Well, it's with great trepidation that I am posting photos of what I've done so far (I'm REALLY a beginner). I have done all that I intend to do on the hull before base coat painting. Obviously I still need to attach all the road wheels/drive sprocket/ider and the schurtzen, but I will base paint these on the sprue and then attach and touch up.

I've had several (fairly minor) issues thus far. The most notable is the fit between the lower hull tub and the upper hull. Though the fit was good at the glacis and rear hull, under the sponsons some warpage caused me some difficulties. I have repeatedly puttied and sanded, but I have to say that I'm still not all that wild about how it has turned out. Any suggestions on how to deal with this issue would be gratefully received.

Another issue that jumps out at me is a bit of extra CA on the ventilator screens. I am using "Insta-Cure+" "gap filling glue" applied with a sewing needle mounted in cork. Even with this method I find that the CA tends to blob and string. Perhaps a different kind of CA would help with this problem? Any suggestions on CA for mounting PE would be welcome.

Finally, I know that I am missing obvious things that would make my build look a little better. Though I was hesitant to post these photos (I am very much a novice), I know that I need feedback in order to improve. Any additional suggestions would be welcome.

So, without further ado...

Dave, Nice looking build. I think once weathered the sponsons should be a non-issue for you. One thing on your build - you need to remove the LHS intake screen covers since you are building the Panther with the Crew compartment heater, they were only installed on the RHS.

Chris

I agree with Chris that the sponsons are likely to be a non-issue. That said, if you're really concerned about how they will look, try priming that area with a light gray paint. It should bring out any surface flaws and make it easier for you to see where you need to use putty and/or sand again. As for the superglue, you may want to use a thinner superglue, not a gap-filling one, to attach the mesh screens--you can dab small drops on with your tool (or the end of a paperclip) and it won't blob or string.

I agonized over these screen covers for quite a while. Just this very afternoon my new copy of Jentz ("Germany's Quest") arrived and I see Jentz' line drawing of a late G with only RHS covers. Before this I had two conflicting sources. The Kagero Photosniper book, which has a couple of pictures of a lete G at Aberdeen. In one of these photos, one can clearly see the engine deck and there are no port side covers. My other clear source is "Panzers at Saumur" vol 2. There aren't many photos of G Panthers, but there is a line drawing that shows all four covers in place. As the Aberdeen Panther is missing lots of its external accessories, I went with the line drawing (and then agonized quite a bit over the orientation over these covers). The final factor for me was looking at Gallery photos over at ML. There was only a single build where one could see the covers clearly and the person who built the kit had opted to use all four covers in the orientation that I also chose. So, now I need to do some reading in Jentz to see if I can figure out why there were no port side covers used on these late Gs (I don't suppose that you know the reason, off hand). Anyway, thanks for taking the time to take a gander at my partial build and provide what comments that you could (I realize that it's tough to tell much from the poor photos - you should see the shots that I deleted from the camera :-) ).

Dave

The sliding shutters were on the right side only, because they were there to restrict air flow over the oil coolers during very cold weather (the engine oil needed to stay warm). The left side vents were for the radiators, where this was not an issue.

Thank you for the very informative answer... It looks like it's time to pry up some covers.

Dave

I think Chris was refering to the mesh screen over the lhs intake over the crew compartment heater. I'm by no means a Panther expert (he, I think I know more about the T-70... :-) ) but I don't think that one had a mesh cover over the segmented cover?

Good looking build so far Dave, I think I can spot some glue staining around the central hatch in the engine deck, but other than that no problems. Those sponsons will not be all to noticable whe the model is fiished.
Just noticed something I never knew. The suspension arms point in a different direction on opposite sides. I always thought they pointed toward the rear o both sides.

Cheers
Henk

Dave she's lookin good so far.

What do I know i'm still in boot camp myself.

My copy of Jentz'"germany's Panther Tank" arrived just the other day. There is a close up of the fan tower for the crew compartment heater on page 97. As it is a close up of just the tower (I'm guessing from Aberdeen), there is no doubt that it has a screen. Apparently, the six pie shaped wedges were placed right on top of the screen.




My first kit on returning to modelling (as yet unfinished) was the DML Tiger I late. I was stunned to see the arms pointing in opposite directions like this. I can't tell you how many times I double checked the directions. :-)

Dave

Are there any on-line photo refs for crew-heater Panther G's with just the two "sliding shutters" on the RHS side only?

Could it be that some crews removed them or added them as desired?

Reason I ask, is that I've seen pix with G's with the raised crew-heater but without any shutters, pix of same with all 4 shutters, and line drawings in the W. Troica Panther books of same with all 4 shutters in place.
Plus several build-ups with NO shutters, shutters on the RHS only, and, shutters in all positions. This is all real confusing...

Here's the update to my build. I have put the first coat of Polyscale Panzer Olive Green paint on things. You can see that despite over 45 minutes of airbrushing, I still need additional coverage over most of the kit. The good news is that my fears about glue residue seem to have been unfounded, as you can't see the glue under the paint. As for modifications to the kit, I took the time to cut and bend a piece of wire for the conduit for the head light (I have to use that darn pin vice for something, don't I?). I also did as much thinning with sand paper of the skirt armor as my patience would allow. There are still some minor issues that I have with the build so far:
- the escape hatch on the rear of the turret is not quite aligned correctly;
- though I thought the hatch handles were sanded sufficiently, painting has shown that they still have a a visible spot where they were attached to the sprue;
- finally, some other small annoyances.

I am wondering if anyone can tell me if that prominent line across the mantlet is supposed to be a casting line? It's so pronounced that I assumed that it was placed deliberately (I have to confess that on numerous occassions I have sanded off casting seams that kit designers went to great lengths to accurately reproduce). If it's just an injection mold line, then I'll get rid of it before I do another coat of paint.

I would be grateful for any comments that will help me down the road.


Dave

Dave, your Panther is looking nice. The only comment I would make looking at your pics, you've already covered, that would be to hit it again with the airbrush.



Skip, Photos that show the top of the rear deck are few and far in between. I don't know about online but I do have a lot of Panther pics and in the very few where the rear deck is visible the louvers are on the right side only, which is how it supposed to be. If you don't mind me asking, where have you seen pics with four in use, or none? I do know the Allies assembled a couple of Panthers post war from parts found at the factories and some things were done wrong, and I believe this is one of those things they messed up. That is one way that the belief that four sets were used has been perpetuated. If the pics you have seen are indeed authentic I would guess that they are abandoned/ko'd and that the louvers have been removed or blown off after the crew abandoned the tank. Also, if I'm reading it correctly Jentz says that a small number of Panthers had the crew compartment heater installed without the louvers when they first began installing the heaters.
As for the Trojca books and build-ups; well, Trojca is notorious for having incorrect line drawings in his books and this is a prime example, and build-ups are only as good as the research the builder has done. The most recent research from Jentz & Doyle shows that the louvers were only used in conjunction with the raised crew compartment heater and only on the right side, as Dave has done.

Best,
Mike

Thanks Mike! I've saved Panther pix (amongst every other AFV) from websites wherever I find them and I'll have to re-visit them again for engine-deck views.