My Mid PantherG #0035

[Tim Page]

Here are a few pix of some of the upgrades and improvements made in the last 18 months.
First are 2 pix of the original rear deck air intake that i detailed and fitted ages ago.
This part is correct for a Late ausf.G but not right on an early ausf.G.

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Now here are 2 pix of the new Werkstatt part that has been primed and fitted.
This part is correct for ausf.A and early ausf.G Panthers.

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At some time when the weather gets a bit warmer i will get the airbrush out and get these last few parts painted and then do a bit more weathering to blend it all in.

Cheers
Tim

[Tim Page]

The 4 rectangular radiator grills on the rear deck of the Panther G are open and you can see straight through inside the tank.
This look is improved if you add some mesh but you should still not be able to see the insides of the tank.
It is also an area of concern if you model is outdoors when it is raining as water could get in through these 4 large openings and potentially damage the electrics.

These 4 grills were part of the radiator cooling system for the engine and were boxed in with vanes inside to direct the airflow.
Several Panther builders have replicated this in metal and they look fantastic, but it almost seems a waste to do that amount of work when most of the detail is hidden.

I have been dabbling with various simple ideas recently and think I've now got a pretty good solution which stops rain from getting into the tank and gives a good impression of these radiator ducts.
Ive designed the 4 ducts in a CAD program and then 3d printed them. They are a firm push on fit onto the base of the 4 rectangular radiator grills and can be glued in place if required.

Here is a picture to show one of the 3d printed ducts.

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This is where it fits from the underside.

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The vertical side of the 2 ducts each side should face inwards towards the circular radiator fan housing.

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I now need to get replace the hot glue fixing of the rad fans and cables and attach them properly.
This was only intended to be a temporary solution but has now been 3 years!

This is what it looks like with one of the ducts fitted.

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I have just got to paint the last 2 ducts and then glue them all in place.
I know they are not 100% accurate but they will certainly do the job intended and look a lot better than before.

Next job will be to get the new cast exhaust housing and pipes fitted and painted.

Cheers
Tim

[Vince Cutajar]

I like that idea.

Vince

[Tim Page]

Forgot to say. I can print off a full set of 4 ducts if anyone wants a set.
Please PM me for details.

Cheers
Tim

[Tim Page]

Have now got all 4 of the radiator ducts fitted to the rear deck and this has really improved the look of the whole engine deck and is another step closer to completing this very long upgrade journey.

The next 2 jobs will be to complete the inner hatch detail for the Drivers and Radio Operator hatches which is now almost done.
I hope to get this done on Sunday and then upload a few more pix of them.

The Cast exhausts will be the next job and this will require a bit more work.
Mark from Werkstatt 5 supplied me with a drawing of one type of cast exhaust housings that were fitted to the Panther some ausf.A, early Ausf.G as well as some Jagdpanthers.

I have now produced a 3d CAD design for this and have printed off a couple on my Resin 3D printer.
These will be fitted to my Panther to replace the original Armortek welded type which was not used on the early and mid production Panthers.
I will also not be using the heat shields which i had used with the original exhausts.

This is what the exhausts were like originally.

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This is sort of how it should look when done.
This is an Ausf.A but it is showing the same configuration.

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Here is a pix of one housing straight off the printer.

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Now with some 3.5mm casting numbers added.

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Finally after an application of Mr Surfacer to add some casting texture to the surface and then a coat of red primer.

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I have still got to make the exhaust mounting straps which will be made from brass but this should be fairly straightforward.
The repainting of the camouflage and then weathering again is the bit I am not looking forward to TBH.

Anyway, Time for Bed said Zebedee .....

Cheers
Tim

[Tim Page]

Been a long time since i did a Panther update but thought it was about time (well overdue).
I have been doing a few bits here and there on the Panther but nothing really exciting until this week.

There is a short list of outstanding improvements that i want to do to the Panther but these never seemed to progress as I had no idea how to do them.
High on this list was adding some detail to the interior of the commanders cupola.

I have tried a couple of times over the last 2 years but nothing seemed to work well but i am now finally happy with the latest attempt.
It is certainly not perfect but is a pretty good representaion and a lot better than no detail at all.

I designed the parts in Cad and printed in PLA then glued in place and added some casting effect and some casting numbers.

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I have also done a simplified interior periscope panel which proved to be trickier than expected to design because i just could not get the scale right.
Anyway, I am pleased with the result but will look better when printed in resin.

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Will post some more pix when it is completed and painted in a few days.
I will probably do a similar upgrade to the Tiger 1 cupola as well.

The other part that i am excited about is the close defence weapon (Nahverteidigungswaffe) which was fitted to late Panther ausf.A and Panther ausf.G as well as the late production Tiger 1 from March 44 onwards.
I was aksed if it would be possible to make the interior part of the close defence weapon for a friends Tiger 1 as it is very noticeable when the escape hatch is open. I then thought that if i could make one then it could be fitted to both my Panther and Tiger 1 as well as my friends Tiger.

So, I must have spent a couple of evenings messing about in CAD but eventually got something that I thought looked pretty good.

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These 2 pix are on my Tiger 1 but you get the idea.
I also drew out a new design for the exterior part of the CDW as the ones fitted to my Panther and Tiger were open and I was wanting a closed one.
I will post more pix when the parts have been fitted to my Panther.

Cheers
Tim

[Robert E Morey]

Periscope detail parts look great! Nice job!
Bob

[Tim Page]

Thanks Bob, Much appreciated.
I am hoping it will look pretty good when complete and painted.
Cheers
Tim

[Tim Page]

Hi guys, I have completed the cupola interior now and gave it a wash and then a drybrush prior to gluing the periscope panels into place.

I am really please with the way this came out.
Thanks to Mark Lawson for giving me the inspiration to pull my finger out and do this. He also made sure that i used the correct periscope mounting for the Panther G as the ausf.A looked very different. I have now done a design for the ausf.A type as well.
Now, my Panther was already fully assembled so was unable to make a set of accurate persicopes as I would not be able to fis them without breaking the cupola apart which I had no intention of doing. So, I designed the parts so that they would be easy to install and look good when installed. I realise that there are probably more accurate internals available but they would have cost many times what this cost me to produce and probably would not have fitted anyway.

Here are a few pix completed but on the bench.

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The last 3 pix are of the outside of the tank with the turret roof replaced.

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As you can imagine, this took me quite a bit of time to design the parts and my intention was to just make this for myself but if anyone wants a set printing off for their own Panther ausf.G or ausf.A then please give me a shout.

Just starting the next task which is to design and print off a set of the external faces of the cupola periscopes as all mine are currently empty.

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Cheers
Tim

[Charles A Stewart]

Hi Tim.
Those periscopes look fantastic, well done. They certainly set the cupola off.

Taking orders????

Cheers Charles

[Steve Norris]

Tim
Really nice job you’ve done there with the Coppola.
Regards
Steve

[Tim Page]

Have just fitted and painted the external part of the 7 periscopes into the cupola so i think i can call this bit now complete.

This must have been one of the quickest and simplest pieces to make and unlike most parts that i make fitted first time and did the job.
Normally i end up tweaking and adjusting parts to get them to fit or look the way i want.

I printed them in resin on my 3d printer and then primed in halfords grey primer. I then painted the body using a really good Games Workshop Contrast paint called Gore-Grunta Fur. All of their paints have odd names but I have found that using this over a light grey or beige undercoat gives a pretty good representaion of brown bakelite as used for the periscope bodies. These paints are very easy to use and 1 generous coat is all that is needed.
Unfortunately, you cant really see the effect now that they have been installed. I might have to paint another to show as an example.

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I painted the lens with a Tamiya Chrome Silver, then sealed with a gloss varnish.

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Then I used some thinned Tamiya X23 Clear Blue to make a blue tint and then another coat of gloss varnish to seal and give a nice shine.

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Overall, i am very happy with the transformation of the cupola which i think turned out better than i hoped. Originally, i was planning to have a very basic interior because that is all i thought i would be able to achieve - guess i was wrong.

Need to start planning the next task which will be to finally get my cast exhausts housings installed.
That will be another big job as i will need to make new exhaust brackets and then paint everything and then try to weather it all yo match the existing weathered paintwork.
This will probably be a major PIA and at the same time, I have 4 other parts of the exterior that need the same treatment.
Really not looking forward to this on tbh.

Cheers
Tim

[Robert E Morey]

Scopes look great - look like armored glass! Nice work!
Bob

[Tim Page]

Cheers Bob, the outside parts were really simple to design and fit but really finish it off.
I was sick of seeing 7 holes up there in the cupola every time i looked at it.

TBH, a task like this would never have been achievable for me without a 3d printer.

Cheers
Tim

[Tim Page]

I have been asked about producing a Maybach HL230 part enginge for the Panther and decided to give it a try.
My plan was to create the top of the engine with just the air cleaners and ancilliaries in a block aprox 30mm high.
This will still allow you to have a representation of an engine but still have room for speakers and smoke unit etc in the pack of the tank.

I created a design for a mock engine bay to fit my own 2010 Panther ausf.G. This is an enclosed tray that simulates the engine bay that will attach to the underside of the top deck.
The Maybach and the coolant tanks and pipework will then fill out the space around the engine.

This was then printed on my brand new Creality K1 Max printer.
This is bigger and a lot faster than my old Ender 3 Pro.
I can now print parts upto 300mm by 300mm and i can print a part in 3 hours which would have taken 14 hours on the old printer.

Below are pix of the initial HL230 prototype design.

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I have refined the design a bit more but it is still very much 'Work in Progress' and will upload some more pix tonight when i get home.

Cheers
Tim