I am currently building a panther ausf A dio,the dio represents a panther and crew surrendering in the final stages of the war.
My problem is this,i am unsure of a turret number for my panther,i am looking preferably for a ss unit.The location of the dio is not decided yet.
Any help would be appreciated

It all depends on which division you decide to model.it depended on which platoons had Panzer IV's and which had the Panthers ... once you decide which division and when ..we can probably narrow down the turret numbers a bit better .Let us know and I'm sure someone here can help...
It might be a bit harder to find out who might still Panther A's that late in 1945 .

Rick

Richard my dio is an open book at the minute so i can suite it to any division,the date can be pushed back to normandy if it makes it easier,i realise it is a long servise time for a ausf A to make it to 1945 but some must have.

If it makes it any easier, it is quite unusual to see SS Panthers marked with divisional signs. For some reason these tanks just didn't seem to get marked, unlike PzIVs or even Tigers. I've never seen a photo of a Panther from "Hohenstaufen" or "Frundesberg" with a div sign. Some exceptions are a group of "Totenkopf" Panthers in Russia, some LAH tanks in Normandy, & HJ vehicles. So it would be quite in order for a Panther not to have a divisional sign.
Regarding turret numbers, in most SS Panzer Divisions, the Panther battalion was the 1st, so company numbers would be 1-4. Battalion command tanks would be marked e.g. I01, I02 etc.
As to who was still operating Ausf A's, I'm not so sure. Virtually all the Panthers used in Normandy were lost crossing the Seine, so I think SS units in the west would be using G's. I seem to remember "Wiking" had a major bloodletting in a pocket on the Eastern front in 1944, so don't know how many Panther A's they would still have, if any. Hope this helps.

There is a set of decals for Panther A's and D's made by Echelon..These are for tanks of either the 2nd SS or the Panzer Lehr Divison...I have this set and can recommend it ,but it is more for the Normandy Campaign or earlier...

http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~kriegsketten/AXT351010.htm

Rick

hi,

You are in trouble my friend - there was probably no Panther A´s left that late in the war as others have pointed out.
In the book "SS-armor on the eastern front 1943-1945" (Fedorowiz, 2005) there is a picture of a Panther A from SS-div Totenkopf dated oct. 1944. I have not seen any later pictures af an Panther A.

regards,

Hi Hans Kristian...Never say never ...I have a picture of a Panther A retrofitted with Flammenvernichter Exhausts tanken in April of 45 . The picture is on page 82 of Panzerwrecks by Lee Archer and William Auerbach.

Rick

hey rick...Ups, well I havent got that book, and of course..remembering Kampfgruppe Fehrman, only a bounch of mixed tigers; old turrets on steel-wheel chassis, and old chassies with late model turrets. They even had Panthers - they migt be a mix as well...hmmmmm.....

Thanks guys im now considering changing the time and location to the eastern front to give my dio some credibility

Hi Steve...well the decal sheet I showed you was mostly seen in Normandy as both the 2SS and Panzer Lehr were there ...The D's were on the Eastern front though I think ...I don't have the sheet here in front of me ...
As for Kampfgruppe "Shultze" (Ferhman was in charge of the Tigers) the panthers seem to have been G's.
http://www.missing-lynx.com/library/german/schulze/schulze.htm

Rick