Panther G - German and British - WIP

[adt70hk]

Hi all

Having come back to the hobby a couple of years ago after a 30+ year break, my primary reason for trying quickbuild kits was so my young son could have a go at a build - an Airfix Matilda suspension did my head in!!

I also like the way the AF kit lends then themselves to some 'improvements' and so I sometimes use them to hone my sorely lacking modelling skills. This is one such case.

My son and I have small battles using mainly AF and PSC kits plus a few Zvezda pieces (their 88 is stunning btw) - he's British and I'm the Germans. During my research I discovered Cuckoo, a Panther captured by the 6th Gds Tank Bgde in Holland and used by them for a few months - needless to say my son absolutely had to have one!

As there is a lot of reference material available on Cuckoo and even a short film, I thought I'd try and have my first go at properly upgrading an AF kit to try and match the real thing. I did a 'test' run on my German Panther, so I could learn lessons for doing Cuckoo.

My biggest problem was how to do the Zimmerit and then I came across a Youtube demo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMU9EibyWXk) where someone used No More Nails glue marked with a Tamiya Zimmerit comb. The scale of the comb was wrong for me but a junior hacksaw blade (32 tpi) works well I think, at least as a representation - albeit I need to refine my technique.

Below are some pics of my the test run (waiting for paint), it's not perfect but I'm getting there and have already thought of a number of ways of doing things better.

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Andrew

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[forrester]

I am very impressed by your DIY zimmeritt..it's better than my recent attempt with a couple of Tigers. I also used No More Nails, which is also my basing/groundwork material!
I just used a sharp knife but your hacksaw idea looks good. The upgrades generally are also nice.
I can't cope with "proper kits" either these days..I prerfer an easy build, and then add refinements to taste and ability afterwards.

[sandsmodels]

looks a fine model

[adt70hk]

looks a fine model

Shaun, thanks very much for stopping by and the compliment!

I am very impressed by your DIY zimmeritt..it's better than my recent attempt with a couple of Tigers. I also used No More Nails, which is also my basing/groundwork material!
I just used a sharp knife but your hacksaw idea looks good. The upgrades generally are also nice.
I can't cope with "proper kits" either these days..I prerfer an easy build, and then add refinements to taste and ability afterwards.

Forrester

Thanks very much for the compliment!!

I did the turret first using the an old (aka blunt) 18 tpi blade so it was slightly too large, hence the change to a smaller (and sharper) blade. I also tried applying the zim after I'd done some of the assembly e.g, the storage bins and rod tube, which made it much harder to do neatly.

For Cuckoo I will apply the zim first to a completely clean hull and then add the fixtures and fittings directly on to the wet/damp glue, where I can. The No More Mails adhere's the styrene well and it also responds well to poly-cement, so I can easily add extras should I need too.


All the best.

Andrew

[Jameslhall]

Nice zimmerit hard to do.