Bulding first kit: Panther V Ausf. A

[sampson]

Hello all,
I stummbled onto this forum a few days ago after a friend sent me a link to an amazing model. It rekindled my interest in building scale replicas (I have been building R/C planes for years).

So I'm tentitively between either the Tamiya or the Revell Germany Panther V Ausf. A as my first kit. So here are my questions:

1. Which kit?

2. Paints: what colors do I need to paint something like in one of these 3 models?:

Model 1 (http://www.semipixel.com/tank/03.jpg)
Model 2 (http://www.semipixel.com/tank/b_2762_3.jpg)
Model 3 (http://www.semipixel.com/tank/pang1.jpg)

I don't have a shop locally so I can't really go and look around. I'm leaning toward using Humbrol Acrylics.

3. Weathering: What product do I use for an "oil wash", that will not conflict with the acrylics? Should I use any type of sealer between the acrylics and the weathering? And how about after the weathering? What other color paints should I have in my arsenal to do weathering?

4. The shop I plan on ordering the kit from doesn't really carry any detail kits, and I'm pretty sure neither of those kits contain any photoetch parts, so what could I use for mesh grills and other details like that?

Any advice for a first timmer, or anything I should watch out for?

Thanks for answering what must be some painfully dumb questions to you guys.

Best Regards,
Justin Sampson

[James Tainton]

well, welcome aboard...
The first thing is if you haven't bought a Panther A kit yet- don't buy either of those but get a Dragon Panther A. They are by far the most accurate straight out of the box. S for the other things- first things first - let's get the kit built first :lol:
http://www.militaryhobbies.ca/custom/productzoom/dml6168.jpg

[sampson]

Thanks for the input! I had a feeling that both of those kits wern't exactly considered "top notch". Unfortunetly, I'm not sure what else is available to me (I'm in Canada, and would like to get started on this ASAP while I still have some spare time). If anyone knows of a Canadian company that sells Dragon kits online I'd love to hear from you!

Another model that struck my eye was the Alan Panzer II Ausf. J which I could get. Are Alan models any good? Here's some pictures if it helps any: http://hsfeatures.com/pziijsp_1.htm

I have to pay $10 shipping every time I need something, so I'd like to save some money and get it in one order if possible.

[James Tainton]

I get stuff from here every once in a while- Dave is very helpful
http://www.militaryhobbies.ca/

[sampson]

Fantastic! Don't know how I didn't find them before. I guess I'll just order the kit and worry about the other detials later.

Thanks! :)

[James Tainton]

i was going through some of my mags tonight researching various weathering techniques and in AFV modeller issue 14 has an article on improving the Alan Panzer II J.It may be a good place to start with that kit.
http://www.afvmodeller.com/