Best Panther?

This probably gets asked alot, but to bad, here it is one more time. I wanted to build a model tank for my dad to put on his desk at work. He “likes” Panthers, although I just think that was the first thing that came to his mind when I asked him what his favorite tank was. He’s a wingy thingy guy. Anywho, what is the best 1/35 scale Panther? I don’t need an interior. I was thinkin about a mid war type of thing, not the late G model. Any help would be appriciated.

P.S. For those of you who are thinkin “Wait, he likes wingy thingies; then why are you building him a tank?”, well, he also likes tanks, just builds a/c. Its a long story.[:D]

Dragon has in the past several years released their Panther A’s, Early and Late; also their Panther D. IMHO they have raised the bar for Panther kits. Hard to go wrong with any of them. I have recently built the ‘D’ version and have an late ‘A’ waiting in the wings.

HTH
Glenn

[#ditto] I second the above message. The DML Panther D’s and A’s are the best you can buy. They are top quality and I can’t wait to start building my DML Panthers. I do wish DML would come out with new KV-1’s and KV-2’s.

Go with Dragon’s. Tamiya’s A is very inaccurate and requires a LOT of work to correct.

How do the Dragon Night-fighting Panther G’s stack up? I picked one up real cheap and was going to build it soonish.

Matt

I built the Late DML Panther G Matt and it’s a nice build for under $20. My only major knock was the indy tracks. I thought they were alot of cleanup, so I bought Tamiya’s indy tracks.

Thanks Eric. I haven’t had a close look at the tracks on mine yet. I will keep the Tamiya ones in mind if they look like too much hard work. Bit ashamed, as I do not have a “proper” tank in my collection, so I thought I had better rectify that.

Matt

LOL, I forgot Matt, my Panther kit came with decals for a Grille and not the Panther. Might check yours. I ordered some Archer transfers.

I would say that any of Dragons Panthers are the best. The Tamiya G flies together, but in the long run, the Dragon kits really are better detailed.

Matt, I am building the Dragon Night fighting panther right now. I purchased the Eduard PE set for it, and I am using Aber clamps. All I have to say, is WOW!!! for $16 at great models, you can’t beat the quality/price. Of course you can always add detail to a kit, but the Dragon Panther G is a LOT more detailed than the Tamiya one. The build is a bit harder, but it is worth the effort. If you want, I would be happy to fill you in. We could have a bit of a 2 man build.[;)][:D]

Eric, mine are for a Grille too. Weird…

Edog, that sounds good! I might start having a bit better look at the bits this week!

Matt

Hmm and here I was considering the Tamiya Panther, guess I’ d better look for that Dragon Panther instead.
Thanks guys. What would I do without you.

Monrad, I don’t know if it important or not to you, but the Dragon kit doesn’t come with schurzen. I left it off mine anyway, shows off the tracks better.

Thanks tigerman. I was thinking about getting some PE stuff anyway so its not a problem. Plastic schurzen are to thick anyway.

you cant go fwr wrong with the Tamiya Panther Gs or the Dragon Panthers
good luck on your search

I am also doing a Dragon Night-fighting Panther G at the moment and I’m having a lot of fun

That settles it, jimq, I am starting mine asap!

Edog and Jimq, are you building yours with all three nightscope thingy’s? I read there hasn’t been too much evidence that they saw combat. I was going to use two of them to outfit a Sdkfz 251/1 Falke.

Matt

Matt

I am not using any of the night vision devices. At least not this time[:D][;)] I am enjoying this kit so much, that it also may be the next kit I buy.[}:)] I think I will get the Aber update next time though. The Aber one comes with replacement brackets for the shurzen.

The only complaints i have about the kit are the barrel (it is not round and this time its not my fault!), the brackets for the shurzen are not very well detailed (I mean they didnt even try!) and the mounting for the drive wheels are missing detail. (they didnt include the bolts, or the welded joints)

I think I am also giong to pick up the Panther II while Im at it[}:)][:D]

Wasn’t the saying, ‘The best Panther is a dead Panther’?

Just kidding. A lot of good suggestions for a fun build though!

Ron

I think it was Tiger

Thanks alot for all the help guys. I guess I’ll go with Dragon.