Panther G 2022 #15 Build

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Today I've moved on to sorting out the required parts for the top deck and making a start to modifying the front hatches.
So far so good

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Work on one of the front hatches continues

[Malcolm.Plumb]

That's those sorted

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Still working on the front hatch assemblies with parts primed and welds added.
Another coat of grey and red oxide is to be applied on the top surfaces while the interior side will be the top coat of cream.

Hatch interior parts have also been primed and top coated.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Most of the day spent on the build with the continuation of the top deck work.

All parts etch primed, some with red oxide as well and some with the top coat.
The cream under side for the deck and hatches has also been done.

Also sorted out ready for clean up, the required parts for the turret rotation.

Still a few more parts to have a look at, some assembly and some painting to do.

[AlastairCooke]

Hi Malcolm,
Please check your references. To best of my knowledge, hatch lids that would be exposed when opened tended to be painted in the body colour (Dunkelgelb) to aid with camouflage.

Alastair

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Thanks Alastair

I have now seen this, I'll repaint as required

[Malcolm.Plumb]

All parts required now painted and will be left to dry for a couple of days before I get on with assembly.
Some weld beads still needed and some PE to assemble.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

A few more hours put into the build today with the main deck assembled including the turret rotation gear.
This will need adjusting with the turret floor and turret motor in place so not fully tightened up yet.

Now started work on the gun barrel support and travel lock.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Front main deck now sorted including aligning and test fitting the bottom turret plate, fitting the turret motor and finishing top coating the odd parts of the rear deck left previously.

I'm waiting on a part from Dave at Armorpax to complete the barrel travel lock.

Time to have a look at the turret assembly next.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

A day off work and the majority of the day spend out on the build.

Main Turret parts sorted out, some small parts cleaned up and an attempt made to see how the turret sides fit to the profile of the base plate.

Basically they do not fit very well at all with one side only slightly better than the other.

So the majority of time today has been spent with a file in hand trying to improve things.

It turned out a very time consuming job just for a small of amount of filing and I only managed to get one side sorted. Made a good start on the other though.

I did have a slight issue with the kit supplied M4 x 10mm cap head bolts used to attach the sides to the mounting blocks on the base.
It turns out that due to the serrated edge that these bolts have they will not actually go into the bored out holes in the sides.

The smooth edged ones fit OK so have found some on Amazon that will do the job for delivery tomorrow.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Lots of filing and test fitting so far this week on the main turret parts.

I've managed to get any gaps pretty even and down to a minimum and chamfered any edges that will have weld beads.
Filling will be obviously be needed with the bolt fixing points and some in the rear plate to side plate joints before adding the welds.

Still the turret top to file and test fit and some more overall preparation for a base etch primer coat and sand flush the joints at the front plate.

The M4 x 10mm cap head bolts on the turret sides are half head depth size to give more of a recess for filler without having to deepen or touch the holes.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Turret top sorted

I had a bit of a fight getting it to fit as the angle of the factory applied bend was out by a considerable amount on the one side only.

A lot of very steady bends the opposite direction sorted it.

Just some reprofiling of the corners and filing in a few other places ended up with pretty even gap between the turret and the top.

With one fixing hole out of the three that needed to be countersunk deeper being the only other thing.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Work on the turret continues with the test fitting of the rear hatch and moving of the grab handle from the turret top the turret rear edge.

An additional chamfer was needed on the inner hinge block to allow the hatch to open enough so the catch located fully.
All hinge pin holes were reamer out to 5mm to get the pins to fit easily.
The handle overhang was very slightly reduced and re-bent.

[Malcolm.Plumb]

Turret parts clean up and test fitting continues with the inner plastic barrel sleeve reduced down in diameter to fit into the recoil block and mantlet.
Only slightly over sized but took a long time to carefully sand off material.