If I put the waffle pattern zimm. on it, would the Tamiya Panther Ausf. A (early version) work for a Ardennes dio?

Thanks!

~Chip :-)

hi chip,
ABSOLUTEY NOT! the Tamiya Panther A is one of the worst kits ever made. get the Dragon Panther late A, you'll thank me for it. Oh, the pain, the pain!

Chris

chip AA do a conversion kit to make the panther look like a m-10 which they used during the
bulge have a look at their website to check it out

Save your Panther A for another time, because the "A" was not in the Ardennes. Panthers near the end of the war especially @ Ardennse were "G" type.

Chip-

It probably would be best to use a G version for a Bulge dio, but the Germans did have some A's and D's in use at the time. I did find a pic of a Panther D in use during the Ardennes offensive.

I'll keep looking through my books to see if I can find an A for ya :-)

HTH-
Jeff

Chip, if you MUST use the awful Tamiya A for a dio, it is ABSOLUTELY possible. The Germans threw all armour in the region into the campaign and there is ample pictoral evidence to support this.

Andrew

it's true about the older ones being in use I have some photos showing a D that had been knocked out during the battles for eastern germany

Ok, if Ido use it, Zimm or not Zimm.

Let me know.

~Chip :-)

chip,
the picture of the "D" I have doesnt have zimm so who's to say your wrong if you dont apply it

OK Im from Missouri,,,,,,show me.
All the referances I have checked in text and Pics, show not 1 "A"
Even the "GERMAN ORDER OF BATTLE "encyclopedia, doesnt mention "A"'s in the
ARDENNES. HMMM

Not that this helps much but within my limited pool of resources I could not find a pic of a Panther A in use any later than September '44. Not to say that there couldn't be any, considering Germany's situation. If there was one it would most likely have zim.

About applying zimmerit to Panther Aus. D...on ppg. 14 & 15 in 'Panther' by Concord, there are pics of two different Panther D's with zimmerit. One is an early D, and the other, a mid-production. No dates are given. Probably somewhere in Russia.

a G version would fit much better

RotorHead67 is correct. All Ausf G's in the Ardennes offensive ( Wacht am Rhein ).
If there were to be any Ausf A's it would have been very rare indeed. However I doubt you will find any Ausf 's A at this time.

Most Panther Ausf G's in the Ardennes would have been the LATE version with "chin mantlet " - " left raised fan cover " and " Flammvernichter exhausts ".

Also Chip, the LATE Ausf G's fielded during this battle had NO Zimmerit, since these Panthers were still in factory receiving their production modifications after Sept. 1944, which is also the same month that factory Zimmerit was ordered to stop being applied to panzers immediately. However, in the Ardennes there were other panzer's and a few EARLY Panther Ausf G's and EARLY Panther Befehlswagen ( Ausf G ) that did have Zimmerit.

If you look at any of Late Panther Ausf G's that appear in 1944 Ardennes photo's you will find them all without Zimmerit. And the majority of Panther's in the Ardennes were late Ausf G's.

- ralph

Then what kind of dio could I put my Ausf. A in?

~Chip :-)

Hmmmmmmmm, what immediately come's to mind Chip is -
I./ Panzer Lehr Reg.130 fielded five (5) Panther Ausf A's when they were sent to Mondaye in early June. They were covered in Zimmerit and were painted in a single base coat of dunkelgelb with no camouflage pattern. ............... HOPE THIS HELPS.



Hey Chip, I was looking through my ref's. In June '44' when the Germans responded to the Allied invasion, I./ SS Panzer Reg.12 HJ and I./ SS Panzer Reg.1 LSSAH being deployed to particular areas, had both fielded Panther Ausf A' s as well as G's ( Not sure of the exact number of A's ). ........... Much to my surprise, SS Panzer Reg.12 HJ had a few Ausf D's also !

- ralph

Chip,
Please don't take this the wrong way. Why does it have to be in a dio? As has already been said, the Tamiya A is not a very good representation of that particular tank. Build it and paint it to stand alone. Maybe try some new techniques on it. If you still want to put a Panther A in a dio then get the new Dragon kit. It, unlike the Tamiya offering is very nice. You could put it in a Normandy dio, or if you want a winter scene then the eastern front in '44. Perhaps a Panther from the 5th SS Wiking Div.

Just my 2¢
Mike

Isn't the Tamiya Panther A the old kit that is missing the inner road wheels? I am going to use the turret from mine for a Panther turret bunker for the Cover Up campaign...

Shaun

Isn't the Tamiya Panther A the old kit that is missing the inner road wheels?

Yes, that's correct Shaun.

Mike

Thanks you guys for all of your help. I know that the Tamiya kit is pretty crappy, but it was cheap. Maybe someday I will get that Dragon panther. Thanks again!

~Chip :-)

Ouch! I bought that Tamiya thing recently and remember looking into the box and thinking "mmmm, I thought there'd be more wheels". Oh well, at least it was cheap and I'll think of something by the time I get round to it.

Uh-Oh! I just bought that one too, on e-Bay for $20 USD. Was that a rip? I thought I was getting a good deal.

CHIP,
All is not lost. Even tho it is the old offering from Tamiya, and not up to the Dragon
or redone Tamiya kit. Build it anyway. As KELLEY has suggested, use this kit to try out a new technique, or as a Guinea pig to improve a task that troubles you. There are plenty of options available to you. Dont take the info the wrong way or get down, because your intentions got crossed. I think using it to try out your Zimmeret idea was a GREAT IDEA !!,
or maybe try a different CAMO scheme.
Have some FUN. BUILD IT Like you want.

This might sound like a stupid idea, but I was going to do a little dio of a panther in Norway. Or in other words a scene from "Dirty Dozen" game. I know that they weren't up there, but it still would be pretty neat to me.

Thanks guys!

~Chip :-)

I had another look at the kit last night - seems like the inner wheel of what should be the closely-spaced pair is missing. I wonder could the missing wheels be duplicated from scratch, starting with a disc of sheet plastic? Assuming they fit in there, even if they don't turn out 100% perfect in detail, they'll be mostly hidden anyway.