Pantherturm Project

[razorboy]

Turning a 25 year old Ausf. A turret into a late model Ausf. D Pantherturm

I have had this Tamiya Panther A kit in my closet for almost 25 years. Finally found some use for it. Old and outdated as far as the really "Slick PE Enhanced" kits of today go, I decided to fabricate what I needed for this build, thankfully I'll only be "Scratchbuilding" some of the outer turret components. I don't posess the talent or the patience to upgrade the whole 1970's Tamiya kit with a scratchbuild and it would be easier (and smarter) to buy the Dragon version if I was doing the whole tank.
As you can see there is a lot of filling to be done.

The gun mantlet received a larger and deeper hole for the coax mg. The twin small holes for the gunsight (Ausf. D) were drilled, replacing the single large hole common to the A and G models.
The cupola hatch required some detailing as well.
Here's the actual original -

Here's the Tamiya original -

Here's the modified Tamiya -

New "hoist points" were made from small paper clips cut off at the bend and attached with tenax liquid weld. The grab handles on the cupola hatch, loader's hatch and above the loader's hatch were modified from those in the kit. The pistol port plug is from the "parts box". A quick coat of paint was applied to expose any need for additional filliing/sanding.

razorboy