Original Tamiya Panther A classic 1970 issue?

the Nichimo kit

Italeri or Dragon/DML?

Gunther. Oh, you mean the manufacturer? No clue. But it looks like it should be named Gunther.

You gonna continue to keep us in suspense???

Ulf

H.P.

Classic!!

This was a Tamiya Panther A I built in the mid-'70s. I was in high school at the time. there were no G model Panthers and Tamiya had the best Panther on the market so I undertook a conversion to a G model. I redid the sides of the upper hull. I took out the notched portion of the sides and filled it in to make the tapered edge lower edge. I then changed the slope angle of the upper hull side to match the G model. I then modified the exhaust and then added the exhaust shields. The side fenders were made from some sheet plastic and I used some cut up photographs for the very thin pieces such as the schurtzen mounts and rain guard over the turret mantle. No one had PE back then. I then moved the storage tube to the back deck.
I took a wedge of plastic to make the turret chin of the G model then I used Squadron shops green putty to make the Zimmerit. the main colors were the classic Pactra 'Mustard' and "Forrest Green". The decals were all hand-painted with the exception of the kill markings. Over the years it has taken some abuse and there are some broken and missing parts. I keep it around because it reminds me of what you can do without buying aftermarket conversion kits and sheets of photoetch.

I had a hunch it was the old classic Tamiya. If you had first posted the front side picture I would have been fooled to thinking it was the Nichimo Panther G.

If you did this level of work in high school your work now must be masterpieces now.

Thank you for the nostalgia tweak!