Intrigue of Cats, litter of Panthers

[Pantherist]

Firstly Wade good to hear that Kali is OK

The 331 is the I./Pz.Rgt 26 platoon nummer

it went on the cupola because of the Abts track hanging

the 219 is the I./SS-Pz.Rgt 12 coding after 331 was rebuilt at W 20 at MAN and

then shipped to I./SS-Pz.Rgt 12 for Normandy

155 is I./SS-Pz.Rgt 12 being delivered to the Abt

the photo is either 2 or 4 July

the bottom photo is 443./Pz.Abt 51 which is 1 of the 96 between 13 and 17 July 43 as Batch 2 for the Abt

this is not the Kursk lot which were shipped to the Abt in Mai 43

cheers Neill

[Armor_Buff]

Das Werks SuperBlitz Takom flavored Panther G arrived today. Had on pre-order at Andy’s HHQ for a while. Andy mentioned it was a ~3 hour build.

Kali-Katt signed off on it as an approved on the road build.

Hopefully, the day after Christmas this will go on the workbench as a near out of box build plus Aber antenna & MG’s and maybe another fiddle bit or two.

I’m guessing if Andy built it in 3 hours, I’ll have it assembled in ~18 hours or so being that I’m very slow building.

So let’s put the fast build to the test and see what happens

[Armor_Buff]

Bought the kit, will share my impressions…mostly because I can’t start on this until that Meng Leopard 1A3 is off the workbench.

The bad first. Any Panzer Police worth their salt always looks for what sucks in a kit first. If the OCD/AMS/PBP invokes, a harsh disposal of the kit occurs in a quiet, efficient manner on a dark foggy moonless night…

Woke Kali cursing the sight of this…

That’s offensive and must be filled in Wade’s World. I don’t care if that is or isn’t visible. It can be filled without much effort so the kit passes.

I thought Kali-Katt was going to barf seeing the solid guide teeth tracks. There were solid guide teeth Panther tracks so that’s a pass despite being aesthetically…fugly. Punch marks are raised and should scrap away with #15 blade with ease.

^^^ Actually those guide teeth could be fun.

Paint them black & drybrushed edges silver might be surprisingly good.

The Panther just became a "kit of interest*.

Yawn, at least the wheels are round. That’s better than Italeri could do ( ^Panther D^) They look a little soft but are OK.

Just for Italeri… (j/k)

Das Takom Werk’s gets neg’d with one minor gripe, one fugly detail and one lame joke.

That’s damned impressive

THE GOOD!

Practically every 1/35 Panther G kit on the market gets the follow detail wrong on kits that aren’t very Early/Frühe G models. The upper hull reinforced armor strip just behind the glacis. Takom gets it right and so does the step child super biltz.

That’s pure GOLD because adding it isn’t partially fun. Outstanding for a ~$25 kit. There might be some other manufacturers kits that benefit from this upper hull…

Looks pretty good to me!

The jack is usually a pet peeve but this looks good.

Slide molded tow cable ends (and wire is included) even the smaller track cable ends are slide molded. A+++

Main gun travel lock options. Details look good.

Slide molded muzzle brake A+++

Side skirts are OK, they could be cut apart etc.

Tools are good. The anti-aircraft MG mount is pretty sweet.

Some won’t like the molded in styrene periscopes. I am perfectly OK with painting them as needed and not having to fool with clear parts.

Metal main gun, small fret of PE for engine deck screens, decals, wire round oit the goodies.

I like it. I like the low part count.

If I had room in the stash, I’d buy two more as this should be a fast build, fun to paint model. I hope we’ll see more nice, low parts count kits in the future.

Box reviews are pretty worthless so this kit really needs to hit the bench to find out if first impressions are correct.

[Chnoone]

Hey Wade

Thankx for the spure pics helps me decide a purchase of the kit.
I don’t know what convinces many of you in starting any project, but I must admit not everything kit I tackle has the same “emotional” depth and mindset involved.
Like each year around this time I get drawn into the “Battle of the Bulge” atmosphere exploring all kinds of related subject I could pursue.
Right now I would like to challenge this Panther at Celles:

Or similar like this one:

However since this project wouldn’t have the complexity of my KG Peiper topics / camo I have come to believe the “Das Werk” kit would do very nicely indeed.
Of course there will be improvement to detail, but spending less time on an over complex running gear gets me faster to what I enjoy the most … the painting and weathering.
In the end it’s the finish that will determine the quality of your work … not so much the hidden, complex details although maybe highly accurate but not always plausible regarding the time one has to invest.

Like you Wade I am also fortunate to have a trusted companion Virginia Plain aka “Knickebein” at my side providing overwatch.

Cheers
Christopher

[Armor_Buff]

Chnoone, thank you! Happy the sprue pictures were useful.

I think you’re perfectly on the mark, that not every kit has that emotional depth. I’ve wanted a specific vehicle type on the display shelf for historical reasons (T-34 1943, early etc) as a place holder without excessive time. Likewise, anniversaries like BotB can be a factor.

Panther at Celles looks like an excellent build project and very understandably it’s of a different nature than the KG Peiper builds.

@Chnoone

what I enjoy the most … the painting and weathering.
In the end it’s the finish that will determine the quality of your work … not so much the hidden, complex details although maybe highly accurate

I definitely agree, the weight of visual impact is mostly the finish. If someone’s eyes linger, it usually becomes quality basic construction. There’s just not a large audience (realitively speaking) able follow the complexity of accurate, nuanced details. Ultimately, with a good model build with those detailed nuances will carry additional weight with the visual impact, it’s just more subtle.

In brief, while obscure realitive to the well know units, the 116th Panzer Division, (24th regiment, former 24th Panzer Division) has some very nuanced detail fascinating Panther’s etc due to equipment placement, spare wheels, gun cleaning kit, spare track, turret numbers etc…just a hint…

There’s a Panther “425” build coming that really has unique features etc.

Very pretty kitty!

@Chnoone

trusted companion Virginia Plain aka “Knickebein” at my side providing overwatch.

That’s fantastic!

cats do make things more interesting and enjoyable!

[Damraska]

It will be interesting to see if Das Werk and Takom can get that Panther model into the hands of people who will most benefit. The price point will do some of that work.

[Chnoone]

Hey Doug … really hope so and maybe it turns into a trend by some manufactures.
I do get the feeling that the “BMW Syndrome” dominates the market causing kits to get ridiculously expensive. Simplicity doesn’t automatically result in lower quality of detail and/or accuracy.

I am “still” working on these two JgPz. VI Lang … which one is the more complex and more time consuming to build of DRAGON excellent kit and which one is the very good alternative from TAMIYA ?

Cheers
Christopher

[Damraska]

What I find interesting is that while all model manufacturers release both easy and hard models, almost none of them make any attempt to alert customers as to what lies within the box. Inconsistency makes it impossible to trust any manufacturer accept Tamiya. My impression is that manufacturers rely on model reviewers to get the word out, but online reviewers almost never provide good information about build difficulty. I also find it strange when a model designer simplifies 90% of a model, then makes the last 10% super hard.

Those are really nice Jagdpanzer IVs. Every time I try to paint hard edge camouflage, the result looks like garbage. Well, all my painting looks like garbage.

[Armor_Buff]

missinglynx: max-wunsche-befehlspanther-normandy-post44

Must read materials for those serious about Panther’s. Highly recommended!

[Chnoone]

Actually it is not too difficult when using a masking putty.
You will have to do a little practicing and getting use to how to angle the airbrush.
The trick is not covering too many areas at once … I start with the lighter colors first and finalise with the darker ones. Also just overspray the overlap area so you avoid a visible “Step” when masking the next patch … Hard edge on the one side … “overspray” the the neighbouring side … Let the paint completly dry, even seal it with a satin varnish before tackling the next layer. Apply masking putty over that area where the next hard edge should be set.
Don’t forget to cover the finished patches and project them from future overspray … better safe than sorry.
This process can be very time consuming …

[Damraska]

I use Blu-Tac. Perhaps that putty is better. I am well aware of all the issues you mention but awareness is not the same thing as success. Pardon me if that sounds a bit snippy. It can be frustrating to do all the things one is supposed to do and still not achieve the desired result.

One thing I find interesting is that some paints are better than others for coverage. I call them ‘good paints’ and ‘bad paints’. Good paints cover very well in thin layers. Bad paints are usually watery and do not cover. My current hypothesis is that this is related to pigment size, pigment density, and chemical attributes of pigment grains.

Earlier this month, I executed a somewhat complicated, hard edge camouflage pattern on a Jagdpanzer 38. Vallejo Panzer Chocolate Brown worked quite well and mostly left good edges. Vallejo Panzer Olive Green misbehaved in every possible way and left many tattered edges. The former is an example of a ‘good paint’ while the latter is a ‘bad paint’.

[Chnoone]

Blu-Tac tends to leave a film from it’s adhesive

Check out this:

Andy's Hobby Headquarters flexible reusable Masking Putty how to use it

[Damraska]

Well what do ya know. I was very skeptical but decided to watch the video and that stuff is definitely different than Blu-Tac. AK sells a very similar product which is now in my cart for the next order.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. If that stuff solves my hard edge masking problems, it will make life a lot easier.

In my experience, Blue-Tac has never left a detectable film. On the other hand, it does leave a strange feeling on finger tips so maybe the film is there.

[Armor_Buff]

Look whos back…

With the Zimmerit compound demo Tamiya Late Tiger1 stalled waiting on aftermarket parts, this seemed like the perfect time to toss the Das Takom Werk’s Late Panther G SuperBlitz on the workbench. Internet rumor, fueled by an Andyshhq.com video is the kit can be built in 3 or 4 hours. I’m curious to see how long my near out of the box SuperBlitz Panther will take.

Sprocket clean was a breeze but pay attention! The sprockets ARE NOT interchangeable per instructions. Sharpie made sure ai can tell them apart.

WTF? Did Italeri mold the wheels? They are slightly off center.

Really, look at the center, see arrow. Don’t look at the other arrows or you may not be happy with those hex bolts…that look more like rivets.

The Assembly Scriptures - Chapter 1

After exactly ONE hour…

…almost have step 1 completed. Feel pretty good half the road wheels are sorted.

I do believe if I had skipped clean up of various mold seams this step could have been done in ~20 minutes.

So far, I like the kit, it’s definitely different.

[Armor_Buff]

Step 1 - completed in 1 hour 10 minutes, suspension still removable just test fitted.

75% of the wheels, idler & sprockets etc with parts clean up in 1 hour 10 minutes? That’s an amazing testimony to good design given how slow I build.

Looks like clear Elmer’s PVA Glue as Erstaz MicroScale’s Micro-tape to tack this together for fitting the tracks.

Fortunately, punch marks are raised. With a curved blade they are easy to remove. This is part #8 but it’s lunch time.

One track run took me ~25 minutes to number, remove parts, clean attachment points, sand edges & remove punch marks.

Note that the double link is molded with fit sprocket.

Two attachment points and one punch mark for two links! That’s 1.5 clean up artifacts per link! Contrast to Tamiya’s Late Tiger 1 kit that had four punch marks per link and two attachment points per link of 6 clean up artifacts per link!

What a difference 35 years makes in design.

[Armor_Buff]

Tracks went together without hassle. They are of course fitted adter a few minutes of letting the LC set up.

They fit well. Used spare tweezers as a shim to press top of tracks against top of road wheels.

Both tracks as desired and removed with issue. However, I broke one setting it to the side and will have repair it.

The rear late, mufflers & jack felt time intensive to me after the blitz thorough the wheels and tracks. The parts count for the rear plate is fairly conventional.

After 4 hours and 27 minutes, assembled tracks plus…

Parts clean up is easy with the soft as butter plastic.

Sidebar…

This second pair of PIT nippers has proved to be the best nippers, I’ve owned. They can actually cut flush consistently.

This is an undressed cut.

Neither my GodHand, Zoukei-Mura, Meng, DSPIAE or even my other PIT nippers consistently cut as shown above but this pair does. Pretty happy with these $29 nippers, no idea how well they will hold up. Amazon has them on sale for $26

[SSGToms]

Wade this kit looks like a lot of fun! Might just have to buy one even though I’ve got a full stable of Panthers in the stash.

[Armor_Buff]

Matt, it is a fun kit!

I haven’t cursed at it once so far. It’s been a joy to have on the workbench being very new and fresh in some ways yet very familiar. It’s fresh enough and good enough on its own merits, I’m not tempted to nitpick Takom. Honestly, it’s everything I’d hope Takom’s Blitz Pz III ausf N would be but wasn’t. That one was cursed daily.

So far I’m favorably impressed by the kit. It’s remaking my impression of Takom overall. Next build will probably be a Takom mid Tiger 1 for the Tiger Battalion campaign. I think this super biltz Panther G is worthy of purchase if there’s stash space etc…wink. It buils fast enough, I doubt the box would be around for long!

The kit isn’t a kit to base a Holy Grail Panther build kit on but that upper hull is near that level of quality and so is the tail plate.

This morning the upper & lower hull went together so it will interesting to see how fast the build wraps.

The model per instructions is almost ~ halfway! That’s with ~4.5 hours of bench time. The fastest I’ve build a 1/35 scale afv kit was Tamiya’s new KV-1 and it took me ~19.5 hours. If this Panther completed in under 15 hours, I’d be stunned

Typically a Tamiya Panther G build near OOB is ~35 hours for me.

[SSGToms]

Thanks for the expert assessment Wade - you’re a gold mine of information and I’m appreciative of you sharing it. Keep enjoying the build!

[Armor_Buff]

Decided to jump from step 7 completed lower hull to step 12 joining upper and lower hull.

Afterwards returned to step 9 adding details to upper hull. Skipped step 8 entirely because while a nice thought the one piece engine & open hatches didn’t fit with my planned display of the model.

After 7 hours 53 minutes…upper & lower hull are basically done. The wheels & tracks are removable for painting. The engine deck screens aren’t installed yet as I want to paint the recesses first. The hull MG barrel is omitted because an Aber brass MG barrel will be used.

Tow cables added ten minutes but aren’t pictured. So 8 hours 3 minutes. I’m constantly suprised how well this model goes together at each step .

That spare track holder is 1 piece. It was so easy and fast compared to the track holder for my Tamiya Panther G w/interior which was ~25 parts excluding the track links.

Anyway, pretty sure on a normal night the turret would be completed tonight but we have a busy day tomorrow.

Even slow Wade could build this kit in two days over the weekend most of the time. Here’s what’s left in the box.