I am thinking about using dragon's Panther G smart kit as basis to build a bergepanther G.

The gaps are:

1. All the pictures of bergepanther I've seen are based on D or A chassis. But I believe half of the bergepanther said ever built were based on G chassis. Are theG bergepanthers identical to A bergepanthers except for the shape of the hull?

2. Most D and A bergepanthers dispenses with the screwed on maintenance panel over the driver and radio operator's seats. So their positions are open to the sky, except for a folding canvas weather cover. Who does a Panther G driver compartment detail?

3. Dragon g comes with all the necessary interior torsion bar details, but without the longitudinal stringers that runs from and back under the floor of the Panther. Is there a aftermarket product that provides these?

4. The big winch motor in the space formerly occupied by turret basket. Who makes that? Does italieri make a good winch motor in their bergepanther A kit that would b worth cannibalizing?

Would strongly suggest you consider buying the Verlinden update set for the Italeri kit. Will save a lot of scratch building.

Out of production but can be found on Evil Bay.

DML & Tamiya still ignore this one.

Hi Chuck
As said before, the Verlinden set is very good, I used it for an ausf G myself some years ago. But also TMD has an even more detailed conversion set, just more expencive though. I believe there's a thread on such a build here on forum somewhere, which looks awesome.
For insperation, here's my old build.
Jacob

G'day Chuck

I got about halfway through the same project before something else diverted my attention, but would advise the following:

1. If you look at the videos on You Tube of panzers surrendering at Iserlohn in the Ruhr in 1945 (most of which were Jagdtigers) there is a very good sequence which shows a Berge G driving down a street - that's the one on which I intend to base mine whenever I go back to it. There are a few differences between a A and a G.

2. CMK do a driver's compartment for both Panther and Jagdpanther - I ended up using bits from both. They're very fiddly and the instructions leave a bit to be desired.

3. It's easiest to scratchbuild them out of plastic card - when everything is in place you aren't going to see much of it anyway. You'll also find there a couple of bits of treadplate floors which you'll have to build from brass (Aber makes some).

4. The winch in the Italeri kit is not worth the trouble - use the Verlinden update for the Bergepanther.

CMK do an update set for the Berge, but it is VERY expensive ($A150).

I think it's quite possible to build quite a respectable Berge G using the bits referred to above and a DML Panther G hull. Happy to help as I have a LOT of info.

Also suggest you search Bergepanther both here and over on Military Modelling (one of the builds you will find from 2015 is mine on both sites). There is also a very good detailed build log by a Norwegian modeller using the TMD kit if you can find it.

Regards

Rob

Here is the link to the Bergepanther G build log going on elsewhere on Armorama:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/244834


Great stuff there!

AND........we still have no decent kit available of the Berge!!!!!! Dragon is doing every hairbrained paper panzer but still no Berge.
J

Right you are Jerry, and it's a real mystery to me too.
Jacob

Ditto to Jacob's remarks.

Jerry, I could not agree more. Several hundred Berges were built, yet Italeri is the only kit out there. Two Dicker Max were built, yet look at the number of kits! I give up.

In Tony Greenland's book on modelling panzers, there are a number of pictures of a master Berge which he did for Gunze Sangyo, so somebody, somewhere, must have a master model.

Regards

Rob

Hobby boss offers a strange bergepanther with no recovery equipment, but with a 20mm AA gun instead where the turret normally go on a Panther. However, it has separate transmission inspection panel over driver and radioman compartment, and fairly comprehensive hull floor detail, including stingers and torsion bars, even though these are not visible or not used in the kit. So the kit does seem to be set up to provide the basis of a real ARV bergepanther at a later date.

Unfortunately it is a Ausf D hull. Not what I was looking for.

The early Ausf D Bergepanthers were little more than a Panther without a turret to be used as a tractor to move disabled vehicles. The turret ring was covered in a wooded hatch, although I think I have seen one with a metal or metal covered wooden cover.

The winch went into the later Ausf A & G model chassis. A couple of ground spades were made.

Some units with the early models used them as a base for AA guns, the 653rd Heavy Anti-Tank Unit put a quad 20 on one with a home made armored turret. Also a quad 20 on a T-34