Or the BTR-152.

Wow! What an evil-looking beast...though I personally usually have no use for the much-despised "Paper panzers" this one is intriguing enough to make me weaken on that point. Now we need a build article to further sway me and my wallet!

Not my cup of tea but if you like it enjoy !....nothing is a waste of time if you like it....probably the 3/4 of the world population think hours hobby in general is a waste of money and time....but I don’t give a flying S#¥%! and I love it!....

The flaw with a lot of this Panzer '46 stuff is that the design direction doesn't make sense. Let's say war really did drag on would the Germans have continued down the path of the E-Series? Or would they have looked around at the capture equipment and thought, maybe it's better to copy what the Allies are doing? I envision the e-series coming to an end as Albert Speer or whoever realized that they couldn't mass produce enough of them and the German staffs finally listening to the troops that while the Panthers and Tigers were impressive, the basic design philosophy was not conducive to sustained conflict or maneuver warfare. I envision Panzer '46 stuff starting to have design traits more in common with a Pershing.

While I agree with you on the long-term viability of the E-100 based chassis I do take exception to your lumping of the Panther series in with Tigers as they were specifically designed with certain differing goals in mind. In the case of the Panther it was battlefield supremacy and that it achieved in its well-balanced approach to the holy trinity of armour: offensive power, defensive capabilities and maneuverability. As arguably the best medium tank to come out of the Second World War I would put forth that the Panther succeeded most admirably on all counts as the mind-boggling Soviet & Allied armour losses will readily confirm. Of all the fielded tanks that saw action in the second World War it is the one that I would choose to crew in any engagement with any hope of surviving the day. Let the argument begin...

It's all down to the crew. You put a good crew in a Sherman there'll be a field of burning Panthers. You put a crud crew in a Panther they'll panic and bail out at a smoke round. But the tanks have be reasonably comparable.

I suppose they could if the panzer guys were all standing around with hands in their pockets and looking at the sky!

the first 24 Panthers to arrive in Russia over half never made it to the battle field due to mechanical issues one even caught fire unloading it from the rail car. Abandoned Panthers Littered the fields of France because of mechanical issues so how can you call it the best tank from ww2? vote is a tie between the T34 and the Sherman and look at thier production numbers sherman 49187 T34 84070

I suppose they could if the panzer guys were all standing around with hands in their pockets and looking at the sky! [/quote] It would of course help immensely for it to be a Sherman firefly. Or 76mm with a rack of HVAP ammo. Drill the crew and have a fast loader and a driver with good reflexes? Against a bunch of enthusiastic but green panzer guys? Watch Girls Und Panzer. A well drilled crew of high school girls can make believable tankers if they eat, sleep and drink gunnery and tactics. 😏 I saw a crew of them in a conduct of fire trainer when I was an instructor. They were that good. Girls und Panzer isn't that farfetched. Or Centurion 5 beating an M1 in gunnery? Or an M60A3 beating a Challenger? Not supposed to happen! Just like a Sherman beating a Panther.