I am in the process of making a German railroad diorama with a Panther tank on one of the rail cars.This diorama will be in 1/72nd scale!
So my question(s)to all of you this,

1.I am looking to find a Panther D or maybe a G,Who makes the best version of each?
Also I am looking for accuracy and detail in both kits.

2.Who makes them with zimmerite already on them?

3.Does the ones you are choosing do they have link to link tracks?
Thank you.

Dragon has Panther Early G with Zimmerit, kit # DRA7252, but try and find one (maybe on ebay). I think that was the only Panther Dragon made with Zimmerit. Revell makes some Panther tanks that you can find AM Zimmerit kits for.


Might be more viable to change your time frame to Kursk era as Dragon makes a more recent Panther D, and you don't need Zimmerit.

Also, since the G was the ultimate produced version of the Panther, most of it's production came after the ceasing of Zimmeret, so only the early ones had it. Need not necessarily deal with that issue should you choose a G.

More important than zimmerit, will be finding a kit with mesh for the grills (especially on the G). It really does a lot for the kit.

I believe Dragon's G has PE mesh. The D does not. But Im not sure real Ds had the mesh either.

Zvezda's Panther D is quite a nice kit, don't be put off by the `snap fit' tag, and it costs about half the Dragon kit, leaving money over should you want to buy aftermarket mesh for the engine deck (e.g.Black Dog, but there are others, I think). There is a review of it on this site, and an extensive build log here: https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/206222&page=1

It has hard plastic tracks that wrap around and glue on. The recent Dragon kits (D, A) do not have zimmerit or mesh included despite what any of the box top art may show, nor spare track links. There are reviews of those on this site also. I don't personally know about the Revell kits, but have heard good things about them.

I think Biggles was actually referring to Dragons kit #6384 which is an early G production with molded on zimm. It is a pretty rare kit and usually goes for 50$ plus shipping on Ebay. The one major drawback for that kit, and most of Dragons Panthers for that matter, are the DS tracks.

Dragons Panther D Premium kit #6299 includes a metal barrel, a robust PE fret to include mesh screens, and Magic Tracks. The kit also includes markings for several Panthers that fought at Kursk if that makes a difference for you. This kit is even harder to find, but is the one I would recommend going with. Ive provided a link below to an Ebay seller who has this very kit listed for a solid price. Good luck.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sd-Kfz-171-Panther-D-1-35-Scale-Dragon-Model-kit-6299-/302368467807?hash=item466690ab5f:g:WjMAAOSw9~5ZVsP4

Shawn, you had me going for a second or two, but the kit you linked to on eBay is 1/35, Jody is planning on building his dio in 1/72.

Biggles was referring to the kit reviewed here: http://armorama.com/review/1544
which included zimmerit, steel tow cable and etched mesh, "luxuries" that are not included in current 1/72 production Dragon kits, and it is, I believe, generally unavailable other than by eBay, old kit dealers, etc.

I'll chime in as I've actually built the Revell offering and I can comment on it.

I was building a similar Dio as what you've planned, and I actually have a photo from the planning phase:



The Panther is of course, Revell, with Tamiya putty zimm I applied with a fine saw and wire and railroad mesh detailing. My aim was to end up with a similar configuration as these photos:





My aim was to show a German Panther being caught in route by American combat troops after the Normandy landings, as my reading indicated that the Germans preferred to move heavy armor by rail rather than risk engines and transmissions in long route marches, and this example was stopped before it could disembark and join the fray.

The Plattformwagen and track is a heavily modified Verlinden example and the Figure is a Preiser World War 2 American.

I bought about 4 feet of 1/72 Italeri track to build this dio, but never got to the finish.

The Revell kit goes together well, the tracks are link and length and it looks the part, but I never made any detailed measurements.

I bought 3 off eBay for 16 dollars, so deals can be had. Good luck!

Terribly sorry for the mix up there fellas.

Guess I'll add to this discussion with a few things about the 1/72 Dragon Panther 'D'. For a down and dirty review of the Dragon offering just check out the Panther 'D' Review. For the finished product:
PzV-F-13 by Jan Etal, on Flickr

PzV-F-12 by Jan Etal, on Flickr

PzV-F-10 by Jan Etal, on Flickr

Cheers,
Jan

That's a nice looking Panther - I read the review and the review of the D kit and it looks like a nice build, and I'll have to get one!

I've compared the Revell and Dragon Braille scale Tigers, and other than figures and a tiny amount of photo etch, they were very similar, with the Revell being cheaper and using link-length tracks which I prefer.

I honestly would like to see a comparison between the Dragon Panther D and the Revell version, that can be purchased for a similar price without extra crap, but I'll have to write it I suppose.