Article by Ed
In the works, a "Kit Face-Off " of two WWII German 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf. Ds--one from China's Meng Models and one from Russian Zvezda Model makers. Once completed--final model photos will be on my website's "Gallery" page (TBD).
What's so fascinating about German World War II armor? There are the great feline names, the fearful stories and yes, the armor has appealing shapes and angles; but for me, it's the fact that it was so far ahead--in terms of quality & lethality--than the other combatant nations' armor, with very few exceptions. Of course, the Achilles Heel was Germany's inability to sustain mass-production of tanks throughout the war (due to over-engineering to start--which also made field repairs difficult--and lack of resources at the end).
That is why the Panther Mark V tank is so damn interesting. Designed with the Eastern Front in mind for Operation BARBAROSSA in mid-1941, it was to be Germany's "T-34 Killer". Their highly successfully Blitzkrieg tanks, like the Panzer IIIs & IVs, that stunningly rolled across Europe were showing their age as the war wore on...and looking out to the East, towards the vast lands of Russia, Soviet T-34s were rolling off the production lines endlessly. T-34s were hastily built and what they lacked in quality (although it is fair to say these tanks were far above anything the Germans expected to face; hence the urgency of the Panther) the Russians made up for in sheer numbers. Almost 45,000 Russian tanks would be destroyed during the war; a staggering number.
Germany's Panther Ausf. D Panzer V--the first production model, was a terrible and flawed tank. It had so many problems it was rejected outright by many German Commanders (earning it the name "Guderian's Problem Child"). The host of mechanical problems of the Panther fleet actually significantly delayed the start of Operation CITADEL (aka the Battle of Kursk), a battle that would involve almost 13,000 armored vehicles and over 3 million men; and irreversibly change Germany's outcome of the entire war.
All of the initial problems of the Panther Ausf. D aside, later production Panther Ausf. A & G models were incredible tanks (with a few remaining flaws of course--lack of crew vision button'd-up and poor suspension). Later in the war, these were only defeated by Patton's tactics of out-maneuvering them with the more agile Sherman tank. Nevertheless, the Panther just looks lethal to me; it looks like a "Killer". This is why it captures my imagination I think; the fear it must've instilled in opposing tank commanders as they caught a glimpse of it out in the distance...
I plan on building my armor in pairs (so I can enjoy various kit makers) and this is my first project with that in mind. Enjoy my progress report of the Panther D's project with working photos:
> The first kit is a 1/35 Meng Panther Ausf. D and it's amazingly good, I very highly recommend it. However, because the base kit is for several different versions the instructions can be confusing and I found numerous mistakes between the part numbers and the corresponding sprue tree. The Meng kit included nice Photo Etched (PE) metal parts to include super nice armor skirts. And I'd ordered Poland Aber 7.5 KwK 42 (L/70) metal barrels and Sector35 (Ukraine) metal tracks for both my upcoming medium cats. I've a few China-based Voyager PE & Czech Eduard PE kits for the Panthers on hand as well.
> My 2nd kit, the Zvezda model is progressing slower due to poor production; as I have to fill-in areas that are warped on the turret with epoxy and then treat that fix with weld marks for example. I'll say the kit's decals are very nice. Assembly is straight forward, I dislike the fact the sprue trees are not labeled like Meng. The Meng kit is molded in light orange, the Zvezda is molded in a darker orange. Zvezda's decision on part design on the sprue trees are somewhat mind-boggling and you'll need to carefully remove parts with good cutters and sand quite a bit.
> As the Zvezda build continues more issues are encountered. First, as the rear plate is finished--with grenade pins added to the drilled-out exhaust pipes and PE heat plates added to the storage boxes--I noticed it doesn't fit correctly with the hull. There's a noticeable gap from the engine deck to the rear plate. So, I cut some plastic card and inserted it, adding black CA glue gap-filler. I scratch built a spare road wheel mount for a resin aftermarket Panther road wheel (by Panzer Art) and a PE storage box (by Voyager). These were common unit-level customization efforts made by German tank commanders. These custom adds assisted in hiding Zvezda's rear deck flaws.
> Images:
> I moved on to working on more of the upper tank as well as joining the front plate to the hull and prepping the road wheels for painting. On the turret is a resin one-piece commander's D cupola (by Panzer Art), PE smoke dis-chargers, and all brass wire grab handles and a few other custom extras, like a styrene rain shield over the gun mantlet (not 100% accurate here, but was later added to Panther A & G models as water leaking onto the main gun's breech was an issue), mine is hiding yet another flaw in this model kit's poor fitting.
> Images:
> Continuing, I prepped the model for final stages. I'm dry fitting the metal tracks and the suspension, as well as some more custom epoxy "welding" in the marked areas. Lots more small things left to go, to include spare tracks, gun barrel cleaning kit, and tools with hand made tow cables.
> Once the Zvezda kit is done, I'll move back to the Meng kit and complete it. The plan is to have both models ready for the paint booth at the same time, in order to reduce paint waste and ease air brushing efforts.
> Slideshow:
> As the building work wraps up on my Meng and Z Panther Ds, I have started on my Sector35 metal tracks. I'm testing two different methods for burnishing/colorization steps for them. One method is using a firearms related product called"Black Magic" by Kleen Bore and the other is using a product specifically for Friul metal tracks by hobby legend Uschi VDR Models. I really like the job the Kleen Bore product did. Next up, I will apply Mig's Ammo Track enamel washes, then weather once attached to the tank.
> Track Photos:
> Finalizing my Zvezda Panther D, I am prepping it for the paint booth.
> Images:
> Onto my Meng Panther D, I have finished most of the kit to include custom work and work on the aftermarket Panzer Art Panther A model Cupola I really like. I am working on the AA machine gun now.
> Images:
> Models are ready for Priming. And testing the shots in my homemade photo booth (first 4 photos are Zvezda then 4 photos of Meng):
My project on www.tankandfile.com by Ed
Comments