Tom Cromwell looks at Italeri’s old Panther A kit number #270
to see how it holds up.


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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Thanks for the review I was looking all over the internet for one also.
I have a Panther A and it looks the same as the Italeri but made by Heller. Kit #81162.

Shaun,

Yes, thank you.

This Panther may not be up to current standards, but it's better than the old Tamiya kit I built in the late '70s!

Italeri's Panther was a highly anticipated release, as Tamiya's effort had so may problems, but the modeling public was hugely disappointed when it finally appeared, as it was riddled with errors. This caused huge aggravation, because all of these errors were completely avoidable. There are several Panther A models preserved in Europe which could have been measured during the kit's development--Italeri just didn't bother, and apparently relied on a poor set of published plans rather than do their own measurements (I have to rely on published plans, too, but I'm trusting the competence of Hilary Louis Doyle and Thomas Jentz, the top researchers in the field).
The Italeri Panther kit isn't so much underscale as misproportioned. If you check the kit against a set of Hilary Louis Doyle's 1/35th scale plans, you'll find the upper hull deck is about eight scale inches short, causing the turret to foul the drivers' hatches when it rotates. Italeri "solves" this by having the turret ride ridiculously high, so it floats over the hatches, when in fact, it ought to clear them. If you correct the turret's sit, it will bang into the hatch covers. There is no simple solution, other than saw the hull apart ahead of the turret ring, and add a styrene extension (or just don't try to rotate the turret with the hatches shut). If you rebuild the hull, the top deck will have to be converted from the interlocked type to the butt-jointed, welded type, as the interlocks will no longer be evenly spaced--both hull types were seen during the A production run.
Other dimensions appear to have been fudged so the kit is correctly scaled when the thick styrene Zimmerit panels are installed.
The gun mantlet places the gun at the centerline, when it should be off center, so out comes the razor saw to cut it apart and swap pieces around so the gun tube is in the right place (or swipe a mantlet from a different kit, or acquire a resin one someplace).
The four rectangular grills on the engine deck have very anemic slats, which are incorrectly spaced, and the four grills do not even match each other! If you have the ancient Tamiya Panther Ausf. A lying around, the grills from that kit can be carved out and installed as replacements, as they are identical in size. If you don't swap them out, the addition of photoetched screens will make the error less obvious, and possibly having some figures stand on the engine deck could solve the problem by hiding it. Forward hull ventilator (under the travel lock) is the wrong shape. Turret ventilator is molded in place with no vent openings, so it must be sawed out and openings added, then reinstalled.
The tail plate is too tall, and must be trimmed to fit the hull. Tools are pretty crude.
Rims on the road wheels are far too prominent (presumably to ease painting), and they should be sanded down a bit. Many kits have wheels with sink marks on the hubs (a chronic problem with Italeri kits generally). If one can inspect the kit parts before purchase, that would be advisable. If you have a friend with Dragon's Panther F or Tamiya's Steel Wheel Panther, you may be able to acquire the spare set of rubber rimmed wheels in those kits.
The kit's vinyl tracks are molded in two runs per side, and are the usual stiff Italeri vinyl. Aftermarket tracks are advisable, as getting these to lay down on the top run of the wheels will be difficult.
But seriously, with excellent A and D versions available from Dragon which include the necessary photoetched parts and single link tracks in the box (and a "not bad" effort from ICM for another version of the D), there is little sense in building Italeri's kit except as a painting exercise. To do a good Panther with this kit will require extensive rebuilding and/or aftermarket purchases, which will negate any real savings.

Gerald,

Thanks for these comments - do you know if the Doyle plans are indeed more accurate than the ones I cited? Because both of those ones I used gave the upper deck as being within about a scale inch (less than 1mm in real terms) of true length & width. Also, I hadn't heard the Panther's gun was really off-centre before - I thought it was only the Tiger that had this trait? I'll need to get my hands on the Doyle plans to check.

As for the hatches, I have yet to assemble mine so will look for this. It's possible the turret base is a tad wide at the front, which would cause this problem, but that's easily fixed with a little subtle trimming. The raised gap however is an issue, and I fully intend to shave it off as stated. Again, the hatch locations are good with respect to the plans I had access to.

The wheel rim issue is really due to the un-naturally narrow rubber tyres, from what I can see. Rather than trimming the rim down I'll add a plastic fillet to the wheels to get that classic Panther bulge. And yes, I pointed out those hub-cap sink-marks...

I knew reviewing this old dog was gonna bring brick-bats! I definitely agree the Dragon kit is much better, but then it does cost £40 instead of £12.

Tom

hi guys,I agree with Gerard ,Italeri Panther A is not a good deal.There's a good article by John Gray on Missig-linx as a guide for better correcting this difficult kit.Unfortunately I took it years ago.Even though I've added PE Eduard,Jordi Rubio barrel,Tamiya road wheels and Dragon workable track just a little bit is changed.I built other different brand kits since then but Italeri Panther A # 270 is still under construcion!

Gerald, just checked my copy of Jentz book and the main gun is NOT off center. Only the Tiger 1 had an off center main gun AFAIK.

Jesse