All,

Need some opinions on two Italeri kits, the Panther A and the Tiger I Ausf E. Any build issues, somewhat accurate, etc.

thanks :-)

Bob, I have both, but have not opened the Panther yet. I do believe I have reviews of both the Panther A and Tiger 1 (Late) from the defunct Military Model Preview magazine. I can make copies and e-mail your way if you want.

I'm not a rivet counter, especially when it comes to German WW2 armor so I do not know the fit or accuracy of either kit. The build ups I've seen on these kits make them look like Tigers and Panthers to me and both kits ran in the $15 range at the Ft. Dix PX. Worth a try at that price.

The Italeri Panther A is one of the more often bashed, beat up knocked about kits in recent years. The overall quality of the Panther A is good; however, the kit is somewhat "dimensionally challenged" shall we say. The key problem areas are the position of the turret and the height of the engine deck. The tracks are not that great and should be replaced with the ones from a Tamiya kit.

There was a nice article in Fine Scale Modeler last year by Thomas Andersen. He's a real Panther expert and he corrected the kit and built a very nice model from it. I have the issue at home, and I'd be happy to send you a scan if you'd like.

The Italeri Tiger I E, if you are refering to the Late Model, Steel wheel version is not that bad. The key challenges are replacing the out of scale overly thick zimmerit with your favorite aftermarket zimmerit or putty. Watch out for are the tracks again not that great. The last set that I saw was for the Tiger I E/H kit and I ended up getting a set of the Academy tracks for that model. The turret also has a weird design in that there way that the mold is designed. The roof has a seam that runs around the top edge of the turret wall. THere is NO seam there on the real thing and it took a bit of putty and careful sanding to get it to go away.

Have a look at the Tiger I E/H kit
here

Let me know if I can help out with this in any way.
Tim

FYI These Italeri kits are going for less than $15 at Model Expo. See my thread on the new Model Expo catalog for the link. All Italeri and Heller kits are 50% off! Most 1/35 kits are in the $10-$14.50 range

Hi,

Two good articles about ITALERI Panthers

• at Missing Links Correcting Italeri's Panther Ausf. A


• at HyperScale Playing with Panthers - Exploring the Modelling Myths Surrounding Italeri's Panthers

Hope it helps.

That's what I love about this place...great info and fast!

Sabot, I'd like to see the info on the Tiger from MMP. I think I have the Panther A MMP if I remember correctly. Thanks!

Bob, the 2 page quick look is on the way.