¹⁄35

Building a 1:8 Scale Panther: Part 3

Thoughts on the 1:1 Panther

My overriding thoughts having ‘read the print off of my books’ is the surprising lack of standardization in the Ausf. A Panther during its production by the various manufactures e.g. MANN, Henschel etc. This being late 1943, the Germans were not suffering the crippling loses of raw materials caused by the loss of territory as it was taken back by the allies nor the difficulties in supply caused by the allied bombing that occurred in late 1944-45. The differences although small are very noticeable. Tools have no standard fitting pattern; the support brackets for the tools vary in size and thickness, as do the brackets which support the exhaust/cooling pipes. I have discovered to date 3 different types of jack, four different styles of hull mg housing and variations in the tool retaining catches and the spare tracklink holders.

All this leads to greater research and interest and like the unknown true actual colours of the wartime paints; it should however hopefully confound those who have made little themselves but wish to point out to you that a particular bolt of your 1:72 scale M4 Sherman should have a star washer and not a plain washer!
 

Radio Control

I have now realized after well over 20 month’s work it is too good to run. The scale fittings would not stand up to the rigors of being driven through bushes etc. Moreover I do not have a great deal of faith in the tracks ‘lasting the course’. The misalignment of many of the drilled track pin holes means that some of the tracks are weakened to such an extent that they I believe they will in time fail. I will fit all of the intended R/C for the Panther into my new tank, the one I originally wanted, the T34-85.