My latest step towards more AFV weathering. Vintage Tamiya kit. Rubio aluminum barrel and white metal individual link tracks. Washes, oil streaks, pigments, assorted mud, lead pencil. Upgraded tow cables. All handles brass stock. Freehand camo. PE front fenders, rear deck grills and other little bits.
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Granted, no kit is perfect. None. That said, the Italeri wheels match the dimensions quite well to other Panthers. The barrel of
the Italeri kit, are no more than 1.75mm short and is replaceable with aftermarket if necessary. I have filed the tires down but have found that most other complaints have been grossly overstated. Compare and contrast the parts from other Panther kits and you will find that those critics are crying “much ado” about nothing. Enjoy what you build.
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You dressed the old girl up nicely. Well done
No? Really?
You ought to have a read of the Rant about Reviews - #139 by Khouli thread…
On second thoughts don’t, life is far too short.
I have built Panthers from Tamiya, Italeri, RFM, Border, Academy, and others. All have flaws that can be corrected. All have their strengths. I have enjoyed by aspects of each kit and have been frustrated by aspects of each.
Enjoy building. Fix the rivets if necessary. I have replaced all treads with metal track links. Still others replace many parts with photo ketch. It’s up to the builder.
If I am not mistaken, the Panther was Tamiya’s second plastic kit they ever made, back in about 1961. So for a 61 year old kit, there is not much to grumble about. You can compare it with Takom or RFM but there is 61 years of research and advances in molding that need to be considered. When compared to other kits of the time, Tamiya’s Panther was the undisputed king.
Timeline[edit]
- 1960 - The battleship Yamato; Tamiya’s first plastic model. Due to the poor sales, Tamiya diverted the product to battleship Musashi.[3]
- 1961 - 1/35 Panther tank, Tamiya’s first tank model. The Tamiya’s famous “1/35” scale originates in the size of this motorized model (using two C batteries) having been 1/35 of the actual Panther tank by chance.[4]
Tamiya’s original 1962 motorized Panther kit only had five road wheels per side, and was nominally 1/35th scale.
The Ausf. A kit in their current catalog dates from 1968, and while crude by current standards, it is light years beyond Tamiya-san’s first effort.
Yes, I’ve always wondered about the “missing road wheels”. I could never understand it because the only thing I could detect missing from the Tamiya “A” was the roller behind the sprocket to prevent the track getting thrown (added to the last one I made by robbing the spares box, DML multiple redundancy in parts is your friend!). Now your explanation makes sense. I’ve never seen the 1961 version, it must be very toy-like.