Armortek

Ok I need a little help on this Panther build, but I am sure this question applies to most of the kits. The bottom hull counter sunk bolts do not line up during the attachment of the front slope armor. Secondly, the turret side plates and rear plate are about 2mm out of alignment. These are fixed with a file and larger counter sunk holes ( i think) but before i begin to practice my own cut and paste, is this normal or perhaps my lack of attention. Any suggestions on fit and how to's would be great

Mark,
This is typical for these kits (a bit of hand fitting/filing required) and I too had similar issues with my Panther floor. You can adjust things as you describe. The left side holes in the floor of my Panther were misaligned quite a bit, and it was a difficult prospect to re-countersink them in the steel plate. So I made a new floor from Aluminum.

The turret does require some fiddling to. Armortek does suggest putting in all the screws loose at first and then tighten things once all the screws are in place. This is crucial. If you try to install parts and tighten things up as you go, the final parts may not fit properly due to tolerance stack up and machining variations. So absolutely assemble everything loose, then tighten the screws after all are in place. Even with this technique, you may find you need to drill a few holes bigger for a little extra clearance. Filing parts for better fit is not uncommon.

I hope this helps,
Bob