Here's what I've done after the latest pics..
PE detailing.. lost some parts and had to replace them with the plastic versions..





Still this side to work on...

Nice work John; I just wish I could beuild as cleanly as you are all doing.

Hi Darren,

Thanks alot for the kind words !

It's my first Zimmerited Dragon kit, it's a beauty to build.
There lots of options during the build, lots of PE ( IMO sometimes it's not worth the trouble since the plastic parts are flawless..)
With all the spares from this Campaign ( D & G versions ) and the Dragon Camp. ( F version ) ... I can almost build a new hybrid Panther ...

I'll keep posting my progress... almost ready for Primer Time

The other side with PE.



( still missing the little chains...)

John! this is just sweet I wish I had another panther to build....Keep it up.
Phil.

Merci Philippe !!

This Dragon Panther D is an amazing kit, full of goodies, great to build.. so far.

Thanks for the kind words !!

Hey John,

That Zimmed Panther is SAWEET!!! Great build bro. I gots ta get me one!

Gary

Update progress, wheels and tracks are finished.

Very nice weathering Lap Man! How did you achieve it?
Could you describe the steps for us?

Thanks
Phil.

Here's this afternoon update.

small chains, shackles, .. prepare everything before primer time



Primer Time





Next wheels & tracks... stay tuned.
(Listening to ACDC Live at River Plate 2011)

just started yesterday

Very sweet kit Chris, looking good!

Phil.

It's been a while but I haven't forgotten about the Panther. Despite sweeping the floor and crawling on hands and knees several times searching for the missing driver's visor support (A7), I sadly must admit that the modelling gremlins have achieved victory and the part has made its way to that great disappearing parts bin in the the sky (or wherever it is).

As I really want to depict the visor (armoured cover) open, I have had to resort to scratch building a reasonable facsimile. With the part being barely .138" (3.5mm) wide and having unique contours or details, it's been a slow and frustrating series of trials and mostly errors. Here is the beginnings of trial number five.





The main plastic strip is the proper width as I mentioned above and the rest is made from Evergreen pre-formed strips. Holes are drilled to allow necessary areas to be cut out and then these will be cleaned up with jewellers needle files.

The next images are of "number five" pretty much formed but still a little rough and a tad too thick from front to back.





While trying to thin it down after the pictures were taken, it fell apart, twice! Time for Number Six.

In the mean time, and during this process, I have also been painting the rubber on the road wheels. I've got about half of them done.

Cheers,
Jan

After priming the D, here's what's next ...

Base colour & camo.





Camo tomorrow.

still a lot to work on... equipment, finishing the wheels, weathering the lower hull, add the wheels & tracks.
Filters...

Here it is with the camo ( I might add a 2nd coat of green )
Also added the turret on the last pic, I wanted to see if the tones were ok.












Stay tuned for more updates..

Great builds you guys!

WOW John!!! Your on a roll buddy.....and it looks splendid!!!

Gary

Thanks Gary !!
I hope to get the wheels & tracks over this week.
Then add the rest of the equipment and weather it ... another week at the most.

Stay tuned !

Hey John, superb work, I love the camo you've done.
Prrrops!

If I may, it is not to complain but I think you might really improve the look of your exhaust by boring them a little. Anyway, great job.

Phil.

Thanks Philippe !
I haven't started with the detail painting, exhausts, equipment, chains, etc..
Still working on the filters and pin wash. But mostly the wheels and tracks are my priority.

Thanks again for watching and giving your input !! Stay tuned

Here's today's stuff... more to come soon












Added most of the wheels.
Painted some of the details, exausts too.
Filters for DK yellow & tritinal camo added also some pin wash (light wash) and some more filters over.

After these shots were taken I finished one of the tracks.

Next to come ( some dirt effects on the wheels / some wash on the engine covers, add the side equipment & some very light chipping ( maybe...not sure yet )

Sorry about the lighting on the pics.

@John Looking good!

I got my ATAK zim in today (YAY!) and it included a nice bonus 1m length of chain taped to the outside of the ATAK baggie.

I've used Cavalier before, but never ATAK, and there are NO instructions on where to put this. Most of the parts I can guess, but there are a few that leave me scratching my head. Mainly the cast resin pieces; it looks as if the frontal armor has both the thin resin to apply over the kit part, and a replacement resin piece for the whole thing. Hard to explain. I'll be working on it tonight, so I can shoot pictures and hopefully explain myself better.

Oh, and I picked up MiniArt's German Tank Crew Winter 1943-1945, so I'll probably be doing a hairspray whitewash like the box art depicted. So much to do, so little time to do it... ARGH!

Here's my Thursday evening update.

First off, the ATAK Zimmerit. It's really nice, flexible, easy to separate from the carrier film (like super easy, I figured it out by accident) and fits really well. Totally worth the wait instead of using the Eduard PE Zimmerit. My issue is there are no instructions (I understand it should be easy, however...) and duplicate sections. For instance, take the following photograph:


Looks pretty simple, right? Just replace the kit part with the resin piece and you're done... Except then I see this:


Which is the resin film piece for the kit frontal armor. I'm assuming it's an either / or proposition...

I am fairly confident the following photographs are correct in the Zimmerit placement...









The rest of the ATAK resin pieces are really nice. Zero flash, and the pour blocks are pretty tiny.





So that's it for tonight. I'm getting pretty stoked about this thing finally taking shape after having to sit for so long...

Thanks Matt !
Your build is coming along just great too.
I love ATAK Zimm..

Today's update, tracks, wheels & equipment are on !!!
Also gave another light pin wash on the rear deck.











Next... side skirts & chipping.

Some chipping, the rear deck has a bit more than the rest of the tank.
One small problem, the turret doesn't rotate, I inserted where it should be, but it doesn't move left or right or up..

The side skirts had the basecoat of Dark yellow already, filters & green camo are next...

I'm quite happy with results so far.