Looking very nice Wade. Interior looks very good now its been sorted on the angled sides and all joined up.
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Thank you Johnny 
.
Speaking sort, today worked on Zimmerit tacking down edges that would lift. Made some progress but have more to do.
Still tweaking one vision port on the cupola working on the pull out on the bottom edge where the gray putty’s located.
^^^ What it is.
^^^ What it should be.
Starting to think the kit cupola top half may have to be pieced together with resin cupola bottom
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Your zim looks great - I always think modelers tend to make it too thick and that the putty needs to be almost translucent to be anything like the correct thickness and you’ve nailed it here.
I think the thickness of most other zim I see in 1/35 puts me off from doing it as I don’t really have the confidence (yet) to work with putty that thin. You need to be seriously good with it to be able to make it look good as you have done. Any muppet can slap a layer of putty in and go after it with the tools etc but the knack is being able to do it thin enough so it doesn’t ruin the model. Almost nobody can do it, but you have, well done.
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I think you are very nearly there with that cupola Wade - keep that one. Dont forget, these are war wagons in contact for much of thier usually short lives. Knocks and dents and ricochets would be seen everywhere …
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Thank you, Johnny.
Fiddled with the cupola more…
red arrow…that periscope wanted to stand out!
Red arrow, tweaked periscope.
Blue arrow is the repaired area of cupola. Afraid I’ll make it worse if I keep working on it.
Yesterday, realized that looking at instructions pdf on phone was really slowing 
things down. The local library proved very helpful printing out the instruction pdf. That’s definitely helped. Checking off installed parts also helps.
BTW - while the Jaguar interior is good for its day in ~1995, its very dated and inaccuracies. If a vendor offers you $30 to take it off his or her hands, it may be worth considering.
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Grinding along…
…basically turret interior, main gun and turret basket are together…
Looking at references to help with part placement, one quickly realizes nearly every part is has the wrong shape.The turret basket assembly is a heart breaker 
. There’s a few tweaks that help slightly.
^^^ Looking from front back toward turret rear. Added white sheet styrene to roughly simulate the missing sheet metal. The MG ammo bag (left) has a holder made from scrap photo etch fret. Made a seat back for the gunner. Both gunner and loader seats are the wrong shape.
^^^ Left (gunners side) looking to the right (loaders side).
^^^ Floor on gunners side. Added pedals, back up floor trigger for main gun & wire. Raised one of mechanisms for turret traverse off of the floor with white spacer per reference.
^^^ Loader side looking towards gunner side.
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Calling the turret subassemblies wrapped. Tweaks remain like adding spare track, commander’s sight, hatches & AA MG.
The barrel makes it nose heavy. May add weights under turret rear to balance.
Very little is visible though the hatches…thankfully.
The Frugal Modeler’s Worst Fear: screwing up an expensive project.
I had fit issues with the Tank Work Shop radiator kit and the Jaguar interior. This helped stall the project ~25 years ago. I probably screwed up the fit when installing the lower hull interior.
In any case, the trays were ~3 mm too long, despite lots of wet sanding & tweaking. The radiators & trays wouldn’t fit with the rear fire wall. The ends of the radiators were translucent and I’d sanded through the floors.
I was reluctant to Go Chop Shop mode so on the Shelf of Shame it went.
That was then, this is now.
The radiators were going in today or this “G” was getting S*** canned 
Chopped ~3mm off the front of a radiator tray. The length was OK but it still didn’t fit because of the lower hull & rear plate alignment guides. Chopped & filed away the guides on both sides.
Devcon 5 Minute Epoxy stuck the mess together and allowed adjustment.
Holy Cow! The radiator tray fit!
Radiator trays were cut square so the rear of the fire wall lined up as the defacto front of the radiator box.
Woot!
With radiators.
On a roll…
Decided to try and fit the engine box which I’d assumed would be impossible due to all the prior fit issues. It test fit fairly well. Added a platform to place the engine box at desired height.
you know whats coming…does that cobbled up mess of radiator trays, scrap plastic & resin engine box:
-
align with the upper hull?
-
will the upper hull fit correct to the lower hull with that travesty in the rear hull?
YES! IT FITS! YES! IT FITS!
YES! IT FITS! YES! IT FITS!
I got so excited in disbelief and celebrating 
…I knocked it off the work bench…into the floor four feet below…
Caught the lower hull in my lap…but missed the upper hull.
So the question became glue the fender back on or call that a happy accident and leave it off?
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The Modelling gods must be telling you something, leave it off! If they let everything fit (a supernatural event in its own right) don’t mess with them! I once ignored their instruction to simplify my Anthropoid project and look at me now…
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Great detailing wade and the inside and the engine bay look superb… shame so much turret detail is now hidden …
Leave the mudguard off… just tidy up the Zimm around the break area and it’s nice battle damage 
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You glue that fender back on Wade Buff! This cat is too pretty to be missing a paw!
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That’s it … make more work for him 
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Think you all for the kind words and input.
In another thread @Vladyslav Vlad, mentioned that if the model is going in a diorama better to leave the fender off but if just static display, probably better to reattach fender to avoid the Unfinished Business look. For many reasons this one is just going to get a name plate on a base for basic shelf display so the fender will be reattached.
What follows is quiet ugly to look at so my apologies 
Radio went in
The bottom of the ammo bins went in along with the front & rear firewall frames. I’d dreaded that step since starting the kit after the radiator fiasco but everything fit well, just minor tweaks.
Most of the drivers console was installed. Can’t find one part
I butchered one of the standing ammo racks removing the resin plug long ago.
100% damaged due to ham handed 
Resin scraps are sometimes useful and worth keeping on the bench.
It actually fit!
Molak Stucco Putty/Tamiya Basic Gray saves the day…again!
More proof Brut Force Ignorance usually needs to take a backseat to Finess.
The resin ammo & ammo rack cutting guide. The sponson racks have to be cut to size to fit. Don’t you just love that template? Unfun step IMHO.
The shells hold the racks together. Of course ~24 out of ~36 shells are damaged at the rear. Most of them, I damaged removing the resin plugs long ago. Some had pull out etc.
My original 1998 plan use ONE set of Tamiya Brass 75mm Panther ammo. Place 12 nice rounds, 3 in each rack up front for the viewer to see.
However that looks like lipstick on a pig 
given how bad the resin ammo looks beside the Tamiya brass.
Check out that egg shaped shell!
So what to do?
What any self respecting OCD Panther model build does…take the US Government’s approach and spend money! 
PS - RFM’s excellent KV-1 1942 is on Lightning Deal today!
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That’s a big win-win Wade!
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Wade! You’ve already put so much effort into this model!
To my mind, resin shells look more or less normal. But, in any case, Tamiya shells will look much better.
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Thank you Vlad.
Yes, lot into this one and lost prespective. Great reminder for me to work smarter not harder next time.
Why the picture of an outstanding airplane book in a tank build? The best quote goes something like this:
“I’ll take 80% today over a 100% tomorrow.”
Tasks accomplished today, with practical solutions are better than a perfect ideal solutions sometime or another in the future.
Being wrapped up in hunting best solutions, not practical solutions resulted a shelf queen with a long rein.
Cringe worthy how inaccurate this is compared to the newer Panther kits with interiors. Yet I think it will be OK viewed via open hatches.
In any case only a few more resin parts to go for the Jaguar interior.
Working on the hull MG gave an opportunity to practice practical solutions today. There’s really nothing to attach the inside resin plate for the MG to in the ball mount.
Screw it! Devon 5 Minute Epoxy to the Rescue.
Had to seal up dozen or so pin hole air bubble holes that were potential leaks first but that wasn’t issue.
Yes, it will get more touch up when the epoxy cures.
Grinding forward…
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I do like the Italeri A/D kits, especially after reading the review written by Cookie Sewell. The review is readily found online by performing a simple search. He has determined that. while there are only a few problems. there are none that are so egregious they can’t be easily corrected. He also notes that any dimension that others have complained about, they go away when the kit’s Zimmerit is used or are so miniscule to be noticeable.
Bill
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Bill, thank you for taking time to look at the thread. If you’re happy with the Italeri Panther kits and like them, that’s fantastic 
. I still like the 1970’s era Tamiya Pz IV D kit and have a soft spot for many of the quality old kits.
Cookie seems very good with modern-day and cold war era. That’s not my primary area of interest so just my impression. Is Axis WW2 Cookie’s forte?
I seem to recall many issues with the Italeri Panther. Like the turret sitting too high, not clearing when rotated if set at correct height. The wheels in my kit were misshapen and not round in ~1993. Engine deck layout was also inaccurate if memory serves. Of course none of that will matter to anyone happy with the kit.
Next year, I hope explore building another Italeri Panther using the same exact kit, the master maker for Chesapeake Model Design used for creating CMD’s resin Panther turret. I think a CMD resin turret may be in my stash I’ll try to remember to check when home in a few days.
For laughs 
my old Italeri Panther A, built in 1993.
In any case, we all have preferences and they may vary etc. One mans trash being anothers treasure and all of that. Big part of what makes the hobby fun.
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Armor Buff,
Thank you for responding so fast! I appreciate it.
It’s true that there are several problems with the kit. Italeri molded a turret ring that prevents the turret from sitting correctly. Simply sand it off. Criticisms of the kit claim that the turret also sits too far forward/ It doesn’t. It is in the correct position. It sits correctly after these very minor fixes. Granted, the two forward hatches do interfere with the turret rotation but I sanded those down as well.
I have compared the engine deck to photos and plans and made the documented corrections with no difficulty. The other primary issue is that the wheel bolts are too few. The builder can either use bolthead decals or use plastic strips.
The only other problem is that the gun barrel is a mm too small. Either ignore it, cut the barrel into two parts and insert a one mm piece of a hollow tube or ignore the miniscule problem. I chose the latter.
Bill
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Bill, I’m happy you were able to fix up your Italeri Panther to a suitable level. It’s always a good outcome when the modeler whips an unruly kit into shape. Would love to see pictures of the tamed cat.
It’s really a pity Italeri couldn’t even get that basic detail correct back in 1993. That’s the sort of stuff that’s just fundamental for a manufacturer to get right in my view even thirty years ago.
In any case, would love to know your full list of Italeri Panther tweaks to sort the beast out. Your suggestions are very helpful toward planning my Italeri Panther build and I’m sure will help me avoid a few pit falls and bear traps.
Thank you
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