Hey everybody, here’s a build I’ve been working on with the RoG Bf-109.
This is the Panther D Premium Edition I’ve been waiting to be re-released for some time now. To my annoyance, some of the metal parts have been taken out, like the metal gun barrel, smoke grenade launcher tubes and the clearance indicator poles, also, the instruction guide is the standard black & white rather than the color guide I was expecting.
I’ve built it mostly OOB except for the Friul Tracks and gun barrel from Armorscale. I’ve also added the wire leads for the grenade launcher tubes on the turret.
This kit has been a beast and I should be able to finish it up by the end of the week. It looks so awesome now as is I can’t wait to get it painted.
It’s just about done I just have to add in some tid bits and it’ll be ready for the Badger
yeah they are kinda pricey but I don’t like the way dragon does the tracks for their panther kits. The tracks that go around the drive sprocket have separate guide horns which tend to wanna come off. So I just use the Friuls to overcome that issue.
Idk why some detail parts were taken out, maybe it was a cost issue? Trying to keep the price down? I had to upgrade the barrel as well b/c the kit’s barrel just plain sucks and the Armorscale is an excellent replacement. The only bad thing was the mantlet seems to be too small for the kit so I couldn’t use it.
yes its kit #6299 Ausf. D. I have the Ausf. A in the stash. I’m debating on what pattern of Zimm to do on that one and whether to use a resin kit or epoxy putty for it.
Looks good! One thing you need to attend to is the seam on your drum cupola. That horizontal seam btn the top and bottom – along the view ports’ line – needs to be puttied. The join where the barrel feeds into the mantlet looks messy too. Maybe some filing is needed? HTH
The barrel came with its own resin mantlet but that seemed too small when attaching to the kit’s part so I used the kits mantlet part. However the barrel end was too small so I added some Tamiya putty around the end to make the fit more snug. I didn’t pay too much attention to getting it neat but I can pretty it up.
the main thing I was worried about were the wire lead in from the grenade launcher tubes. I’ve never done them before and I didn’t have any sources or pictures but so I had to ask around and go on what I was told. It’s a small detail that goes a long way IMO.
Nice work on this, I need to add an Ausf D and was thinking about this one. What tracks does it come with, its not the DS tracks is it.
I was just looking at my Panzer Tracts volume on the Panther D and even that isn’t to clear on the wiring for the smoke grenade launchers. From what I can tell, you seem to have got those spot on.
Looks very good. [Y] Love those tracks and the natural sag. Just add some white glue around the barrel to mantlet join to smooth out the transition and tidy up the seam around the cupola. Here’s a close up of a Ausf D Cupola:
It comes with the Magic Tracks, but for some reason the links that go around the drive sprocket have separate guide horns which have to be glued on. They have a tendancy to come off if you fidget the track too much trying to get them back on after painting. I’m not sure why as they’re the same as the rest so they should fit the same. All the Dragon Panther Kits are like this the Ausf. A PE and the Ausf F have links like this.
That was the main reason I went with the all-metal Friuls.
Ye, I have a few of their Panther kits with Magic tracks. I haven’t built any of those yet, the G I am doing now has the DS with magic tracks as spares. Sounds like I am in for a struggle. The only kits I haven’t replaced the tracks with Fruils are the ones with Magic tracks, and that’s only because of the price. O well, thanks for the info.
So here’s the kit, ready for paint. It’s pretty much a blank canvas now till I decide on the markings and paint scheme. I have over 10 different options between the kit’s options and my Kagero Topcolor’s books. Its been raining here so I gotta have extra time for the primer to cure and the touchups around the coupola before i proceed.
yeah Tamiya usually recommends to use XF 61 Dark Green on tanks but from my research it seems the Olive Green used early on was a lighter shade than in the later war years. Idk why they call that shade Field Grey when there’s not any Grey to it, unless they’re referring to the German Uniform Color. But I like the Field Grey color better than just the dark green so I’ll continue using that.
Finished with the Schurtzen, I dinged and bent them out of shape and drilled a couple holes in a few panels. After priming I painted them Mr. Color German Grey then applied Mr. Masking Neo with a sponge and applied Sandy Yellow and Field Grey on top when the Neo had dried and rubbed it off when the painting was complete.
