Hey all,

Was hoping that someone could help me with some info on the M1 Panther II Mine CLearing tank. Was this puppy deployed to Iraq?? Or just kept in house in Europe?? Just got the Trumpeteer kit and it seems to be a nice kit. Wanted to know about any updated camo scheme's etc....

Thanks!

Deacon, I just finished the same kit. I have heard that it was deployed to Iraq from Europe for some work there. I was told but have not seen proof that it was painted overall sand. There would be little reason to camo paint this Veh. It is not a combat unit its role is purely for clean up operations in secured areas. So I doubt it was ever painted in NATO colors. Good luck on your search and post some pics. I have to upload mine soon.

Yes, it was in Iraq. I saw one north of Karbala on 3 Apri, 2003 while I was in 3ID on the initial invasion. I think it was the same one that Trumpeter based their kit on. It was painted overall forest green, not sand. It had the same type markings as the Trumpeter one as well. I had never seen one before, wasn't sure what it was at first. I have built the Trumpeter model, it is pretty nice. Here is a page that has the tweeks needed to make it accurate. M1 Panther II review Trumpeter used a M1A1 hull when the actual vehicles are on an M1IP hull. The fixes are pretty easy. To add anti-slip coat to the rear deck, I used fine grit wet/dry automotive sand paper. Cut it to fit and glued down with super glue.
You also get almost a whole sprue of M1A1 parts left over as well.

Here is mine:

Sorry about the photo quality, poor camera.

I plan on mounting it on a base with a map of the Karbala, Iraq area where I saw the actual vehicle.

Hope yours comes out well.

Thanks for the info guys!

Heavy Arty, Nice model! I hope mine turns out as nice. I too am intending on using the Mine Plow rather than the roller. I had talked some Abrams crews in interviews after the first Gulf War and they didn;t care for the roller. Was hard to drive the darn thing. The Plow wasn;t liked alot but it faired better in the choices!

Did ya get that PanzerHaubitz 2000 kit assembled??

Deacon

Yup, had mine done for a couple of years now. It is in my gallery.

Hello do any of you guys know about the real Panther, cause a long time ago, I was reading about how they was going to have these to be R/C controlled when they actually done the mine clearing. To what I was wondering did they do away with that idea, or this still does switch over when they get to the mine field?

Kerry

The actual Panther can be controlled remotely; however, it is still more effective to manuever it to the area it needs to go to with a real driver and TC. They can dismount and send the vehicle into the mine field remotely.

I saw 2 of these on HET's in Baghdad at the airport. I talked to one of the drivers. They said their were only 6 in the entire army at the time and that 4 of them were in Iraq.

Brent were the ones you saw OD green or were they Sand?

Here's some more info on the Panther II:

http://globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/panther.htm

Just a reference FYI: Concord's new 'Journal of Armored Assault & Heliborne Warfare', Vol. #8, has a small chapter on the Panther II. All green vehicles (on exercise in Germany, I believe), but the mine plow and mounts are sand colored, so it looks better than solid green .

Cheers,
Jim