Grossdeutschland Panther A

[Stikpusher]

Well, here I go again, kicking off another build, while still so many more are not yet completed.



This is Italeri’s 1993 vintage 1/35 Panther A. I’ve had it in my stash since it was a new release, and am finally getting around to building it. I started the build yesterday at the AZ AMPS meeting, and made pretty rapid progress so far before reaching where I need to start doing some paint work.

I was able to get most of the lower hull, and running gear built





The kit even includes a basic engine compartment, although I will not deep dive into this one as I did on my M47 from 2021



and I was also able to get the insert area for the driver and bow machine gunner built and installed



the kit comes with alternative pre made zimmerit parts, but they are a bit thick, so I will be thinning those down before installing those. The next update will be after some painting, and getting those items taken care of…

[keavdog]

Wow, in the stash for 30 years! High time she made the bench. Looking forward to this build - great progress BTW

[Stikpusher]

Thanks John. I have a few kits in my stash for a bit longer, but those are all aircraft and Christmas gifts from my last Christmas at home with my parents... I think that there are four of those kits left...

[Medicman71]

Damn that's an old kit. I'm sure you'll do it justice Stik!

[Stikpusher]

It wasn’t when I bought it… Funny thing is, this was a huge improvement over the ancient Tamiya Panther A, and was the best game in town until Dragon started having a go at the Panther family and did their own A.

And yes, I will do my best to do this kit justice.

[BlackSheep214]

Nice subject...

[Stikpusher]

Thanks Tom. Ya gotta love those German big cats.

[Stikpusher]

Well yesterday was our monthly AZ AMPS meet, build, and BS session. I figured that I hadn't worked on this one in awhile, so I brought it along to work on.

My main area of focus was the turret, so I built the main areas of turret, couple, mantlet, and gun tube...



I'm using this kit's zimmerit parts, although Italeri neglected to put the zimmerit on the sides of the trunnion points behind the mantlet, so I'll need to add some there on my own.

Here is a test fit rear quarter view with the cupola and gun tube in place



I need to thin down the kit zimmerit turret sides with my Dremel before I glue those in place, as it is way too thick as molded...

One of the critiques of this kit is that the base of the turret sits too high as molded and leaves a noticeable gap against the hull top deck. So I sanded down the turret bottom part to sit higher inside the sides to remove that aspect...



and I also added most of the parts to the hull rear... I didn't like the kit jack that stows between the exhaust pipes, so I'm gonna replace it with a better one from my spares bin....

more to come soon...

[Medicman71]

Coming along nicely Stik!

[Stikpusher]

Wow, in the stash for 30 years! High time she made the bench. Looking forward to this build - great progress BTW

Thanks John. I still have a handful of aircraft kits that have been in my stash even longer, all from my parents for my last Christmas where they gave me models as gifts when I was 18.