Dragon Panther G Smart Kit

[TomN]

Hi All,
Well I haven't built an armor kit in quite some time, but started the DML Panther G, and here is my progess so far...


Roadwheels and tracks built. I love Dragon's Magic Tracks, cuz they come free in the box! Look pretty good too. Upper hull and stuff not glued on yet. That's a barrel from RB Models. I was a little worried about the barrel, it's not shaped the same as the Dragon part, but wedges right nicely into the manlet.
And yes, I do own a lot of glue...

I gave it a quick spray with Krylon "Ruddy Brown" primer. Has a nice red color.

A little weathering to the fans, just in case they show.

Fenders removed, will be replaced with Voyager PE (wish me luck) and upper hull glued on.

Her shoes...

MG34 barrel from LionMarc. I installed this with a blob of 2-part epoxy putty from the back as it didn't easily mount up to the Dragon parts.

And the rear deck, you can sorta see the fans through there...

That's it for now, thanks for taking a look
Tom

 

[jknaus]

Off to a good start. I love the Panther. Will watch this one.
James

 

[panzerace007]

TOM,

Off to a Great Start indeed !! & Yes , Your cooling Fans will show some what ! I too Love the whole Panther Family ( Berge's, Jagd-Panther & Panthers ! ) & I also spied those R.B. tow shackles ! Nice Touch ! TOM, you can Never have too Much Glue !

Question: How did you do that trick with your Road Wheels & Trax as one Piece ?

JAMES - If you Dig Panthers, stay tuned I'll be Posting the WIP for Cyberhobby/Dragon's Flak-Panther(#6626) soon ! It was a One-Off Panther produced by the 653rd. Panzer-Jager Abtl. & I'll post some finished pix of My Cyberhobby/Dragon Berge-Panther mit Pz IV turret(#6340 ). Another One-off by the 653rd. Both were converted Berge-Panther A's.

ERIK

 

[TomN]

Hey James, thanks for checking it out.

ERIK-No trick really, just lots of liquid cement, not on the axel arms of course, then let it set up for a day or so. Actually I was surprised when they slipped off all in one piece, needed a bit of touch up, but worked quite well.

Tom

 

[AndyFettes]

Totally envious of those tracks coming off like that as mine usually dont !! >:0(

 

[moon puppy]

Pretty neat trick with the tracks, bet it makes painting much easier.

 

[Iron Mike]

Hey Tom! She's looking great so far! The MG is a sweet touch, guess I'll have something else to add to my wish list. Keep going and oh, do you have any glue?

 

[kaleu]

Nice work on the tracks.

Good luck with the Voyager fenders and yes, that is a lot of glue. ha

 

[Kreighshoer]

good start tom! are you going to build the final M.A.N. panther from the puzzle! dml provides the parts but doesn't tell you what part to use in the steps where you have the choice! (maybe they want to double the research fun for the modeller!)

if you are going to do the voyager fenders you should better take soldering into consideration ... or a lot of glue!

 

[TomN]

Thanks everyone!

Andy-
I just hope they go back on as easy as they came off.

Laura-
I must admit that research is not my strong point, I'm going to build this based on the box art which I think is the final version, the Voyager instructions show early and final versions, so that helps.

Soldering is being seriously considered.

I haven't used the pistol grip mini torch yet...well...I did light a few things on fire with it.

Tom

 

[moon puppy]

Ever dabbled in soldering Tom? Got a few of us here who call themselves soldering so any help we can give, or you can give us, we'll be here.

 

[TomN]

To be honest, yes I have dabbled...and that's about it. I wasn't having much luck with the iron, so I bought the solder paste and torch. When I get around to using them I will let you all see how it came out.

Tom

 

[Tim A.]

Hi Tom, looking good! yep,that is some slick work with the roadwheels and tracks. I would drive myself insane trying to get paint on the inner wheels.

Tim

 

[TomN]

A little more progress:

I removed some of the weld beads, because while well molded, they seemed a bit wimpy and when assembled they left a gap.

I remade the welds with Apoxie Sculpt.

This one I think came out best, a little big, but maybe was assembled by an overachieving welder!

Tom

 

[BigDog]

Hi Tom,

Very cool build indeed:

those tracks are somewhat of a "different" vision, as I'm only used to seeing them on the vehicules - I didn't know until recently that the tracks were glued on to the wheels...

You should look Lupanzer up for some soldering tips: the guy's effing skilled with the iron and does a helluva job of soldering tiny little PEs (of the kind that are hard to pick up with your fingers).

Cheers and I'll be here, watching'n learning!
Fernao

 

[Tim A.]

Nice welds Tom, they look certifiable and if the nut in the avatar did them they are :laugh:

Tim

 

[moon puppy]

TomN wrote:

To be honest, yes I have dabbled...and that's about it. I wasn't having much luck with the iron, so I bought the solder paste and torch. When I get around to using them I will let you all see how it came out.

Tom

Paste and flame has worked well for me. Iron is too cantankerous sometimes but a must on some applications.

Build is looking great so far! :woohoo:

 

[Brokeneagle]

Nice start - love the welds, they look spot on.

Ian.

 

[Tojo72]

Very interesting build,looks great.

 

[lupanzer]

Dear Tom.

...great job on the weld seams.

Best!

Luiz.