Just finished this last week, Dragon’s 1/35th Panther in the Ersatz M10 disguise. In Operation Greif Otto Skorzeny attempted to infiltrate into Allied formations to sow havoc during the Battle of the Bulge. They had a small number of Germans who spoke fluent English along with a somewhat larger number who spoke it with an accent, a large number of captured uniforms, and some US jeeps and trucks. But only two Shermans of which I believe only one would run. So they built some sheet metal disguises for a small number of Panther tanks and painted them olive drab in the attempt to make them look like US M10 tank destroyers. These were organized into Panzer Brigade 150. Pretty odd duck if you ask me, it’s doesn’t look much like a Panther but not much like an M10 either. Plus the Panthers gasoline engine didn’t sound anything like the M10’s twin diesels. Eventually they were never used in the infiltration role they were intended for but instead thrown into action as regular tanks and quickly knocked-out.
This is the Dragon’s excellent Panther kit with a few extra sprues for the disguise parts. Everything fit well with no major problems. I built the kit straight from the box only adding an engine compartment which when fit into a diorama display I’m going to have the rear deck hatch open. Since these tanks apparently went from the workshops pretty much straight to being knocked-out I didn’t add a lot of wear other than the mud on the lower hull and running gear. Only real issue I had was finding small white flecks all over the model when finished. At first I thought this was dust or lint but I’m thinking now the matte finish may have had tiny congealed clumps in it. No big deal here since she’s going into a diorama covered in snow but hopefully I can get this straightened out before the next model.
I hope you don’t take offense, but you know I try to be honest–tt’s certainly a clean build, but maybe a little TOO clean, even given the dirt on the suspension and lower parts. It could use perhaps some drybrushing and some rust colors on the spare tracks to give it some more visual interest? I think that it’s rather a bit monotone, if I may be honest.
I don’t know if I necessarily buy into the philosophy that models shouldn’t be weathered or finished aged just because of a short service life. OK, maybe you wouldn’t damage the the fenders or bend parts, but there is so much that you can do to enhance the base finish with simple weathering techniques like dust, streaks and runs, etc Even just driving from the railhead to their emplacements, they would have garnered some kind of weathering on the upper hull surfaces.
Another thing you can do to liven up monotone finishes is to use some fading with the AB. This really gives some life to the finish.
Hey Karl, thanks for your candor! Actually I did use the AK Interactive pre-shading set for olive drab and did some streaking of lighter shades down the sides of the big plates on the sides of the turret. I guess it doesn’t show up that well in the photos. I am planning on hitting her with some more Woodland Scenics ‘snow’ so I didn’t want to kill myself adding too much detail that will be covered up.
Still she does need some more rust and streaks down from the spare tracks. Plus I noticed I should have blackened the area around the exhaust pipes. And some dot filters might have made a difference though I skipped it thinking much of it would be covered by the ‘snow’. Looking at some photos of the knocked-out vehicles I’m beginning to think I should have dinged up the fenders more though. Karl, is there anything else you think she needs?
Blazes, the more I look at her the more I’m thinking even the mud looks too clean… Anyway that’s why I post here is to get advice and tips!
Its difficult to tell from the photos but it looks like you modulated the tint a bit or added some pre shading. It shows up a little on the top of the turret, always a good technique and a nice effect.
Haven’t started on the added weathering etc yet but I did start on the diorama. I found this photo of the tank I’ve modeled but I’m a little confused. Apparently the tank drove over a mine but how on earth did the track come on the bottom but not the top??? Unless they were backing up - but that doesn’t seem to make much sense either!?! [:S]
Edit: On second look seems there’s some tow cables where she’s being recovered by a US crew or pulled off the road but it still seems to me the tracks would be pulled off the top run and pulled under the tank.
Second, I can only come up with one idea; perhaps they were going to repair the tracks to get it moving under it’s own power. That’s a Panther in U.S. markings. That could really be useful.
I wouldn’t doubt that someone decided they could use them for whatever came at them next. One could conceivably argue that the need never arose or that the higher-ups in charge wanted them for study when the need never presented itself.
I’ve certainly not come across any information in my studies that suggests we ever used those tanks for our own battles. But I will not pretend that I have every piece of information on this subject either. Without someone who was there, or had heard the story about what is going on in that picture, we can only guess.
So, back to the first comment; Artist’s prerogative. lol
Thanks Mike! I just figured she was being hauled back for some sort of technical evaluation. Maybe the GIs reinstalled the track to move the tank, makes more sense than any theory I’d come up with.
Tankers are an interesting people. My Dad is one so I’ve got a keen inside kind of perspective on these things. They were a very industrious bunch. If they thought it could be useful they would snatch it up. Something they learned from generation that fought in WWII and taught them how to survive as tankers.
My Dad was stationed in Germany in the early 70’s and he picked up a lot of habits from the old tankers still working in the Army back then. I’ve been learning this stuff half of my life from my Dad.
He even picked up some equipment that they used to use so he can show me how it all works, so I can model it better. Tanker’s rolls. You rarely ever see them in modelling. I didn’t even know they existed until a month ago lol.
