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Thursday, May 10, 2018 - 12:29 PM UTC
Dragon is to release a Panther Ausf.F with new accessories such as infrared night sights and an interesting set of add-on antiaircraft armor.
Some regard the Panther as Germany’s best tank of WWII, and approximately 6,000 Panthers were manufactured from 1943-45. However, the war ended before the planned ultimate Panther Ausf.F variant entered production.

The main feature of the Ausf.F was a redesigned Schmaltürm “narrow turret” possessing a narrower frontage and thicker armor. The turret featured a modified 7.5cm gun known as the KwK.44/1 in a bell-shaped mantlet. The turret would also have had a built-in Zeiss stereoscopic rangefinder mounted in armored blisters either side of the turret.

If it had been built, the Panther F would have been a prime candidate to receive the FG1250 infrared sight, which Germany was trying out at the end of the war.
German tanks were also very vulnerable to enemy fighters late in the war, so a special set of armored plates could be mounted atop the turret and over parts of the Panther’s engine deck.
These steel plates that were 5-8mm thick were double-spaced on the turret top to improve protection against aircraft strafing and shrapnel.

This kit utilizes Dragon’s previously released kit of a Panther Ausf.F tank but it comes with new infrared sights. The air defense armor plates are made of photo-etched parts, including the prominent double layer mounted atop the turret. The final result is a unique-looking Panther, this kit being perfect for a “what if” diorama or as a standalone item.
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Comments

Sure theire Panthers are good but the Prices are higher as the new ones and they have interrior for less .I don´t know if I am wrong but they don´t give the kit the IR-rearbox
MAY 10, 2018 - 04:52 PM
I'm glad they are keeping this kit in production, the one with the L/100 gun seems to be the only one easily available. And it is an excellent kit.
MAY 10, 2018 - 05:08 PM
Ok they need to stop this I’ve got only so much money
MAY 10, 2018 - 11:51 PM
Personally I find this offering as transparent -and lame- as so many other rehashed offerings from them. They take an existing kit, offer fifty cents worth of questionably-accurate PE, include those obnoxious DS tracks and (with all likelihood) the IR sets from their ancient "Nightfighting Panther" and there you have it: a "new" kit! Hardly. Glad I don't need/want one. I'd rather save-up for one of the new Bergepanther kits hitting the market next month.
MAY 11, 2018 - 02:34 AM
a little bit disappointing news. i had hoped dragon should update their panther's hull front armor + side armor weld line. just 1 years ago, it is revealed that the only panther ausf.F hull that is actually built was with horizonal weld line. so, if dragon update their kit with this weldline, they can also realease this "last benz's panther ausf.g" with ausf.f hull +ausf.g turret. but, sadly they didn't. i hope ryefiled should do this.
MAY 11, 2018 - 12:17 PM
Since this in What-if land(the only Panther F being a lone prototype) the weld isn't really applicable especially if adding the turret armor and infra-red. The actual prototype had neither so this represents a hypothetical Operational vesicle which conceivably would have been made with both types of welds. But if doing the historical vehicle Dragon missed an opportunity. But Since this probably is a quickie re-boxing project ( as has been suggested); there's no time or effort to be had for adjusting molds. So the cynic in me says it's just Dragon shuffling the boxes so I don't expect anything accurate since it is a what-if. Between drawing to prototype to operational vehicle there can be so many changes that anything is fair play and there is no "inaccurate" unless you're only talking of building the prototype. Most of these prototype kits include features not seen on the prototype so the designers are clearly targetting the "what-if" crowd. Sorry prototype builders you're just too much of a niche market. I can get so cynical.
MAY 11, 2018 - 07:16 PM
Anyone have the back story on the Panthers & Tiger in that B&W pic? Looks like someone's private scrap yard after the war, or were they in situ and photographed some time later? Either way intriguing... and yes, you're a cynic and I should know as I am one as well!
MAY 13, 2018 - 07:34 AM
this picture was discussed at missing lynx right about 1 years ago. it was awesome discovery. ↓ LINK and one more thing i missed is the crew compartment vent hole and hole armor cap. panther f hull with that weld line had different hole and may be... had different vent armor cap with circular shape
MAY 13, 2018 - 11:49 AM
I found it interesting that the person with the photo kept on insisting that it was a Panther G turret on an F hull. Not sure how he came to that conclusion on the limited clues offered by the admittedly interesting photo but then I'm hardly an expert. To me it is an interesting grouping of a Tiger I, a king Tiger and a Panther G missing most of its wheels. Not sure where the F reference comes from.
MAY 14, 2018 - 05:06 AM
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