Armorama :: REVIEW DML Panther D w/Zimmerit

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REVIEW

DML Panther D w/Zimmerit

c5flies

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Posted: Sunday, June 08, 2008 - 04:53 PM UTC

Scott Espin provides an in-box review of Dragon's "Sd.Kfz. 171 Panther Ausf. D w/Zimmerit", the third in the pre-zimmerit series.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

pzcreations

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Posted: Sunday, June 08, 2008 - 09:33 PM UTC

bummer..I liked the magic tracks better

Spiff

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 04:33 AM UTC

I'll be curious to see how good these look. I'm hoping the sag and everything will look convincing. If now, there are always the tried and true Friulmodel tracks.

mcourter

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 05:56 AM UTC

Thanks for the great review Scott! I'm looking forward to your build, I just got this kit recently and will probably wait to see your build log before I start...by the way, of the references you mentioned at the end, which is best for picking an alternative paint scheme to what the kit offers?

Mike

Spiff

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 06:20 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Thanks for the great review Scott! I'm looking forward to your build, I just got this kit recently and will probably wait to see your build log before I start...by the way, of the references you mentioned at the end, which is best for picking an alternative paint scheme to what the kit offers?

Mike

Thanks!

Ironically, Panther Markings, especially on the Ausf. D, are tough to research. There isn't too much information out there on markings, at least in the references I've used so far. I found way more information from the Echelon decal Sheet ATX351009

I'll be doing mine as either #232, 2nd Company, 15 Pz.Rgt., 11 Pz.Div or #424, 4th Company, 15 Pz.Rgt., 11 Pz.Div.

cach7

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 06:24 AM UTC

Scott, nice review. I got this kit when it first came out. I have nothing to complain about. It looks very nice and the Zim i think looks better then the Tigers(Dragon). I might build this kit or my Stug for the Eastern Front campaign.

Spiff

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 09:37 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Scott, nice review. I got this kit when it first came out. I have nothing to complain about. It looks very nice and the Zim i think looks better then the Tigers(Dragon). I might build this kit or my Stug for the Eastern Front campaign.

Thanks!

I moved my build up to the front of my build queue as I've really been into Panthers and have been doing a lot of research on them. I was going to build the StuH 42 Ausf. G w/zimmerit for the Eastern Front Campaign, but now I'm thinking I might have to get a Panther D premium to go with those gorgeous Kursk markings on the Echelon sheet with either the black, red or white panther heads.

cach7

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 10:33 AM UTC

I just finished that kit. I did a base coat on it but going to strip it down. I used a new paintgun and didnt like the results( operator error). If your a Panther fan pick up (Panther) (150001) by Kagero . The book is on the squadron style of books. Lots of color drawings.It also has a decal sheet for 1/35,1/48,1/72. It has at least 45 Panthers and markings for them.

Spiff

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 10:37 AM UTC

Cool, thanks for the tip on that reference book Mike, I'm going to have to check it out.

whittman181

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 12:48 PM UTC

Another great review Scott . You do a great job on the photo's and I look forward to more reviews in the future. Now if I can convince my wallet to give me some $ I'll be buying this one ASAP.

Thanks again , Bob

Spiff

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 12:58 PM UTC

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the comments and the interest.

SGTJKJ

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Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 - 11:07 PM UTC

I bought this kit last week in my LHS. It looks great, although I must agree with Scott that the markings in the kit are a bit boring. I think a little research and artistic license can produce better markings.

Thanks for your time and effort, Scott

Spiff

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Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 04:42 AM UTC

Thanks Jesper. The markings on the Echelon sheet are pretty good so I'm surprised Dragon didn't come up with something a little more exciting for the markings. Although I like the paint schemes.

stevecamley

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Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 09:52 AM UTC

I saw this kit in my LHS last week- but the price and the vinyl type tracks, put me off.
At £39.99, [plus a set of replacement tracks], it does not add to a good buy IMHO.
Can anyone explain to me why this kit is around £10 more than all Dragon's other recent Panther and Pz releases?
Steve

Spiff

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Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 10:16 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I saw this kit in my LHS last week- but the price and the vinyl type tracks, put me off.
At £39.99, [plus a set of replacement tracks], it does not add to a good buy IMHO.
Can anyone explain to me why this kit is around £10 more than all Dragon's other recent Panther and Pz releases?
Steve

I'm sorry Steve, not really sure why it's so much more expensive for you. In the States we can get the kit from www.Greatmodels.com for only $37.75, which is about the same price as all their other recent Panther releases. I wonder if the distributor is taking advantage of European buyers of new releases by jacking the price up a bit?

alanmac

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Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 10:44 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I saw this kit in my LHS last week- but the price and the vinyl type tracks, put me off.
At £39.99, [plus a set of replacement tracks], it does not add to a good buy IMHO.
Can anyone explain to me why this kit is around £10 more than all Dragon's other recent Panther and Pz releases?
Steve

Sadly this is the price new Dragon kits will be as I understand it. The price increase, certainly the UK one, has had some coverage already. My LHS did warn me several months ago that prices would rise for UK Dragon kits. Even the older kits will be restocked at higher prices, if they hav'n't been put up already.

Perhaps the possible drop in sales which may arise from this could result in a rethink and the price lowered but I doubt it as a lot of it is to do with import taxes, number of steps in the chain of distribution and the current value of local currency against other countries.

If you are somebody who just enjoys model making maybe it's worth looking at the other manufacturers to see what they have to offer. Certainly for many who can buy a nice well engineered kit, all be it without all the bells and whistles of Dragons issues, for about half that price will just decide to model those ones instead and not worry.

Alan

Plasticbattle

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Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 11:42 AM UTC

Excellent review, Scott. Very informative and exactly whats needed.

Quoted Text

I wonder if the distributor is taking advantage of European buyers of new releases by jacking the price up a bit?

I´ll say. same story here in Sweden. Its no wonder small hobby shops are closing or reverting to remote control items. Kits are being bought in sales or online from the far east. There are not too many bulk-buying like the old days ( a few years ago)

Spiff

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Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 04:03 AM UTC

Thank you Frank, most appreciated.

210cav

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Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 08:31 AM UTC

Scott-- excellant review, very well-written. WoW! $60 for a model....thank goodness I have a stash to keep me busy.
DJ

Spiff

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Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 09:36 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Scott-- excellant review, very well-written. WoW! $60 for a model....thank goodness I have a stash to keep me busy.
DJ

Thank you sir, I appreciate your comments.

Thank goodness $60 is the MSRP. Online retailers sell them for much less, including such sites as www.greatmodels.com for only $37.75.

Metal_blast

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Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 10:55 AM UTC

Thank you for an informative review.

I'm most disappointed however, at the kit's offering of decals. Only 2 units? Its quite peculiar that a lot of effort was put into the model kit itself, but not the markings?

Could this be because the Panther D variant wasn't produced as much the other variants or did Dragon just get lazy? Also, are there decals to place this model into a kursk unit?

Spiff

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Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 11:31 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Thank you for an informative review.

I'm most disappointed however, at the kit's offering of decals. Only 2 units? Its quite peculiar that a lot of effort was put into the model kit itself, but not the markings?

Could this be because the Panther D variant wasn't produced as much the other variants or did Dragon just get lazy? Also, are there decals to place this model into a kursk unit?

I agree with you 100% Alexander. The boring markings were a bit of a disappointment. I did a lot of checking around online and finally settled on a really nice decal set from Echelon (ATX351009). The sheet includes markings for various Panther Ausf. D with and without zimmerit. I will be using one of the decal schemes on this kit which I've already started building as well as one of the Kursk schemes to be used on an upcoming build of Dragon's Panther Ausf. D premium. If you're interested in my build log on this kit you can find it here.

Panther D w/zimmerit build log

I just finished writing up my review of the Echelon decal set and will upload it to the Armorama web site when I get home from work. Once it's been posted I will post a link to it here for everyone's convenience.

bill_c

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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS

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Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 04:23 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I just finished writing up my review of the Echelon decal set and will upload it to the Armorama web site when I get home from work. Once it's been posted I will post a link to it here for everyone's convenience.

Ditto here about the piss-poor decals and documentation ("unknown unit").

But if you look at the Panther decal offerings, there's a TON of Archers, for example, but they're all Panther As. What gives?

Spiff

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Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 05:06 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Quoted Text

I just finished writing up my review of the Echelon decal set and will upload it to the Armorama web site when I get home from work. Once it's been posted I will post a link to it here for everyone's convenience.

Ditto here about the piss-poor decals and documentation ("unknown unit").

But if you look at the Panther decal offerings, there's a TON of Archers, for example, but they're all Panther As. What gives?

Here is the link to my review of the Echelon decal set for the Panther Ausf. D which I'm going to use on this build. It really is a nice decal set for the early Panthers.

Echelon ATX351009

bill_c

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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS

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Posted: Friday, June 13, 2008 - 03:42 AM UTC

Thanks, Scott. I'm a little nervous about waterslide decals on Zim. Any guidance? It's why I prefer Archer or MIG dry transfers.

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