Hi Russ.
The Panther D and A had the same hull design, The extended area below the spare tracks is the area for the fuel tanks .
On the later Panther G the hull was redesigned with the upper side armor plates set at a reduced angle and a straight lower edge, this reduced angle was introduced as it was necessary for the Jagdpanther which used the same basic hull as the G but with a casement instead of a turret.
Hope this is of help
Regards
Steve
Also looking forward to the build of this tank, Its to bad it ARMORTEKS last kit and wish I found the web site sooner so I could have more of their kits.
From what I hear Mark will be around in an advisory capacity for quite a long time after the company is sold so it should be a smooth well managed transition. Mark and Gill will make sure Armortek is in good hands.