I know alot of people have chimmed in about the bad Panthers but how many have not had any problems? I have run mine hard and had no problems. I did shim the sprocket halves a bit, but that is all I did. I run all my Tamiya tanks with the stock running gear and am very happy. I have not felt the need for all the upgrades everybody says you must have. My King Tiger is the only one I modded. I machined new idler tension drums to eliminate the springs. Any other happy campers????

Max,

As you know my son Connor ran his Tamiya Panther all weekend at BAT; Like you we spaced the drive sprockets and had no track binding problems. The tank handles and drives very scale like. Its not a must need, but we added Darl Turners main gun sleeve; it installs easy and works nice. I think it was $15.00

I think the Panther will continue to be one of our collection favorits.

I knew you would reply! Are we the only ones?????

Maybe??

Hey - I have your T-34 parts.

Also Im waiting to hear from Vince about the next Battle date.

I up graded my tracks to impact metal tracks and sprockets. No problems now.


Greg

Ron Blair has my Tamiya Panther kit tracks/sprockets and it will be interesting to see how he gets them to work and read his feedback.

If anyone can do that, it is Ron.

He seemed to know from the get go that the spacing of the sprocket teeth was off on the parts I gave him.

The Impact tracks and sprockets fixed the running issues and again sprocket width had nothing to do with the kit part issues with my Panther.

The build is a favorite...now, but again not Tamiya's best effort. And Daryl Turner's parts saved the build.

I have built all the Tamiya rc WWII tank lineup to run well outdoors and to look pretty good too.

All the kits have their pluses and minuses. I saved and did without, just like many other modelers I know, to purchase the kits I want to build.

I did not mind the cost to upgrade some of the builds with replacement parts, such as the Sherman Easy 8 turret kit.

But, I was not happy that after the initial cash outlay, my Panther model required several "corrective parts" to remedy the defective parts supplied with the kit.

Those "corrective parts" added significant cost to the Panther build and that is a first relative to any of my other Tamiya rc tank kit builds.

And that fact is my complaint with Tamiya’s Panther rc kit.

None of the other Tamiya 1/16 kit builds ever forced you into that position, having to buy corrective parts.

The Pershing, Sherman and Tiger run outdoors just fine, built completely stock out of the box.

The King Tiger does require a track idler spring suspension system to get the model to run on it's tracks (low cost fix) without breaking them, but works good after that tweak.

Other than using a solid turret rotation clutch gear for all the Tamiya WWII rc tanks, really, nothing else is required, just follow the directions, do a careful build and the model will run just fine outdoors.

Perhaps Tamiya (and even HL) should both take a look at how their giant, successful relative does things and how they got “there� (not in F1 racing though).

The most important part on a car is the "one not working", Toyota’s motto.

PS Daryl Turner's gearbox mount brace and metal elevation arm will save you from some maintenance grief down the road when installed in any Tamiya WWII tank. And the metal Panther barrel sleeve fix is a great solution to the lousy fitting Tamiya mantlet and main gun barrel parts.

Here are a few pics of Connor's Panther, including Darl Turners mantle insert.

Hi,

Beautiful zimmerit work on Connor's Panther.

Still not sure what the final paint and weathering will be on my now good running Panther.

Looks very nice. What material did you use for the zimm and what tool did you use?


Jeff

you know,i did not get an instruction sheet with my upgrade from DT....how can i get one?can someone scan it to me?

Thanks Jeff

If you look close at the first picture you can see all the tools I used. The material is called squadron putty (red label). Its a white modelers paste for plastic. Use a popsicl stick to spread it evenly about 1/16" thick, covering a 1" area at a time (dries fast). I used the cut down black plastic comb (seen to the left) and made the verticle scores. The tooth brush next to it is used to sweep out the extra putty from the comb after each use. I used a piece of T-1 fender (grey item bottom right) to press in the horizontal lines; of course any simular item can be used. Keep in mind the application does not need to be perfect because uniformity was non-existant. I have used this method on three tanks now and am very pleased. We have smash the fronts of our T-1s into hard objects such as rocks and the stuff will not come loose. Its not as hard as it looks, my son Christian who is 14 did his T-1.

Steve

Hi kurt,

The third pic is the best photo I have. The installation is very easy, almost self exsplanitory. Flat side of the lip goes down and add a little CA glue or House Hold Goop to the lip where it contacts the inner mantle.

Nice job on the zimmerit. How did you do it?

To ME-109,

Thanks! See post # 12

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for the explanation Steve and for taking the time. I have read SO many zimm "How To's" that I had no clue until your post. When I do get the Panther I am going to give it a go ... of course after a few tries at some blank styrene that is!


Thanks


Jeff