1/35 Tamiya Panther

I bought this kit a while back- and never had the chance to build it. Panthers served on the main line of the Germany Army in the later years of World War II. Not enough of them were made, as excellent as they were. In addition, the panther was over-engineered, often being a complication in the field. As for the wheel design... I'm not sure what those crazy Germans were thinking (I'm part German!)

Tamiya has a nice kit here. This is one of their older, repackaged Panthers. I forget the price I paid for it- if I remember correctly, $27.99. I have a few quirks with the kit. The engine vents lack any detail out of the box. Two, the exhausts are hideous. Three, the barrel of the main gun. Four is the fit for the upper and lower hulls. Most of these problems can be overcome, and for an out of the box build with simple scratchbuilt parts, it isn't a bad kit. Certainly could be better.

I am finishing up putty work on holes I am not using, and the barrel. The barrel is mostly smooth, but a line is still present, even after liquid plastruct (which fixes a lot of that issue most of the time, but not in this case). To remedy the problem, putty/sanding will be the only solution.

Panthers had a camouflage paint in the field that consisted of the following colors in a sharp, yet feathery fashion. They are the same colors I used on the Panzer II, in addition to a new brown-red. I will replace the exhausts with brass, then go over them with a base coat of gray (my base coat of choice in most cases). Later I will paint them rust.

What's the best news of the day? I found my dremel, and dremel accessories. SCORE.