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Takom Bergepanther A

In the spring of last year a friend of me asked me if I would like to build the Takom Bergepanther Ausf. A. Since long I wanted to build a correct one with a good detailed winch so we started to find out more. It finally turned out that the only ones with a spade were build by Demag.

We choose the well documented one build at the end of the Zimmerit period. This means zimmerit only on the lower sponsons above the wheels and partially at the front. Building it was as easy as demanding because of the tight fit of all parts. Once finished I was amazed how well it all fitted (eg. the engine bay with piping:Great work).

Using the wonderful Voyager set for a more and crispy finish, I realised that some parts were to0 clean and I started to build them myself. A good example is the working floor above the winch with all tools added. Also the stowage was to empty so a set of tools from Miniart and a crate of bottles was added for realism.

Demag Panthers had a distinct camouflage pattern so it was copied on the model. The spade is a beautiful piece and demanded a lot of work to get it well used but not too dirty.

The only problem I encountered was fixing the upper hull to the lower hull.

But since we would not see all the beautiful work afterwards we decided to keep the parts separate. The upper hull is placed on separate clear plastic struts and will be placed behind the now completely visible hull.

A great but demanding model that took me more time than expected. I would recommend it for the more experienced modeler. Well done Mr. Takom