. Good reference material is, of course, essential. So, after a bit of digging around, I felt that Thomas Jentz's "Germany's Panther Tank - the quest for combat supremacy" had good reviews. And a fascinating read it's proved to be.
It was Tim Page that told me that mine was a very late Panther G, and he's certainly right. Indeed, Steve Norris built it to be very, very late, with features like the camouflage rings on the turret sides that were only ordered in March 1945. So, using that as a base, I found that there were only two things that were missing:
[*] the armour guard mount for the FG1250 infrared mounting, just in front of the cupola on the turret roof. This has been generously supplied by Tim, to whom I owe a pint;
[*] the flame suppressor exhaust mufflers ("Flammenvernichter"), which a discussion has started on in the "Steve Winstone Elite Series" thread. The discussion so far has featured the 'straight' Flammenvernichter BUT Jentz says that, in January 1945, curved hoods (or Absatzkruemmer) were to be retrofitted to all Flammenvernichter systems. So I'm assuming that a March build would probably have had them straight from the factory. My Panther currently just has the exhaust shields with the bare exhaust pipes sticking out of the top. I'm assuming that the Absatzkruemmer can be made fairly simply from plumbing pipe, so I just need the grills / vents. And, hopefully, I'll be doing a deal on them with Yves Mouton. Another example of how brilliant this Forum is !
So that's the story so far. I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about ! But it's nice to have another authentic project on the go. Whatever position I've reached, the Panther will be at Tankfest for Public delectation.
And my hat really goes off to Steve for his build - the more I discover, the more in awe I become. I'm proud the be the latest, and hopefully last, owner of Panther 112.
All the best,
Chris