Kent`s Panther build

[Antony Rowley]

With the amount of people viewing this forum it would be nice if there were more replies, after all the more people that get involved the more we can learn from each other.

So all those just viewing, dont be afraid, make comments, start posts, get involved.

Regards
Steve

Steve, you a PM.

Thanks Ant

[Steve Norris]

Ant
PM sent
Steve

[peter karlsson]

hi KENT!

Realy awesome as allways kent


kind regards peter(peppe)

[Kent Wiik]

Hi all!

I am afraid not that much today, just to let you know the saga is still on.
Have a down period in the build right now and needed something that required less brain activity for a while.

The track pins…they are very shiny so to speak.
Quite ok if you aim for a brand new Panther which I am not:



But after a while in field they look more or less like the track links.



Yes dirt and dust make them so after a while but I wanted them in the blackish/dark greyish color similar to the track links.
Paint is one option but maybe something else might do the trick?
Years ago a US stuff called “blacken it” was available here in Sweden but is now forbidden.
Toxic stuff I guess but it worked.

I have one of the earlier Panther kits and back then they was secured with a push on nut.
Today they are drilled and have a cotter pin, that is so much better and a far safer design.
Upgrade sets are available for a reasonable price but I decided to drill my set of pins myself.
(talking about a boring job…and not all 180 needed was drilled correctly…

The color of the track links is in my eyes quite ok, looks as brand new real links in their blackish protection paint.
I will later give them the same MIG-treatment Tim has showed (thanks Tim) but skip the dark grey primer.

Almost by mistake I found that when heating up a link it change color into dark grey.
Using aluminium foil on a kitchen stove at high temperature the pin takes a beautiful color after some minutes.



Bye, bye shiny track pins

Will change the pins direction as the flat end look a bit like the real thing.



The uglier cotter pin end will face inwards, and then I also never have to worry about a pin coming loose and jam at anything on the hull side as it then travel outward well visible something is wrong.

I (Mr Dremel) will also give the track links some grinding (and that will take a while…) but more of that later on.

As always thanks for looking
Kent

[John Fitzsimons]

They look great Kent. Might do this also. Hate the idea of removing all those split pins though. Anybody know a split pin supplier?

[Adrian Harris]

> Anybody know a split pin supplier

Gill

I've not found a supplier who can supply the right size but in a small quantity and be anywhere near the price of a bag from Gill.

Adrian.

[John Fitzsimons]

Did'nt think of Gill. Did'nt think They did the small items like this.

[Derek Attree]

Hi Kent
The change of colour might look great but be careful as
you maybe changeing the temper of the pins and they may be
softer and not last as well.

I remember drilling my Panther pins I used a jig to drill mine but it was a grim job. Glad the later kits come with the pins drilled.

Interesting build keep up the good work brings back memories of my Panther build.

All the best

Derek

[Kent Wiik]

The change of colour might look great but be careful as
you maybe changeing the temper of the pins and they may be
softer and not last as well.

Hi Derek,

Yes I was a bit concerned about that so I did a test first.
Heated one pin and after cooling bended it left/right and did the same with a "normal" pin.
They both broke at the same number of bending, not rocket science I know but I think they don´t get harmed from the heat.
After all it isn´t glowing them with a torch just some warming them up a bit.

It is tempting to do the same with the torsion bars as the color is spot on the real thing but will pass on this.
Don´t dare to jeopardy their twisting ability.

And now to something comlpetely different...

Today something I dare to say no one has ever done before…
I admit this is so close to insane but I blame “too much knowledge” and the fact that if I didn’t do it I would later regret that decision.
So let the laughs be all on me and here we go:

It is about detailing the two CH0107, pannier floors.
For you readers not familiar what they are here is a photo:



It is the horizontal armor plates facing the tracks, probably never noticeable especially when the side skirts are attached.
But this is an “all in-build” and I will probably exclude the skirts so on we go…

The pannier floors had a lot of details and was all but a smooth flat surface.
There were plenty of drain holes located under the air intake- and fan armor guards, and there was 8/side plugs for threaded holes.
The early Ausf G had its pannier floors made from two plates joined with a weld.





Please note the welding direction and that the plugs for threaded holes had varied space between them.

Here is a photo showing the air holes and a plug for the threaded holes on a real Panther.



The drain holes was drilled with a 2,5mm drill right threw the plates.

Yes I know this want make the hull waterproof but I am not building a boat, nor will I ever drive my Panther in deep water if I can avoid it.

The plugs for threaded holes were made of 6mm aluminium tubes and 2,5mm screws glued + epoxy in place.



And the end result (loose fitted just for the photo)
To increase the insanity I did also give them the rolled steel treatment…



More will be said about the color of this hull plates and all the welds later on in this saga.

As always thanks for watching.
Kent

[Robert E Morey]

Hi Kent,
Do not heat the torsion bars, as you have surmised they are heat treated steel. Heating them will anneal them, making them soft, and your suspension will sag just like the real tank. Only right on the show room floor.

Everything in the hull should be primered or beige white anyway for rust proofing. So coloring the torsion bars is not needed.

I find my track pins have already darkened themselves from the black on the track links. The track pins really don't need colored either, although I did paint the nuts on the track pins (I threaded some for easy maintenance of the track) to dull the M3 nut a bit.

All the best,
Bob

[Joe Boylan]

Hello Kent:
Just a reminder - years ago some of us had our track pins & axles Nitrocarburized. Just like Glock Guns, they dont wear out. Remember to drill any holes prior to Nitrocarburizing because you can't after it's done - to hard!

JB

[Kent Wiik]

Hi all!

After a long absent from writing on my saga here is at last a new chapter.

Remember this one?



I was never pleased with its look as the hub cap dome ( I have the first edition Panther kit) was by far to low with its 2,5mm compared with the real thing (5,16mm in 1:6th, thanks Tim!)
A more round shaped dome was what I was aiming at as those caps are quite exposed and one of those things that makes a Panther a Panther (at least in my eyes… )
Photo from Tim of the Littlefield Panther Ausf A.



I made the missing 2,66mm from 2,5 aluminium + chemical metal.
Attached with super glue and the 1,2mm grease nipple bolt + nut and with Mr Dremel sculpted into correct shape.
Do I need to say that this was very time consuming… and there was 16 to be made…

If anyone feel like doing the same with your own caps here is a sketch with measurements that you might find useful:



As I now was on the move I decided to add some other nice things to the hub cap.
The bevel and groove would be well worth the effort to create.



Looking at the real thing 50% of the wheels had caps with 2 threaded holes and 50% with only one.

Here is a WW2 photo of a factory fresh Ausf A LHS showing that 50/50 layout.
(Ausf A and G had the same layout regarding wheels)



And the RHS:



I will follow that layout on my Panther, yes I know they most probably vary from tank to tank but the 50/50 number of holes remain.

Another thing worth notice is how the double locking bars are folded to the bolt heads.



Seen in this detail WW2 photo you can see that to really secure the bolts the locking bar was folded up as much as possible on to the bolt head, twice at each ends and bolt.
Understandable as those bolts were exposed to great rotation forces and to avoid them to “screw up” an extra bend was done.

This is how they turned up in the end:





A lot of work but I am glad I did this as they now look so much better.

As always thanks for looking.
Kind regards
Kent

[Nick Farrugia]

HI Kent
your wheels look great i would have been happy with the first ones but i can now see why you went that extra mile and changed them they look even better now excelent work .
All the best nick

[simon_manning]

great to see you back on kent, the project is superb to follow, keep it going, regards simon manning.

[Adrian Harris]

Excellent detail Kent - we don't hear from you very often but when we do it's certainly worth the wait

Adrian.