Plastic scouser

Hi Fellas just thought i would share some pics of my Panther i have been working on it started as a Hen Long but not much left of the original now. Hull is almost complete then i can start work on the fun part the turret. It will have Tamiya electronics from a King Tiger in it (why did'nt Tamiya Release theirs earlier would have saved me all this work) It is an Ausf G with steeel road wheels as made by MAN in September 1944 i will be modelling it with the vampyre night vision equipment.

Cheers Ian

ksoc

NICE JOB!

Looks like you scratch built the upper hull. What mods did you make to the lower hull/suspension?

(Also waiting for Tamiya......

Kevin O'Connor
<S.C.A.T.>

www.socalareatankers.com

Plastic scouser

Hi Ksoc the suspension is standard Hen Long but i have lengthened the hull at the front and rear and moved the front sprocket forward and up and also moved the rear idler back and up its only the roadwheel spacing that is slightly out but i'll live with that.

Cheers Ian

schutzstaffel

how many hours until now ,you have puted in that amazing project?

Plastic scouser

Hi Schutzstaffel i don't know how many hours i've spent on it seems like foever at a guess i would say about 30 hours spread out over a few months just doing a bit here and there when i get a bit of time.

Cheers Ian

Captainbertie

Hi Plastic Scouser,

I too am working on this project although, mine is based on the Academy 1/25th Mark V..........Is yours going to be
RC and if so, what gearboxes are you using?......reason I ask is I have found that modifying the lower front hull to the correct angle, prevents the metal HL gearboxes from fitting correctly, so I have made the front angle slightly steeper...............I'll post pickies soon.......I do agree, re-sculpturing that hull is hard work.....more than I thought........

cheers

CaptB

Plastic scouser

Hi Capt B,

I am using the Hen Long gearboxes like you but by lifting the front sprockets higher i think i raised them by 3mm and moved them forward 5mm i can just get them in between the upper and lower hull. I thought at first i was going to have to cut them down, but now the sprockets are in the right place according to the plans i am using ( from the Panzertracts book on the Ausf G ).

Cheers Ian

Captainbertie

Thanks a lot old chap........I will have a look again and see if I can do the same.....it is tight in that motor area
...strange thing is, the Academy 1/25th mark V panther that I am basing my project on, puts the sprockets where Heng Long have put them, so I assumed this is correct......I will re-visit this........One further thing I discovered last night was that the turret can't be modified to correct scale, if one is keeping the HL gun elevation mechanism.....no room at the rear of the turret, so I might leave this I am not intending to use other mechanism's at this time.......Are you doing the same?..............

Cheers for now

CaptB (Geoff)

Plastic scouser

Hi Capt B,

I modified my chassis by extending the hen long at the front and rear i see from your previous pics that you chopped the chassis up so that could be were the difference in sprocket positions are but i would still try lifting it up slightly..... in regards to the turret i am going to be using tamiya electronics so will be building the turret from scratch.

cheers Ian

Captainbertie

Hi PlasticS,

Thanks for the advice............I checked it out last night and it looks like I could make the lower hull front more correct in angle and move the gearboxes up & forward to compensate........how did you re-mount the gearboxes in the hull?........I was thinking of making standoffs in plastic tube to the correct height and then epoxying them into the hull base in the new position.....do you think this would work or is there another way?.......appreciate all your help.......

Cheers

CaptB (Geoff)

Plastic scouser

Hi Capt B,

I kept the original mounts in place and and used a rectangle of plastic card with holes drilled in it to go over the two taller location mounts (under the gearboxes) and epoxied it in place, to this i just epoxied another plastic card rectangle with the new gearbox locations marked on to it and when dry screwed the gearboxes to it It seems strong enough so far and if i have any problems in the future i can always drill right through the chassis and bolt it together for extra strength could even replace the plastic card with metal (aluminium?) Hope this helps

Cheers Ian

Captainbertie

Hi Plastic S,

Great solution that..........I cut out the front of my panther hull last night and made the sloping front lower hull....much better now.....that was nagging me a bit.....I will try and replicate your gearbox mounting solution, since it is a great idea............I will post pickies of my panther soon, when I have made more progress with it.......thanks again for your help.....much appreciated...........

Cheers & TALLY HO

CaptB (Geoff)

Plastic scouser

Hi CaptB

Forgot to mention i built up the space between the original gearbox mounts with plastic card just to give me more surface area to epoxie to if you need anymore help just ask thats what where all on here for

Cheers Ian

Captainbertie

Hi Plastic S,

Thanks for that tip.......I have now corrected the front lower hull and am working on the gearbox mounts and position.......much happier with it now so thanks again........one more question for you though if you don't mind, I see that you have converted the front drive sprocket to look more correct i.e. six spokes......how did you do that?...I was planning on using the metal sprockets & tracks with metal gearboxes......did you cut any of the original spokes out of the sprocket?...........thanks again..........

cheers

CaptB

Plastic scouser

Hi CaptB

I used the metal sprockets and cut out spokes, leaving just the spokes that would be hidden by the new wheelcentres i had made from plastic card .....on the back of the new wheel centres i got some slighlty larger diameter plastic tube than the hole and sanded it to a nice fit and glued it to the back of the new centres i made...now they can pull on and of to get to the screw holding the sprocket on ( hope you could follow that pics should explain it more ) You used to able to buy Panther sprockets but i Cannot find them anywhere [&o]

Cheers Ian

Captainbertie

Hi Plastic S,

Your solution is excellent and looks real good............I saw some Panther sprockets on Tankzone's website but they are out of stock.....I have e-mailed them to see if they are getting any more in........Failing that, I will do what you have done so thanks again......I found my sprocket position variance.....needed to move the front lower hull forward
to compensate which I have now done and am making good.....man my Panther looks a real 'Frankenstein' at the moment but I will tidy it up eventually.......great fun though doing these mods......

Thanks again old chap and all the best for the xmas season

CaptB (Geoff)

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

Looking good [sm=thumbup.gif] Anymore updates?

t72

Should use a set of Tiger 1 transport tracks to make the tank look like a Panther.

http://www.kennysmodeltank.com

Plastic scouser

Hi T72,

I will be using Panther tracks from Imperial modellbau once i finish drilling them all out []

Cheers Ian

Plastic scouser

Hi Guys,

A quick update i've changed my mind and am now building a Flak panzer designed by Krupp at the end of the war which never went in to productionso a bit of scope for artistic licence ......... got the turret shape built just need to detail it finish of the guns and install them......done a bit more tool stowage on the hull......... fitted a Tamiya King Tiger rear idler with schmo kits tensioner

Cheers Ian

Rambeast

Thats a killer idea. I am quite excited to see the result. I am very sure you will have one unique tank when finished![8D][sm=thumbup.gif]

t72

Wecohe is also offering 1/16 Panther tracks with spockets & idlers.

THE_BREED

Does anyone know if this project was ever finished? I would love to see it.

Panther F

COOL! Nice work! A Coelian Panther! I love it!


Jeff

swathdiver

Since you began this build VS Tank has introduced a more compact airsoft and barrel elevation unit that will fit in the tight confines of your turret. Check out Toy East's website, the replacement parts section for their 1/24 Tiger I.