My Mid PantherG #0035

[Tim Page]

Hi all, have had a lot of distractions over the winter and it was far too cold in the garage.
Anyway, I've started on the Panther again to complete some of the outstanding tasks and the first of these was to fit and paint the 20t jack & brackets that i collected from Steve Winstone at Tankmod last October.
I did have a modified white metal jack which i believe was a 15t version that came with the tank and i was generally quite happy with it until i saw the ones that Steve produces.

Anyway, I fitted and painted the new brackets over the Easter weekend and have been painting the jack for the last few days.

I am pleased with the results although i think it took about 8 hours to paint it in total.

I guess, the next jobs will be to complete the weathering on the lower hull and around the exhausts which i will try and get done in the next few weeks.

Cheers
Tim

[simon_manning]

very nice indeed, worth the effort, looks real, regards simon manning.

[mark lawson]

Very nice Tim, looks as though it could have come from a used car.

[Adrian Harris]

Great work Tim

Adrian.

[Steve Norris]

Nice one
Regards
Steve

[Tim Page]

Been a while since i did a Panther update. Been busy with the Comet (which is now sold) and other toys.

Anyway, i picked up a set of Armortek modules at the open day and plan to strip out the old Q4D and Electronize electrics and replace with some shiny silver control units.
I have no idea as yet where everything is going to go, but that is half the fun.

I will also be stripping out the motors again and replace the roll pin in the left motor pinion as the pin failed this weekend and only the left track was working. Thought it worthwhile to replace the left side now.

Cheers
Tim

[Steve Norris]

Tim
After Sunday's practice run on the right motor you should be able to do the left one in half an hour
Regards
Steve

[Tim Page]

Hi Steve, The panther is now up on my bench so that will make things a lot easier.
Just checked this morning and I dont have any more M3 taps, so have just ordered some more.

It should be fine providing i can remove all the bolts without having to use a drill.

Tim

[Chris Hall]

I have no idea as yet where everything is going to go, but that is half the fun.

Tim -

If it would help, I could take some photos of the guts of my Panther G to show where all my stuff is (not that I put it there - Steve Norris did !).

All the best,

Chris

[Tim Page]

Hi Chris, That would help a lot.
I did look at Steves build last night, but found no pix of the modules.
Cheers
Tim

[Heiko Sattler]

HI Tim

beautiful jack . but make me a little rustier here pictures of my

[Tim Page]

That looks good too.
I dont really like too much rust effect on tanks as most of the German kit was wrecked within a few months.
I just wanted mine to look like it had been used a lot with a worn and oily look.
A lot of weathered parts on tanks look like modern day barn finds that are dirty and have been rusting for the last 70 years.

Tim

[Tim Page]

Wow, I cannot believe that this is my first post since October 2017.
Where has the time gone?
I have made some updates to my early Panther ausf.G over the last year, so i should start to upload some pix shortly.
I replaced all the electrics and modules a couple of years ago and completely rewired the tank.
I also removed the batteries form the turret basket and placed then conventionally in the lower hull.

There have been a few parts that id been after for a while and with the release of the Armortek Panther ausf.A, i managed to get hold of some cast exhaust housings and a few Werkstatt parts from Rivetcounter.

This has caused a few problems because the tank was built using all the parts that were available at the time and then painted and weathered.
At the time, i knew that some of the Late panther g parts on the tank were not right but none of the correct parts were available.
So, I am now in the awkward position of having a good number of red oxide primed parts on the tank and i will have to paint these so that they blend in with the existing paintwork which has been weathered.
I must admit that i am pleased that i am getting the tank closer to how i really wanted it to be but not looking forward to the painting job ahead of me.

Anyway, the jobs that have been completed were to fit the early Panther A style lower hull vent that sits under the travel lock and also to replace the armoured Engine air intake with the early type as fitted to the late ausf.A panthers and also on some of the early ausf.G Panthers. Both of of these parts were supplied by Werkstatt.

I am now working on completing the crew hatch details which was only 1/2 done and then complete the new exhaust system using the cast exhaust housings. I will be doing away with the heat shields that i had used on the original setup but i will now have to make up a new set of exhaust clamps.

This will still leave me with one just remaining pair of parts that is not correct on the tank - the rear idlers.
My tank still has the original late ausf.G style rear idlers which are just wrong for the early ausf.G that i want.
Hopefully, this can be sorted soon so that i can then get one step closer to calling it 'finished'.

With a bit of luck, i should complete this batch up upgrades and get it back together in a couple of weeks and then i will upload some more pix to show progress.

Cheers
Tim

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

Glad to see you are still in the hobby, Tim!

I was deeply impressed by your panther when we met in Munster.

[Tim Page]

Hi Christian, Great to hear from you again.
My Armorteks have been almost ignored over the last 12-18 months due to other projects.
I have now got 2 3D printers so i'm now making parts for various 1/6 projects.
I always wanted the internals for the cupola on the panther and this is on my project list.
My aim is to create a basic internal part for the cupola. No idea how it will turn out but hoping it will be possible and look ok.

Cheers
Tim