I have a couple of questions about the Panther tank. I have just finished building mine and some of the accessories the came with it are the tool racks and extra tracks....ect.
But there is one Item that I am not sure of,and that is these 4 long rods/tubes. what are they and what color are the supposed to be?
thank you.

The large tube on the left side of the hull is for storing the main gun cleaning rods. The other rods are probably spare antenna for the Befehls (command tank) Panther and they go under the cleaning rod tube on the side of the hull. I am looking at picture of a Panther D and A with that arrangement. Jentz's Panther Tank Book P 46 and 63.

The four small diameter rods stored under the gun cleaning rods tube are only found on Befehlspanzer so omit them for other vehicles. They would be produced in Dunkelgelb but it is reasonable to assume that they would be left in place when cam was applied so as not to stand out to an observer. Once dark green became the base colour they would probably have been supplied in that colour, assuming that they were not supplied from Dunkelgelb stock.

I'm working on a Befhels Panther D. From what I understand the "spare" antenna under the tube for the cleaning rods were not spares but extensions for the star antenna. I think all Panthers carried a spare in a tube on the upper right, rear edge of the hull (looking at it from the rear)

Yes, they are extensions. Drawings can be found in the excellent Panzer Tracts books.

Hey, Jody. If you are not building a Befhelspanther , I'm working on a Befhels Panther D and could give those antenna extensions a good home. Speaking of home, what part of NH? I was born and raised in Milford. (O.K., born in Nashua. No hospital in Milford.)

Dark green was never a base coat on Panthers, only King Tigers. All Panthers had Dunkelgelb as the base coat. Factory applied cammo started in Aug 1944. In mid-September 1944, right after zimmerit was dropped, the Panther factories were instructed to apply the 3 pattern cammo scheme directly over the red oxide primer. Most likely as a way to save limited paint stocks..

The tube not only contained the gun cleaning rods, it also carried spare antennas for the tanks FuG5/FuG2 radios. Inside the tube was a shelf that split it into two compartments.

References:
Germany's Panther Tank: The Quest For Combat Supremacy
Panther: External Appearance and Design Changes