I'm looking into building a 1/72 Panther for a friend and I was wondering if the DML 1/72 Panthers were any good.

Several major and minor complaints here. One, the diecast top and bottom hull do not fit without some filing down of the actual metal. The pre-painted diecast metal needs to have the paint scraped away where the metal parts meet so a good, flush joint can be made (minor complaint).

Next, the diecast hull has some detail molded onto it like tools. Can't do too much about this without filing the metal detail off of the side of the hull. The metal hull does not allow for the easy application of zimmerit either.

Third is the vinyl tracks. While nicely done, they fit too tight. Since the connection points for the suspension are molded onto the diecast lower hull, you cannot remove the points and relocate them inward to give a little slack to the tracks. I did the Panther with side skirts which hides the lack of sag. Those tracks were super tight though.

One plus is the engine insert. A separate plastic engine is inserted and the back deck is a separate piece of plastic as well. Also a couple of engine hatches are molded separately so you could display the engine detail. The Revell kit molds this area hollow so you see right through the hull.

Decent kit at $8 but not as nice as the Revell kit. The Dragon Panther did come with several additional gun tubes for the different Panther/Jagdpanther variants they make.

So would it be safe to say that the Revell kit overall is better?

Yes, the Revell A/D kit is nice and gives you two variants in one box. For some reason the Revell Panther G is OOP and very hard to find. I found one, but got it from someone in NZ for $15 delivered.

Dragon has four different Panthers (G early, G late, F schmallturm, and the PzBeobWg V Ausf. G observer Panther). Mostly the exact same kit with a different turret and use of different exhausts.