the designation above is unwieldy (and would be spelled out over radio etc) the tank force used the "Panzerkampfwagen" or "Panzer" shortcut for fully tracked vehicles. Within that series

Sd.Kfz 171: Panzer 5

Sd.Kfz 173: Jagdpanzer 5

The numerals where typically written (but not spelled) as roman numerals (Panzer V)

A vehicle could have a Panzer designation without an Sd.Kfz designation since prototypes would get one (Panzer VIII Maus) while only production vehicles got the Sd.Kfz designation

Suggestivnamen

Official Suggestive names where very rare in gernany and not all where used throughout the war. Most where there to link the vehicle to animal attributes (The attributes of the 1930s, not the 21. century ones)

Panther is considered sleek, fast and dangerous

Tiger is huge and powerful

Marder (Marten) is tenacious and blood thirsty

Elefant is an unstopabel force, has no enemies and can destroy everything

Nashorn is the powerful if single minded attacker

Luchs is the shy but smart stalker, the only large cat in europe

Leopard is a cunning hunter and faster than lions etc.

Hummel (Bumblebee) and Wespe (Wasp) where only used a short time and then dropped as being "not aggressive enough"

Ferdinant was a reference to the constructor (Ferdinant Porsche)

Maus was a joke. A mouse is small, nimble and can hide easily. The Panzer VIII Maus was a 150t monster

The post War names

Quite a few nicknames are actually post WWII. The Kingtiger/Königstiger was simply the Tiger Ausf. B, in after action reports the "Hetzer" is never referred to by that name but rather as "Jäger" (Hunter, this is still used by the Bundeswehr i.e the Jagdpanzer 4-5 was the Kanonenjäger, the Raketenjagdpanzer as the Raketenjäger)

Sorry, I thought it was "panzer" not "panther". I'm out.

MBR thank you for that there is a lot of information there I didn't know.

Matt no problem.

@CMOT – Daren,

I now have a few books on the Panther including the Jentz & Doyle, Panther book. I also recently added two Panzer Track books to my library, one on the Panther F and Paper Panzers. I would like to know if my build would still qualify for this campaign. Here’s what I have in mind.

According to the Panzer Tracks Paper Panzer book there was a planned turret with an 88 designed for future use to be installed on all new production Panthers and rebuild Panthers. A wooden mock up was constructed and everything was already in place but the war ended before they could build a soft metal one. The turret was dimensionally identical to the Panther F with the exception of the 88 and larger turret ring. The turret on Trumpeters E-50 is a match to the Panzer Tracks Paper Panzer book. I was thinking of using the 6403 - Panther F mit Gummigedämpften Stahllaufrollen Dragon kit for the Panther chassis as a rebuilt Ausf G with steel wheels and Tiger II transport track and drive wheels and Trumpeter’s E – 50 turret. The Panther track horns kept breaking with steel wheels so the Tiger II transport tracks are a shoe in (pun intended). I would be trying to build something that is approaching historical possibility and not a sci-fi ‘Panzer ‘46’ – ‘your model do whatever you want as long as you paint it any shade of dark pink’. Building with informed conjecture with the possibility of approaching something authentic!

-Eddy

Since we are evaluating "what is a Panther" currently:

What about the prototypes using a Panther chassis that never made it past "wooden mockup":

+ Coelian AA tank (3.7 or 5.5cm versions)
+ Panther with non-recoiling (not! recoilless) canon

and the "short runs" and one offs

+ (Berge)Panther "early model" with Panzer IV turret
+ Beobachtungspanzer V
+ Panther II

Could they be build?

Eddy forgive me but I cannot get my head around what you have typed (I am so damn tired ) However I read Panther chassis so approved.

MBR; Yes paper Panthers are OK as long as it is based in fact, by this I mean proposed or intended to be built even if it never got off of the drawing board. I am all for seeing something out f the norm that I don't know about that is Panther/Jagdpanther related.

Hi Eddy I Know what you mean . I've got a line drawing of the Panther with the 88mm KwK 43 L/71. A Pantherjager with a 128mm Pak 80 was also proposed. I think Krupp were experimenting with these concepts in 1944. The turret for the 88 version looks like a Ausf G with a similar gun and mantlet to E 50 . I've got a quote here. " The gun conversion for all German armoured vehicles in front line service researched by Krupp shows plan number Hln-E 142 dated 17 Nov 1944 illustrating the mounting of the 88mm KwK 43 L/71 (without muzzle break) in the original Panther Turret" Speilberger Panther and its variants. I'd love to see you kit bash this Panther

Gentlemen,I would like to thank you all in this thread.I have learned more in this thread than in any other one I have posted in.Based on your knowledge and Darrens huge list I have narrowed down my choices to some type of Jagdpanther(I really like dragons w/zimm but it does not have magic tracks)
Or the M10.Once again thanks for all your help and hope to post my choice soon Jeff

Hi Folks,

It seems that I am going to have to share my current Panther build with you all. It is an OOB build and the model is a little interesting as it is based on a fictional armoured formation.



'Die Erzahlung des Schwarzen Ritters' (The Legend of the Black Knights) is based on a Manga comic about a company of German tankers in WWII.

http://www.dragon-models.com/catalog/figure_pics/73129_web.htm

I intend to put it on a base with an extract from the comic attached to place it in context. Anyway this was a birthday present from my Son, who reckons I should do some 'larger scale' models. He also got me a nice Father's Day present to go with the kit.



Here is the progress so far, the bottom hull is straightforward as it doesn't have the torsion bar suspension (even though the parts are included) and I have built it up ready to take the road wheels. The road wheels and the rest of the running gear are painted ready for detailing and finishing. I tried to pre-shade them but it was only a partial success.

Here are some photos of the lower hull, with my assistant Dixie the Datum Dolly......




The running gear..



The rear of the lower hull...





And now the tracks.... I have never used these before and was a little daunted by them, but now I would recommend them and will be using them on future models. They require a minimum of cleaning up and produce a stunning result. I will do a walk through when I tackle the tracks for the other side of the tank.

Individual links...




The first run of track..


And the flexibility of the tracks..


And don't forget to research how many links to a run, else you will be as stupid as me and make up the whole packet, realising later that you have way too many links in the run...


Well that's it for now, I will post as soon as I have made some more progress.

All the best,

Paul

Hi Paul. Nice start to your Panther. Your Fruils look good. What did you use for the Track pins? Did you drill out the tracks and what size are the pins? If you did drill the tracks what size bit did you used? Cheers G. @Darren is it Ok to Kit bash using a few Panther Kits?

I will do a step by step sequence of how I built the tracks soon, but basically I used 0.5mm brass rod as the track-pins and also as the drill for the holes. You will see what I mean when I post the sequence. I will try to do this asap so you don't get too impatient.

All the best,

Paul

Cheers Paul with check out your track building guide when you post it. Thanks

I would like to sign up for this one. The dates are all of next year correct? Are dioramas allowed in this campaign?
Mike

Paul very good progresss thus far and your choice of crew figure make me want to sign up.

Geraint Kit bashing (mix and match) is allowed just make sure that information is available to the viewer when the time comes.

Mike the campaign starts November and runs through the whole of next year as well. You are very welcome to build a diorama to display your chosen model.

@CMOT – Darren, thanks for approving my build.

@bizzychicken – Geraint, thank you for your interest, I hope not to disappoint you.

The idea for putting together the Panther with an 88 main gun came from the No. 20 – 1 Panzer Tracks ‘Paper Panzer’ book. Although worthy enough to be included with many of the other conceptual designs that never matured passed the drawing proposals this idea was taken seriously enough to go ahead and commit research into fitting the 8.8 cm Kw.K.43 L/71 into a Panther Schmalturm (narrow turret) with the least amount of modifications necessary. The drawing that caught my attention in this book is a three-sided view-drawing proposal by Krupp - No. Hin 130 dated 18th October 1944 showing the main gun (without muzzle brake), extended mantel and narrow turret. I believe your drawing is the later Krupp drawing showing a single sided left hand view of the proposed turret mounted onto the Panther chassis? If this is the same vehicle proposal that we’re both talking about then it’s what I’m going to be putting together for the campaign.

Apparently the project had gotten far enough advanced that a wooden mock up was made and a soft steel turret was ordered but never constructed? The Germans already had plans to fit this turret onto all future major oval hauled and production Panthers. Had all gone according to plan many of the modifications designed for the Panther F would have been completed by August 1945 those being the stabilized gun sights, rangefinder, steel road wheels and fuel injected Maybach HL 234 engine. The 8.8 cm Kw.K.43 L/71 is unspecified as to when this modification would have been completed.

I was thinking of placing this turret on a late production Ausf. G as an overhauled vehicle but am leaning towards keeping it an Ausf. F. The single forged solid horn tracks* (identical to the late production Panther tracks) with cast connecting links is the only feature that I don’t have in order to keep this as authentic as possible. The double link transport tracks for the Kingtiger along with the drive wheels for the Panther II or late production 18 tooth sprocket drive wheels for the Kingtiger will have to suffice. I don’t know of any manufactures currently producing these tracks. I do however remember a ‘what if’ build where a set of special snow tracks were made for an E-100. Humm?

*Same tracks that Paul posted above for use on his ‘Legend of the Black Knights’ build.

@spacewolfdad – Paul,

Thanks for posting your Panther project and a Happy belated Birthday! How can you go wrong with a Jerry Springer pole girl? Nice job so far Paul. I hope that you have not cemented the idler arms in place as these are used to adjust the tracks (tension / sag) just like on the real ones? Doing something wrong the first time, like what you did with the tracks is not stupid! If we knew everything there was to know about anything then we’d all be perfect! Learning is part of the fun! Remembering what mistakes you made along the way and being able to laugh about them latter is what makes life so grand.

Keep it coming, Paul

-Eddy

Just signed in
Going for the Revell Panther Ausf. D....
with some changes ofcourse!

@Eddy


Unfortunately, Eddy, I have glued all the arms in place as I was unaware that my Son was treating me to the Friulmodel tracks. I have tried a 'dry run' and I can get the tracks on ok, it remains to be seen if that is still the case when everything is cemented in place. I do have a cunning plan though - if the tracks don't fit well I will cut the idler arms off and use brass rod to re-connect them, thus being able to get the correct tension. I am trying to source an English language version of the comic at the moment. Thanks for the interest and your usual sagacious advice.

All the best,

Paul