Befehls Panther Ausf G "151" Kampfgruppe Peiper Ardennes 1944

[lquah]

It's been a long time since I last posted a new build. 12 hour days have taken a lot outta me :(

Well, here's my current build. It will be a Befehls Panther G of SS-Sturmbannführer Werner Pötschke. Pötschke was the second in command to Peiper and was in commad of I./SS-Panzerregiment 1. He abandoned his Befehls Panther in La Gleize after running out of fuel.

A bit later, after the first attack on Stoumont failed, Pötschke ordered a second assault despite heavy artillery fire. He ordered Obersturmführer Christ of 2.Pz.Kp. to advance, but Christ refused and simply shook his head. Pötschke grabbed a Panzerfaust and pointed it to Christ and told him again to advance. He refused again. Pötschke positioned himself in front of the first Panther, aimed the Panzerfaust at the vehicle and ordered forwards, into the hail of artillery. The Panther made it as far as the Church and was knocked out 200metres from the station.

Here's Pötschke's abandoned Befehls Panther in La Gleize. Photo from Sheeds. Thanks mate!
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/5a6a4d80.jpg

OK, enough of the history, onwards with the build. For this build I will be using these goodies.

DML's Panther G with Steel Wheels. This is a very good kit and includes the standard rubber rim roadwheels for this build.It is one of DML's best kit and will build into a very nice model out of the box. I was tempted to do so but I have too many AM sets that would be wasted if I didn't use it. My next build will definately be OOTB. That's how good this kit is. Check out Sam's, Sheeds, Darren Gawle's, Bas Hermsen's builds amongst others to see what OOTB build looks like. I did some random checks against Panzer Tracts and it all checks out nicely. Well done DML. Now I wish all their kits can be of this standard. No prizes for guessing who did the box art :D:p

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/2eb068de.jpg

Now the AM stuff.

First up, Lion Roar tow cables, Griffon PE, Griffon barrel and WWII Production tracks. Tracks were from Sheeds. Thanks again!
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/0ac7ee00.jpg

Next group are Archer decals, Karaya tow cables, Artisan Mori cupola, Artisan Mori sprockets, Artisan Mori tools, Tasca antenna set and Adler's Nest antenna.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/2b760060.jpg

These guys didn't make the cut. Stay clear of the Voyager set as majority of the parts are underscale. The Aber fender supports are over scale as well.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/f255c498.jpg

Lawrence

[skeletondude]

Wow! Now thats a whole lot of goodies! :D
This is going to be another great build from you,Lawrence! :thumb: Waiting for "in progress" pics.

Marek

[Axel Repping]

Woah,

that looks like almost every bit of AM that money can buy for this beast.
Great subject, I've allways had a weak spot for my old friend Peiper and his comrades.
As a matter of fact, I wrote a book about his action in the Bulge, including an Battle field tour.

Anyways, are you gonne build it like on the pic?

[holmerz]

Hmmm....pretty much OOTB :D no seriously, exciting subject, I'm looking forward to follow this build Lawrence.

\Erik

[RickLawler]

Giddy-up Go! Lawerence is back in the saddle!!!!!

Rick

[sam_dwyer]

Gday LQ!

Looking forward to this build - I have virtually the same pile of aftermarket bounty and kit, ready for when Maschinenfabrik Dwyer re-opens for business. Duel in the Mist inspired me - I want to do one of the Panthers in or around Stoumont.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing your progress,

Sam

[Sadness]

Lawrence,

I will watch this one with great intrest. I hope you go all the way with it and finish him.

Greetz
Tom

[panamadan]

Looks to be your project for 2008! Dan

[Sturmmann]

Hurray!!!

Lawrence is back and he brought a ton-load of goodies along for his new build.

Nice to see you are still at it!! :D

Cheers

Dave

[Panzergrenadier]

This will rock!

Hope you will have adequate bench time for it.:)

[lquah]

Marek, Axel, Erik, Rick, Sam, Tom, Dan, Dave and Siim
Thanks for your interest in my build.

Waiting for "in progress" pics.

Marek, it's coming soon to a theater near you :)


As a matter of fact, I wrote a book about his action in the Bulge, including an Battle field tour.

Anyways, are you gonne build it like on the pic?
Axel, what's the title of your book? Is it in English?
No, I will not build it as in the picture as I'm not going do do the interior. I have the interior set but don't want to get bogged down with this build. Also, I somehow don't like the look of the Panther without the cupola sitting tall.


Hmmm....pretty much OOTB :D no seriously, exciting subject, I'm looking forward to follow this build Lawrence.

Erik, I figure that everyone's got a Panther in their vBench and I would be letting everyone down if I didn't have one. ;)


Giddy-up Go! Lawerence is back in the saddle!!!!!
Yee-haa..now where the h*ll is Tonto??


Looking forward to this build - I have virtually the same pile of aftermarket bounty and kit, ready for when Maschinenfabrik Dwyer re-opens for business. Duel in the Mist inspired me - I want to do one of the Panthers in or around Stoumont.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing your progress,

LOL...can't wait for MDM to start cranking out those steel beasts! DITM is an excellent book and inspired this build as well.


I will watch this one with great intrest. I hope you go all the way with it and finish him.

Tom, I am pushing myself to finish this one (so is the missus :(). This is kinda like a time filler build. I want to finish this kit, the build at least by the 20th as that's when I will get my grubby paws on long overdue kit.


Looks to be your project for 2008! Dan
Thanks Dan, I hope it will the one that will kick start me to finish more kits this year.


Lawrence is back and he brought a ton-load of goodies along for his new build.

Nice to see you are still at it!! :D
Dave, I did struggle with whether to use AM goodies on this build as I don't want another DNF!


Hope you will have adequate bench time for it.:)
So do I, so do I..:)

Lawrence

[brokeneagle]

That's a s*#t load of stuff Lawrence:thumb:...should be a very nice build.

[Evan August]

Looking forward to your build...

[Bravo Tango]

Yaaaayyyyy!!

Lawrence is back on the tools.

Nice stack o stuff there.
I would not know where to start even

Looking forward to it


BT

[kkiron]

my god,a golden pather!it will sold about 2000 yuan in china!
almost fall in a faint:)

[Flak]

Welcome back to the bench...Lawrence. I miss your work.

There are lots for after maket pieces...I'm interested how it looks in complete :)

[Instructorrob]

This will be very interesting to follow, Lawrence.
Are you sure there's nothing more from AM products you can add to this kit?;)

Robert

[lquah]

Ian, Evan, Brian, Yingbo, Marco and Rob
Thanks guys for following. Now I better not stuff it up :)

Are you sure there's nothing more from AM products you can add to this kit?;)
Rob, LOL....actually there are but sanity will prevail for once! :o

Lawrence

[Axel Repping]

Lawrence,

the title of the book is:
"Decision on the Ambleve"
"Fall Herbstnebel, the northern shoulder of Hitles last offensive".
As that was the true name of the German Ardennes offensive.
Sorry to say, but is not in English, yet.
Nowadays its mainly being used in the Battle-field tour I wrote.
This to train young tankcommanders and platoonleaders of the RNLA in militairy tactics and manouvres.

Who knows, someday, it will be published in English

[lquah]

I will not do a detailed SBS for this build as it takes too much time. Maybe next build. :)

For pics of the sprues, check out James' post here
http://www.planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3637

Review of the said kit can be found on PMMS
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/dragon/dr6370.html

Here are some progress shots
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/284e2114.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/d35484a8.jpg

The PE grills and louver are not glued down yet
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/1433af16.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/83a88905.jpg

I drilled the three drainage holes on the antenna pot. Still got to add the weld seams on the base of the antenna pot.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/e6f68485.jpg

[skeletondude]

Woohooo! :D I love it! :thumb:
Great work,Lawrence!

Marek

[Stuke Sowle]

Wow. You mean to tell me that even with all that AM stuffr there is still going to be some of the original kit in there?

Looks like a solid start Lawrence.

[Jan Peters]

Way to go Laz! Great to see another Panther being build on planet panther! :D
Jan :)

[Markus]

Cool choice Lawrence, I can´t wait for this thread to really start!

[Radek Pituch]

Hey Lawrence
Good idea and a nice start. I like your pictures. They're bright and sharp. Keep it going.
Radek

[lquah]

Thanks Marek, Stuke, Jan, Markus and Radek :)

You mean to tell me that even with all that AM stuffr there is still going to be some of the original kit in there?

Stuke, I do try :D

Great to see another Panther being build on planet panther! :D
That's right, it's Planet Panther, baby!! :cool:

LQ

[lquah]

Ok..just a little update tonight

Sorry for the blurry pic! The supa glue fumes are eating away at my brain cells :o
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/b3a83bd5.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/63483af3.jpg

Rear of the cat. Still got to do the exhaust, exhaust shields and add the chain for towing thingy. Also got to add the mounts on the side of the right stowage bin for the antenna.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/1434d484.jpg

Engine deck. The louver has been switched around. I added the cast texture on the heater as well as the bolts that were missing from the kit.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/00383267.jpg

Left side. Next up is the bosch light, cover for the antenna stowage tube and racks for the extra antennas. The tool rack is not straight because the damn glue set before I could move it. Can I leave it or should I reposition it straight?
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/7ad9ee2a.jpg

Tracks are from the excellent WWII Productions set and I drilled it out and added the track pin. I got some Adler's Nest track pins on the way but I couldn't wait :)
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/8cecfa4e.jpg

Right side
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/17412b4b.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/ea486b8e.jpg

All comments welcome as always!

LQ

[RickLawler]

The tool rack is not straight because the damn glue set before I could move it. Can I leave it or should I reposition it straight?


LQ, I'd say move it. I don't think that it will be too big a deal...you've got such a nice build going it would be a shame to ignore an easy fix. Whatcha think?

Rick

[Kreighshoer]

:eek: that's a damn quick build lawrence ... quick and excellent! :thumb:

good to see some model building from you again :)

reposition that tool rack ... you'll never forgive yourself if not doing so!

cheers

[skeletondude]

I like it so far,I have to agree with the others about the tool rack though.:p
Cant wait to see more!

Marek

PS: I have yet to build a panther! :D:D:D

[Evan August]

It's fairly obvious, I'd say fix it. But great PE work though!

[Gopher]

looks very nice and clean! great work, Lawrence!
keep it up!

[Axel Repping]

Damn,
now that's what I call a clean and above all fast build:thumb:.
And I have to agreee with the rest, reposition the rack.

[Flak]

How you build it so fast and clean :confused: Great work always :)

[Sheeds]

Yikes, that is a lot of brass. Not totally convinced its the answer (mainly things looks too thin, 10 or 15 thou plastic card is more of a scale thickness IMHO), but props for fighting through it. :)

Do you need to add the bottom plate the Jack sits on?

Sheeds.

[pwranta193]

What - had a couple of free hours so you thought you'ld toss together a Panther :D?

Ouch! on the tool rack - I thought those things only happend to me... it's got to be fixed, though :( Either that or cover it in Barn Door camo :)

To parrot what Sheeds said, I will go out of my way to use a piece of styrene in lieu of brass... I'm just not there yet - this is amazing amount of metal, and nicely done. Little things like rolling the tool mounts for the C hooks or the cleaning rod/antenna tube are just beyond me still.

[lquah]

Thanks Rick, Laura, Marek, Evan, Andrey, Axel, Marco, Sheeds and Paul :thumb: :)

So it's unanimous. 6 votes says to rip the tool rack off and reposition it. Thanks guys!

So here's the newly repositioned rack. I decided to move one of the retaining pin and chain to the front of the tow shackle.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/1fa10af1.jpg

PS: I have yet to build a panther! :D:D:D
Marek, everyone on PA eventually builds one :D

How you build it so fast and clean :confused: Great work always :)
Marco, it's dim sum power!!

Yikes, that is a lot of brass. Not totally convinced its the answer (mainly things looks too thin, 10 or 15 thou plastic card is more of a scale thickness IMHO), but props for fighting through it. :)

Do you need to add the bottom plate the Jack sits on?

Sheeds.
Sheeds, I agree with you. After seeing Andrew's, Sam's, Paul's and your builds with minimal PE, it's clear that you that you don't need PE. It all looks nice and shiny but once it's painted you can't tell it's there.

For this build I thought I would just use up the AM sets that I have been collecting rather than let it go to waste.

There's a tiny U-shaped PE bracket for the bottom of the jack holding just one side. Is this wrong? Should it extend further out to cover the whole base?


What - had a couple of free hours so you thought you'ld toss together a Panther :D?

Ouch! on the tool rack - I thought those things only happend to me... it's got to be fixed, though :( Either that or cover it in Barn Door camo :)

To parrot what Sheeds said, I will go out of my way to use a piece of styrene in lieu of brass... I'm just not there yet - this is amazing amount of metal, and nicely done. Little things like rolling the tool mounts for the C hooks or the cleaning rod/antenna tube are just beyond me still.
Thanks Paul. I do like styrene for ease of gluing but am too lazy to make the parts. PE has the advantage that it's all nicely shaped and all you gotta do is solder them together. Soldering also gives super strong bonds which is a must for a klutz like me. :o

L2

[Stuke Sowle]

Amazing work Lawrence. The PE work is exceptional!

[lquah]

Didn't get much bench time thanks to American Idol and Boston Legal..:o

Added the reinforcing angle on the top of the tube, clasps, inner tube stowage rack and fashioned some racks from styrene for the three sternantenna extensions. I don't like the sternantenna racks and will re-do them. They should like what Sheeds did on his Panther G
http://www.planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2691&page=3

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/80e792fb.jpg

The raised heater got some attention as well. Arrghhh...blurry photo! Added the extra pie slices and mounts. I lost the centre nut and will need to scratch it. :mad: The nut and bolt to join the two halves are from Tichy. The grille assembly is not glued for ease of painting.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/140df19a.jpg

L2

[Markus]

Great work Lawrence!

[Sturmmann]

Great work Lawrence!!

You are on a roll! All the PE work makes the Panther look wonderful. :thumb:

At this rate you will be finished soon. Keep up the great work.

Dave

[skeletondude]

That little fix made a great difference,the Panther looks aces Lawrence! :thumb:

Marek

[Evan August]

Nice fix. Did you have any trouble with the radiator inserts? I was building a LSW Panther with the Smart kit, only to find that the inserts totally threw the rear end of the hull out of alignment when it was glued! I'm puzzled, as it was the second Smart Panther I've built, and the first went together great.

[Flak]

Nice close up shot...:thumb:

[Panzergrenadier]

It is certainly looking elaborate! I really like this ''all in'' approach. Well the bottom line is that I am happy that you are getting some bench time...

[lquah]

Cheers Markus, Dave, Marek, Evan, Marco and Siim :thumb: You guys keep me going!

Nice fix. Did you have any trouble with the radiator inserts? I was building a LSW Panther with the Smart kit, only to find that the inserts totally threw the rear end of the hull out of alignment when it was glued! I'm puzzled, as it was the second Smart Panther I've built, and the first went together great.
Evan, I had exactly the same problem. I removed the radiator mounts from the sprue and glued them to the lower hull thinking they were identical. But they are NOT!! Took me a couple of tries to realise this and I rip them off and swapped them around. On end is taller than the other and the tall end faces rear.

Here's a pic of what I mean
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/b5d278ba.jpg

LQ

[Evan August]

So, that's it. Thanks for the pic LQ. Unfortunately its too late for me to fix it on mine, as I had glued the hull up.

[AfRiKaKoRpS]

Lawrence,
Another great build of yours we have here and I am becomming a great fan of your modelling, historcal research on your projects and accuracy in modelling.

I'll follow this thread carefully as I am sure I'll get many useful tips for my Panther ASW build. :)

Look forward to comming updates in the Panther thread. :thumb:

Chris

[lquah]

Thanks Chris

Also thanks to Sheeds, Andrew, Paul and Henrik for the valuable feedback. :thumb: :)

Been finishing off some of the smaller details

Made the jack block from some scrap piece of wood
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/b1d6ad22.jpg

MG ball mount with barrel from Passion Models
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/0aeea323.jpg

Gun travel lock. I used the chain from the kit as the PE chain was about two links too short.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/99989e0a.jpg

I redid the sternantennae tubes using measurements from Panzer Tracts. I was originally planning of having the stowage tube cover dangling on the fender but somehow the chain decided to go MIA. Well, that means the cap will be left off.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/8b1c4eea.jpg

And added the mounts on the side of the right rear stowage bin
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/2d08bc84.jpg

Added the weld bead on the base of the antenna pot. It's a little too thick and rough but I'll learn to live with it. :) The clamp for the antenna was carefully removed from the Tasca antenna and drilled out to the correct diameter before fitting over the Adler's Nest antenna.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/eb8d8399.jpg

The join between the two halves of the raised heater wasn't that good and since I had already glued the halves onto the deck, I filed the sides down and added some plasticard to close the gap. Not the ideal solution but it's better than having a gap between the two halves.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/ce43217e.jpg


LQ

[RickLawler]

LQ...you are quietly putting together a masterpiece - real craftsmanship.


:)
Rick

[Kreighshoer]

woooohaaa! top notch work lawrence - outstanding! :thumb:

cheers

[Driver]

Wow Lawrence, you really are making up for lost time here! At this rate you should finish within a month. And as always, an excellent work.

Ruben

[Panzergrenadier]

Little details, it is all about little details now. Keep going dude!:thumb:

[holmerz]

Superb detailng Lawrence :thumb:. The chain (griffon model yes?) for the gun travel lock; was it to short to fit or to short in accordance to reference?

Keep going :thumb:.

\Erik

[MartinD]

Hi Lawrence,

Very good work, excellent detailing and great to see you back at the bench. Man I really to spend some more time here at PA. Oh yes, I do take the occasional look, but I don't dive in too regularly. Should do more often.

Kepp up the good work!

Cheers, MartinD

[Axel Repping]

Lawrence,

one word.

WOW:cool::cool::cool::cool:

[Evan August]

Sweet!

[Andrew Hall]

Mucho better on the heater unit :thumb:

A

[Flak]

Looks nice...Lawrence

[maafei]

my god,a golden pather!it will sold about 2000 yuan in china!
almost fall in a faint:)

No one can pay so much money on one kit in China.:D
About $300.:eek:

[lquah]

Thanks for the kind words, guys :)

Superb detailng Lawrence :thumb:. The chain (griffon model yes?) for the gun travel lock; was it to short to fit or to short in accordance to reference?

Erik, the PE chain was too short according to references.

No one can pay so much money on one kit in China.:D
About $300.:eek:
Michael, all the AM and the kit doesn't even come close to costing that much. Maybe it's more expensive in China?

Here's a little update. The turret is all finished.

I made the plug for the co-ax port from plastic rod and rounded it with a file. Thanks for the reminder, Henrik. I also added some cast numbers and the rain guard over the gunner's sight opening. I will add some Mr Surfacer to blend in the cast numbers.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/8fcb4302.jpg

The muzzle break. It's nicely detailed by Griffon
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/ac337463.jpg

Close-up of the Artisan Mori cupola. I will add the periscopes after painting.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/c8965443.jpg

And the turret all complete and done.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/539f6974.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/e2dff468.jpg

All cooments are welcome as always.

LQ

[Jan Peters]

Very nice Laz! :thumb:
Are you going to add some weldbeads to the spare track hooks?
Jan :)

[Gopher]

looks great Laz!
waiting for more!

[Instructorrob]

Good work on that turret Lawrence.
Subtle texturing on the sides and a very clean build.

Robert

[sharkmouth]

Hi LQ,

Will the wire spare track holders on the turret get simulated welds? Looks REALLY nice!

Regards,

[Flak]

Looks great...Lawrence :thumb:

[skeletondude]

This is going to look awesome with this load of AM,Lawrence!:thumb:

Marek

[Forrest Yuan]

Very splendid model manufacture! Anticipates the later process!

Forrest

[Plushy]

Nice Work as usual Lawrence :thumb:

[jagdpanzer]

Stunning work Lawrence!

I love these multi-material shots, and I find somehow a shame to cover all the nice stuff with a layer of grey primer...

Will you also add some texture to the sides of the front armor plate?

Keep it up,
Manuel

[Panzergrenadier]

Funky! You are doing a wonderful job!;)

[njmlondon]

Really impressive watching this go together. you have a real eye for great detail. Can you tell us how you achieved the great texture on the turret side metal? I cannot wait to see it painted!
Noel

[lquah]

Jan and Saul
I forgot about the weld beads and now that you've reminded me, I will add them. I looked at some examples and the weld beads were very small. The hooks were spot welded to the turret. I need to work out what is the best way to do it. Putty would be easiest I guess...

Thanks Andrey, Rob, Marco, Marek, Forrest, Plushy and Siim for following my build :thumb:

Will you also add some texture to the sides of the front armor plate?

Yes I will. Don't know how I missed that. Thanks for noticing it. :)

Really impressive watching this go together. you have a real eye for great detail. Can you tell us how you achieved the great texture on the turret side metal? I cannot wait to see it painted!
Noel
Noel, thanks and welcome to PA. I textured the armor by using a very old flat brush that has bristles that are half their original length. I dipped the brush into Mr Surfacer 500 and danned it all over the armor. I keep using the brush and pushing into the armor until it gets very sticky. I let it dry a few minutes and used some Tamiya sandpaper (#320 and #2000) and lightly sanded down the peaks. Give it it a go. It's very easy.

A small update tonight as I completed the WWII Production tracks. You are given 220 track links. You only need about 87-89 links per side which gives you lots of spares. The tracks are very nicely detailed and has casting numbers on each link. The tracks are split into two bags - left and right. It's also very easy to assemble as they click together. The downside is that the tracks require a lot of clean-up (resin flash) and has air bubbles. I worked out a quick way of doing them.

Firstly, clean up the flash from the ends that join together. Then click the track links together. Once you have done that then take a sharp knife and run it along the edges of the sprocket teeth openings and guide horn openings. This is much quicker than cleaning up each track link one by one before assembly. I managed to complete each run in about 45 minutes each which is much quicker than assembling MK tracks.

I also found that the assembled tracks to be quite sturdy and can tolerate some rough handling. MK tracks are very detailed but also very fragile.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/564982ff.jpg


LQ

[lquah]

Finally got round to adding the weld beads to the spare track hooks that Jan and Saul picked out.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/IMG_1797.jpg

I didn't like the putty weld beads around the armored antenna pot and I replaced it. Thanks to Sheeds for picking out the need for some weld beads around the lifting hooks.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/P1011812.jpg

And also thanks to Andrew for reminding me to add the weld beads to the AA gun ring.
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j263/lquah/DML%20Befehls%20Panther%20G%20No151/P1011813.jpg

Not much to go now. One final step is to texture the sdges of the cut armour and then it's ready to be primed for paint.

Shoot away with your comments.

Lawrence

[Gopher]

Great work Lawrence!

[skeletondude]

Yup, progressing along nicely, Lawrence! :thumb:
One thing that caught my eye, is that cupola Artisan Mori?

Marek

[RickLawler]

It's very humbling watching you do what you do....it looks so effortless.

The little pieces of tape????? Did you use them for the edges of your welds?

[Andrew Hall]

LQ, I was going to mention don't overdo the flame cut stuff, it's very subtle. I'd just use a pointed scalpel and scrape a few lines without softening the plastic and then use a bit of steel wool to get the dags (as they say in Oz) out.

This is a pic I used to show something else but you can see the errrr...striations? in the glacis armour.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y274/Andrewausfa/Dscf0167cpy.jpg

Cheers - Andrew

[Flak]

Great work...Lawrence

[AfRiKaKoRpS]

Awesome Panther LQ. I am sure it will look even more wesome when painted.
Very good work you have done with this great kit

Chris

[Ashen-Shugar]

Sweet looking cat, Can twait for the paint!

[DOJO]

"I didn't like the putty weld beads around the armored antenna pot"
???? what???

Wait, I got that chat saved some where in the gmail..

[louisuni]

Great job on this Panther, Lawerence. :thumb:

[serpico]

Coming in on this one very late....great work LAZ!!

Any further updates? What camo scheme you using?

nice subject and detail...

Paul