he guy's,
I bought Italeri's Bergepanther and now I'm looking for some info about it.
1.When and where did it see action
2.What aftermarket tracks should I use
3.I need some good photo's of the inside and outside
4.should I atempt to put zimmerit on it or is it not that nessesery
5.do I need to scratch build anything thats missing on the tank (I know it's a ARV).

I'm going to see what I can use of an aber panther P.E. or should I safe that for a nother day

I'm hoping you can help me out.

TIA Jan-Willem

Hi Jan-Willem,

Don't know about PE and stuff, but when it comes to reference pics try these:

http://www.twenot.nl/bergepan.htm
http://www.ww2mmrefphotos.com/photos/Bergpanther_winch.htm

It's a start

Cheers,

Pascal

Here's a link to a pic of a Bergepanther that seems to be without zimmerit

Bergepanther


HTH
Pete

Hi Jan-Willem.... Gosh you really want a challenge don't you !! ..This has to be one of the worst kits ever brought out by Italeri... The interior of the drivers compartment is bogus ...No such thing as a steering wheel on a Panther , The wheels don't look much like those on any panther . The whinch is simplified to the exteme... and even the chains on the crane is terribly molded on plastic .. But if you want a Berge this is the only game in town for now ,but I have a feeling it won't be long before Dragon figures out that they can make more variants with their Panther molds ..at least I hope they do.

Rick

I know it's not the newest or best kit around but it's all there is (and it was just 12 euro's).
But I'm hooping that with a bit(or a lot) of TLC I can make somthing that looks like a Bergepanther.
Thats why I really need to get some info about it.
And I also hoop Dragon will bring out a bergepanther but til then..........that's all there is

Janwillem
Here's a link to more Bergepanther pics



BergePanther

also Verlinden do a Bergepanther update kit .

HTH

Pete

One tip would be to get Tamiya Model Magazine. (January 2005 issue 111)
It features Phil Stutcinskas Euro Militaire gold medal winning BergePanther G. He actually built it using Tamiya´s Panther G and "On Track Models" resin conversion. He used very little from the Italeri kit, if any at all, and scratch built the rest. The Italeri is a ausf A version. Some in-progress photos and a list of his improvements. It would definately give you a good starting reference.
That magazine should still be available in places.

When it comes to Italeri’s Bergepanther there are a few magazine articles that will help, as Frank mentioned TMMI Jan 2005 is one, there are others in MIS and IIRC there was one more quite recently (will look it up) a site that will help is:

John Gray’s article Correcting Italeri's Panther Ausf. A has some helpful pointers.

Other sites regarding modelling Bergepanthers include:

http://www.panzer-modell.de/berichte/bergepanther/bergepanther_eng.htm

AND IMHO our own Ronald_Kok on his site The Recovery Site does a fantastic job of showing how to build an accurate Bergepanther D & G.

Hope this helps.

Janwillem,

I am working on getting as much information and after market goodies together for my Bergepanther. When I get back to my home from traveling I'll look at what I have purchased so far. I have purchased a replacement derrick & winch, Verlinden PE/resin kit, Fruil late Panther tracks, Panther engine kit and looking for an interior kit.

The Bergepanthers were used in Tiger I, and Panther units for sure. The Hetzer units had their own specialized recovery vehicle as did the Elefants/Ferdinands, the Bergetiger(P). I am still looking for information if the Bergpanzer III & IV's were still used in their units after the Bergepanther came out
or if they were replaced. The FAMO's could be used for some recovery if the area was very secure and protected (not very likely in the end of WWII).

The berge vehicles were used to recover damaged vehicles, which made them the most valuable vehicle in the unit. If you lose a tank your down a tank, lose the berge and every tank that goes down after that is going to be lost. Sure you could use one of your other tanks to do the recovery, but you lose a tank to guard the recovery process and very quickly you have a tank stuck in the mud and the recovery tank gets damaged and you are down two tanks, so the tank that was watching over the scene goes to help out the other two and guess what happens to it? You're out looking for another couple of tanks to get you out of you jam. And Uncle Ivan is sitting there smiling and waiting for the next recovery team.

As a recovery specialist my vehicle had to be in the best of mechanical shape and with people running around shooting at me & my vehicle, the crew would do the best they could to protect their vehicle. The addition of side skirts and MG's would have been very popular. We swapped the M2 50 Cal for a grenade launcher on our M88 and after seeing the minigun on a Hummer in Iraq I would have loved to have that fire power to cover our recovery of another vehicle. BBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !