Kent`s Panther build

Tim Bowman · Post by **Tim Bowman** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:52 pm

Nice

simon_manning · Post by **simon_manning** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:57 pm

informative,superb observation,this vehicle will be to good to use,this build is better than a book,i am getting very interested in building my panther watching these great posts,keep em comin!

simon manning

Roland Mann · Post by **Roland Mann** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:47 pm

Hi Kent a very detailed reporting on your progress. Interesting to follow your effort and see the excellent results.

On the bump stops of your Panther you mentioned the rubber cylinders and explaining how close it is to the original. Yes I agree since I made my own bump stops on my Tiger closer to the original shape even it is difficult to see when the tracks are fitted. Only one small point may be of interest for the forum, the original bump stops on the Panther do not use any rubber at all. The cylindrical items are 5 paires of dished plates out of spring steel. Each pair is of two plates facing the hollow shaped side to each other. The 5 pairs ( times two ) are forming a very strong set up of two axial springs eliminating the disadvantages of ageing rubber these days.

Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see more.

Roland

Per Sonnervik · Post by **Per Sonnervik** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:30 am

Hi Kent,

Great thread, excellent work and very informative. I canÂ´t wait for the next input, all this info. will be very useful when building my own Panther G.

One question, do the model need fuctional bumper stops? With all this detail you wonÂ´t be driving that hard or?

All the best,
Per

Kent Wiik · Post by **Kent Wiik** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:21 am

Oh thanks guys!

All youâ€™re cheering is energy for me to continue posting here instead of build tanks

For me to hear my work inspire others is reward enough to continue posting my work built on years of research - hope others feel the same and we have more buildthreads on this here soon, make this the best 1:6th rc tank forum ever and take this hobby forward.

Thanks Roland for the most informative input.
Has to say your Tigerbuild is one of my biggest sources of inspiration and if I have my Panther Â½ as accurate as your Tiger will turn out in the end I will be very pleased.
We will see how far Mr Dremel can take it

Per - I think the bumper stops are needed in order to have a smoother ride.
Maybe Mark and Gill can answer to that.
I remember the first version oF Tiger I kit was without and Vince made some aftermarket ones. With them on the model got a better ride and are now added from start in the Late Tiger kit.

Stay tuned as more chapters will follow (for years...

)
Kent

Kent Wiik · Post by **Kent Wiik** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:58 am

Hi all!

Next, the armoured semicircle covers for the gear case.

Looking at photos of the real thing one notice that Â¼ of the semicircle is missing on the kit part.

The real thing upper end lasted almost on top of the gear case it was supposed to protect.
Please note the welding direction and how rough the surface on this curved plate was.
Also note the U-hook seen in the photo are not a Panther one.

Seen in the gallery a lot of other builders has mounted them so to say â€œup side downâ€

Allan Richards · Post by **Allan Richards** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:01 pm

Kent,

I'm not building a Panther but I find your articles very interesting to read. You are obviously a very observant person to spot all this detail. I am also pleased that you are still using the kit parts and not throwing them out and scratch building new parts. This shows people that it is possible to modify original parts and to do it without using expensive and highl technical machining. Finally the finished parts look excellent.

Tim Bowman · Post by **Tim Bowman** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:05 pm

Hi Kent

Outstanding comparison photos, notes and workmanship. I've already said it but this is going to be a fun project to watch.

Keep up the great work.

Tim

Kent Wiik · Post by **Kent Wiik** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:45 pm

Hi all!

Sorry for not posting for a while but annoying things other then Pantherbuild occurredâ€¦

Tired of the hull sides, lets take a short brake from them and move upwards to the pannier sides for a change.

Juicy big parts

with little in need for adjustment â€“ I like that!
Without further investigation I filled all holes for the tools.
Will replace the kit ones with Mikes set + some other stuff and are most certain the pre drilled holes are misslocated for them.
All new drilling will be done when the hull is all assembled and not now.

Did also give the panniers the rolled steel look even if they will be almost 90% covered with zimmerit.
Why you may ask â€“ because it felt nice, and I have not decided yet if I shall go for a very battle worn tank or a factory fresh one.
Now I can postpone that decision

For me a Panther is a Panther for a number of characteristic designs.
For example the main gun support, cupola, sloped armor, MG ball mount, Idler, sprockets andâ€¦the at the rear placed hook shaped lifting loops.

When I first saw the kit prototype I noticed that the hooks looked strange.
They were far to square and seemed to be too long. The angled cut out at the lower rear end also looked wrong.
Compared to photos of the real thing it is obvious â€“ but so easy to adjust for my friend Mr Dremel.
There are also a horizontal cut out but I will leave that one until the hull is fully assembled.

Looking here at BobÂ´s photo you see what is in need for milling and filling to have the hook shaped lifting loop looking better.

If it is something of all my conversions I really urge you other Panther/Jagdpanther builders to do - this is the one!

Please also observe how the cut out lifting loop was made sloped on both the inner- and outside.

This is how the Hook shaped lifting loop turned out in the end:

And the whole rear side pannier section:

Huge difference!

And now I only need to do the same thing on the left side pannier as wellâ€¦

Thanks for looking
Kent

Tim Bowman · Post by **Tim Bowman** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:19 pm

Beautiful!

What a nice touch of accurate detailing. Looks much better and gives it a more 1:1 scale(at least to me) I can only imagine how nice your Panther will look when all the little details are brought together in the finished masterpiece!

I love it!

kind regards
Tim

Robert E Morey · Post by **Robert E Morey** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:31 pm

Ack Kent, you keep finding things I have to fix!

You have an amazing eye for the details though. Thanks for sharing them.

simon_manning · Post by **simon_manning** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:48 pm

high standard build detail,clear informative photos,always interesting.keep the posts coming kent ,very enjoyable .

simon manning

cedric meyer · Post by **cedric meyer** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:13 pm

Kent, you are slowing me down

Everything you do i do. Everytime i think i'll put the elements of the hull together, you show up with a new thing... But it's great!
You see things that an average human can't see i think... I talk for myself at least

ced

Pierluigi Patri · Post by **Pierluigi Patri** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:15 pm

cedric meyer wrote:Kent, you are slowing me down ...
You see things that an average human can't see i think... I talk for myself at least

ced

I agree with you, Cedric.

Interesting work, as usual, Kent.
I am doing a lot of "copy-paste" of you work's pictures...

Kent Wiik · Post by **Kent Wiik** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:28 am

Oh thanks all!

Glad someone enjoys reading this and also might get inspired.
Keeps me motivated.

More "never observed before" improvements will follow â€“ some bigger, some smaller.
So watch this space friends!

With only hand tools my build is slow but me and Mr Dremel will try to add a chapter at least every 4 weeks
(Did I say a am a hopeless time-optimistâ€¦)

Cheers
Kent