Atelier Infinite has released what they call a Panther II 88mm L71 armed Turret, or Panther II (88mm KW.K.43 L/71) Panther-Schmalturm Turret. This turret is also suitable for installation on a Late War Panther G or on a Panther F as well.The kit seems to be designed after the Krupp drawing Hln 130 Dated October 1944 in the book "Germany's Panther Tank The Quest For Combat Supremacy" by Thomas L. Jentz, page 116 and 117.
the kit
The kit comes packaged in a white cardboard box with 4 smaller zip-loc bags holding the items required to produce this turret. There is an instruction sheet included as well. The contents of the 4 bags are: 1. Barrel
2. Turret shell and ring
3. Large parts
4. Small parts
The instructions are in Japanese, but include clear color photos. There are a small number of parts shown that are not included, but are included if you purchase there new Panther II armed with an 88 mm resin kit (there is a disclaimer on there website page about this as well).
The parts are cast in a white resin with only a slight odor to them. There is heavy flash to be trimmed and sanded off from the Turret shell and ring and some of the larger parts (commander's cupola, gun mantlet, what I call the "trunnion bulge", etc). The smaller parts have flash as well, but not as heavy.
The main part of the kit for me is the barrel. It does seem to be straight and there is a plug to be sanded off the base to allow it to fit the gun mantlet. I would have liked to have seen a turned aluminum barrel, but the resin one does look well cast and clean, and fits the bill nicely.
conclusion
Overall a very nice product of a subject that never was, but would most likely have been. The resin is of excellent quality, no visible air bubbles and finely cast detail on the smaller parts. The barrel is straight, which in this case would be the center piece of this kit. A turned aluminum barrel would have been a nice addition to the kit, but the resin one provided is excellent and does work well. For a comparison, the only other company that makes this turret configuration is Cromwell Models.
This turret can be used on a Panther G, Panther F, possibly a Panther II, E-50 as well as an E-75.
SUMMARY
Highs: Casting is detailed and crisp.Separate barrel and mantlet.Lows: Large plugs to be trimmed and sanded.Verdict: Overall an interesting subject, well executed in resin.
Thank you. I purchased this one from Rainbow 10, but Hobbylink Japan also has them as well. I'm actually planning on using the barrel, mantlet and trunnion's on a Cyber-Hobby Panther F turret.
If anyone is interested Atelier Infinite has made snaplink tracks for the E-10 and E-25 as well as 4 new turrets and hull for DML's E-100.
There is a very disturbing error in the description of this turret if Atelier Infinite calls this a Panther-II turret.
The Panther-II or 2 never got a definitive turret designed. Rheinmetal made 2 preliminary designs based on the request for a Turm Panther mit Schmaler Blende (Narrow mantlet Panther turret).
When the Panther-II program was cancelled, the responsibility for designing a new Panther turret was transfered to Daimler Benz.
In their design, Daimler Benz used nothing from the earlier Rheinmetal designs and therefore came up with a completely new design. This design evolved into the Schmalturm that was destined to be mounted on the revised Panther hull thus resulting in the Panther Ausführung F.
Daimler Benz were asked to make a study of the feasibility of mounting the 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun in the Schmalturm. A full scale wooden mock-up for testing the inner space of this request was found at Daimler Benz at the end of the war. It had become clear to Daimler Benz that they were running out of space for handling the larger 8.8 cm ammo in the Schmalturm.
Regarding the possible use of this projected turret, only one vehicle and one vehicle only would be used, the Panther Ausf. F.
Never was this turret designed for the Panther-II as this program was already cancelled well before Daimler Benz even got the orders for designing the new turret.
The E-50 and E-75 both were chassis only designs, no turret was ever conceived for either vehicle.
It is really a shame that the corrected and new data recovered by Jentz and Doyle is still being ignored on such a large scale, and the myth of the Panther-II with an 8.8 cm Schmalturm just lingers on and on and on and on...
Just a small update to this.
After 6 months of trying to get a new barrel turned, it has been completed.
When I received the kit the barrel was slightly warped, so I decided to see if I could get a custom turned barrel.
Well it took a month to find a person to do the CAD drawings (Jeffrey Nelson, callsign majjanelson, excellent work), then when I had the drawings I was off to find a shop to do the job. First I looked online, was given a quote of US $700.00 for 1! Then I was directed to another shop near by, they quoted CDN $150.00 (not bad), but I thought I could better. I just happen to get a new job at the local college recently and they have a machine shop on site, so I asked around and the rest is history.
They completed the barrel and I know have a nice addition to kit.
I have decided to not use the cast turret, but use a turret from the dragon steel wheeled Panther F and just use the resin mantlet and trunnion bulge from the kit.
Here are the pictures of the turned barrel.
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