Hi folks,

Since a week because of personal reasons I can't stayed focused long enough to restart the paint job on the "Workhorse". With the Hybrid Tiger B finished I had nothing else going on. To countermeasure this dangerous situation I decided to make use of one of the Panther G kits and some goodies I had in the stash.

DML's Panther G with steel wheels reviewed HERE




The idea (here we go again spit ... ) is to create a Panther G in the command version with some additional equipement and armor.

The additional equipment will be composed of the IR set from Voyager (PEA 072)





The additional armor will be mainly the AA for the top of the turret and armoured covers for the fans intakes on the engine plate. I say mainly as some other thoughts have come to my mind but they are not clear for now. The parts also come from voyager set (PEA 065)





Finally the additional antennas come from armorscale set ( S35-006)





the other extras will be limited (a little scratch?) for sure, I'll use a turned aluminium barrel from JB model reviewed
HERE




That's about the hardware.


I know this is (once more in my case) very likely a what if vehicle. As long as the story of IR sets is a well known fact of the late war, the AA armor is very rare. If you combine: IR equipment, AA armor and command tank... you have (for 99,9%) a what if vehicle. Did I mention that I'll use the steel wheels?

just for the record and general interest pictures of:


an IR Panther



a Panther with the additional AA plates (it's an ausf A)



and the command version vehicle with two additional antennas (star antenna on the engine deck and another one on the top of the turret)




I must say that I don't have ANY technical knowledge about the Panther so I'm prepared to get some good lessons here from some members (do I have to mention the names ).

I hope to be back soon with the first pictures of the turret.

spit

looks like it will be a nice build! i really enjoyed your other builds so thios should be a looker! are the AA plates on the rear deck? im not to familiar with these later war thingamajigs!
man i hope this gets the responce it will deserve, its a ghost town here at the moment.
i wish you the best of luck with your build Pawel!

Pawel,

You just couldn't keep from touching that wonderful plastic . . . LOL I also know very little about Panthers so this will be lots of fun to follow and learn from you (techniques) and those in the know with this medium sized kitty!

-Eddy

Brilliant!

My fears of been kept waiting for another one of your builds were clearly unfounded, this is a brilliant choice of subject Pawel, I have fancied doing something very similar myself. Those voyager sets should really look the part.

Needles to say i'm in on the ground floor right up until completeion on this one.
Not much info to offer on Panthers i'm afraid, so might learn something here too.

Can't wait to see this started, have fun mate!

James

Go for it Pawel! All your builds so far have been superb and a great source of inspiration. Furthermore you always take good pictures and show your build process which is really helpfull!

Cheers,

John

Look forward to seeing your progress. What if vehicles mean you are off the leash. Have fun!

Excellent! Another late war monster from the late war vehicle master! Your stuff is great Spit...I look forward to seeing this come together.

Bill.

Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy, can't wait for this one.

Hi spit another adventure. 99.8% what If, great so camo can go where ever you want it. Something people miss when doing a befehsPanther, the Steckmastern. The extenstion rods under the barrel cleaning rod canister. also if you are adding the IR to the AA plate on top of the turret make sure you refab the plates so the IR cable meets the IR sight linkage guard( A small C shaped guard in front of the direct vain sight on the cupola) Looking forward to you BefehlsPanther IR. What theatre and when was this Panther prowlling. Nice one Geraint

oh my... all those replies

Thanks a lot guys.

James,

the plates on the rear deck are included, her's a picture form the voyager set



You do see them on the Panther ausf A. What I've just realised that in the Voyager set the covers for the first (just after the turret) air intakes are not included. So for the rear deck I'll use the griffon set L35A002.

Eddy,




thanks, yeah I would name it the bare plastic fever


James,

Good to have you here. It would be odd without yuo and few other guys

John, Jon, Bill, Russ, thank you for your kind comments. I highly appreciate them. I hope we'll have some nice fun here.

Geraint,

thanks for yor comments mate!*



ok thanks for the tip. I see them now on the picture of the befehls I posted above. What htey were for? To put the star antenna higher if needed?




Yeah I saw this little part on some pictures. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think it's included neither in the dragon's kit nor in the voyager set. A little scratch is the only solution?




I would say it was part of the Kampfgruppe Berlin LOL

Ok here go the first pictures of the turret; just the basic kit stuff for now. If I'm going to add the "socket" for the IR device the part on the front of the commander's cupola is correct? Or if it's not it could stay if it doesn't bother the socket?






spit

Wow what a great thread Pawel !

I've always wanted to do a cool IR Panther and I have the kit you're using in my Stash

I'll be following this one very closely....................

Here is a great "What if ?" Panther from a while ago - one of my "favourites of all time" by Rhodes Williams !!

I want to do something similair !!

I wonder what your Camo Colour scheme will be Pawel !

Panther G IR !!

Czesz !

Pawel

Nice start Spit.

Are those the kit PE turret hooks?

looking forward to more,

James

just passing by here

Thanks Paul for your comments. I don't know yet which camo I'll choose. I'm between plain dunkelgelb with red oxide elements, octopus and three tone hard edged ambush

no James those metal hooks are from the kit (nice addition)

cheers

spit

THEY HAVE STOLEN MY IDEA LOL

A small turret update

The AA plate is ready to be glued. The only modifications I made was a whole where the antenna on the turret will be and bolts from another set. It's a little bit tricky to get this plate positioned on the turret. According to the voyager's manual the small plastic rods which support the plates must be all 3 mm long... good luck with that

From the IR set I added the small part on the mantlet (if anyone know what it's supposed to be...)



I'll try to put the IR "camera" together now

spit

Pawel I was expecting another KT from you, not a Panther. This is going to be one cool cat looking at all the goodies you have for it. I like the turret so far with the armor plate, it'll look even better when the IR is on. Keep up the excellent work Pawel.

Rob

Hi Rob,




A cat is a cat Beside it would be too boring for everyone.

spit

Pawel.. whichever cat you build, it will be awesome, especially your what-if cats.

Rob

Hi Pawel, Are you modeling a specific vehicle? I only ask because i preordered the CH Panther and would like to do a similiar build. Thanks Mike

Yes it's the command tank for Kampfgruppe Berlin, markings are as yet a complete mystery, but will likely be decided in the near future!

Nice work Spit,
One question, In the photo of the KO Ausf A with turret roof armour, it looks as though it actually has two spaced plates mounted above one another. I know other photo's exist of this setup, but not sure if they too indicate a double set of plates. Is this included in the Voyager set or does it just comprise a single layer? Can't quite tell froim the pic you posted but it looks like two?

James

Hello Pawel. So what, if its a "what if"? Sounds like a fun project, which has so many cool additions, you can´t fail but have a stunner when finished! You´re off to a good start, and can´t wait to see more!

The Voyager-set has the double plates for the back grilles.

The part on the mantlet is for the addition of another IR light. I asked the same question a couple of months ago and forum members were able to give me that answer.

Cheers,

John

Looks good so far, Pawel. Interesting project - a true late war Panther.

Looking forward to see more

Very good work on the tower assembly of the Panther!

Hi guys, sorry couldn't get here faster.


Rob,

thank you for the big credit. I hope this one will turn out ok.

Mike,

Nope, it's just a "what if" vehicle but if anyone finds a pic with this configuration I'LL TAKE IT


James mate,

I'm more & more tempted by the "B" on the front glacis on this Panther

About your question. Yes, Voyager gives two plates, I have corrected a little bit the design by putting some bits of PE between those two plates. Without it its not easy to get it right. A pic



Frank,

I'm happy to see you posting. It's very true that building "what ifs" give plenty possibilities you don't have while building a true vehicle. BTW on my national forum I got this pic:

Late panther G, command version, with place ready to take IR equipment ... coming close



John,

thank you for the explanation. Another Search light? Interesting. Where would it be fixed? No on the mantlet I guess.

Jesper & Felix,

thank you. I appreciate your comments.

The turret was ready yesterday but I had some last minute changes and additions.

I added the loops for the camouflage. As it is often seen on late production vehicles. In fact the parts are in the box as there are all sprues from the first Panther G smart kit (6268). BTW when I looked on the turret from the kit 6268 it has the C shaped "plug" for the metal band from the IR equipment.

The IR set from voyager (at least the parts I used on the turret) is of a really good quality. One thing one should change are the cooper and steel cables. The one from cooper is good to make the two handles but don't even think about it to use it for cables. It's VERY hard. Also the steel cable should be changed. According to the manual it should be used to create the metal band between IR equipement and the socket on the turret. As I said it should be a band so choosing a thin bit of PE fret from your spare box is much more accurate and better looking IMHO.

here are the pictures of finished turret













thanks for watching

spit

Cleanly and fast built Pawel - all these tiny plastic and PE parts within five days...

The IR-Anlage is really a nice add-on.

Looking good as usual Pawel.

Rob

Excellent work again! Very interesting build, will be sure to keep tabs on another of your works! Cheers -

Tim

Hi Pawel! Making hay whilst the sun shines eh? Looking very crisp and clean, with this amount of detail, it could be one of those builds that will to good to cover up with paint!
Keeping tabs and taking notes on this one... Great stuff.

Phil.

Nice work mate, some great detail work on the IR gear, should look a treat when it's finished.

Don't want to offend your otherwise perfect English but it's copper not cooper (that's someone who makes barrels!)

That pic of the late command Ausf.G probably brings you nearer a 90% what if - result! Still I like the idea of the glacis letter, how about an 'A' though as this is the command tank? (Then we can have a late Pz IV ausf J as 'C'!!!)

Do you think we may see a commander peeking out of the hatch this time around?

Great stuff, looking forward to the hull now.

James