Thought I would try out the new forum, and post one of my 2023 completed builds from 2023. With Kursk back in the news it seems fitting to post my interpretation of a vehicle that was used in the earlier battle there. The real tank was captured intact by the Red Army and put on display after the battle. The model is the Tamiya 1/48 scale Panther Ausf. D which I dolled up with Fruil tracks, Hauler photo etch and some scratch goodies. I added some engine compartment inserts that I got on the now defunct Shapeways 1.0 site, sadly Shapeways is no more but they are hard as heck to see without an IPMS death ray, so black paint on the hull interior is probably all you need.
The tool racks are mostly empty because the useful tools were pilfered by the soldiers who captured it. I painted the Dunkelgelb with Tamiya acrylic paints and used Vallejo paints for the chemo and detail work. Decals are from the kit. Thanks for taking a look, it’s nice to see the FSM forum revitalization talking off.
Konrad
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Very nice, Konrad. I used Fruil tracks on a Sherman in 1/35 and admire your tenacity for surviving them in 1/48!
Nice finish on the Panther. I haven’t any Tamiya kits in 1/48 yet. Do they also have the holes in the bottom of the lower hull?
Beautiful Panther. I like your camo job!
Thanks John, in addition to this one have used Fruils for a number of builds, including a 1/35 Pz. III Ausf. F and a 1/48 Pz. III. None of those sets were too hard to use if you precut the pins with a flush cut nipper and roll the cut pins on a steel plate with a steel ruler to straighten the pin and flatten/debur/ taper the cut ends. I used a piece of piano wire in a pin vise to clear clogged holes in the uncooperative links. They give you a lot of extra ones which is a good thing.
Konrad
Thanks SprueOne, to answer your question, the new Tamiya 1/48 Military Miniatures series are not motorized, so they do not have motorization holes in the hull bottom. The new series started with die cast zinc lower hulls (they are up to over 100 releases on the series) and the earliest kits did have holes in the hull bottom for assembly screws that were covered with plastic filler plates. Later releases moved the holes to hidden spots, and the Panther Ausf. D is one of those (it is based on. an early release from the die cast period). On the Panther the hull bottom has no holes in it, and the assembled upper hull is attached to the die cast lower with a screw that is hidden under the engine access hatch and a bracket that grabs a clip on the inside of the glacis up front- none of that is visible on the finished model.
The majority of the kits are now made entirely from plastic, with ballast weights that can be used or left out, and have no holes and usually some basic detail on the bottom.
Also, if you want a super-detailed 1/48 Panther, check out the Suyata/Takom Panther Ausf. A, which includes an interior, or the Hobby Boss 1/48 Panther Ausf. A, which also has a beautifully detailed one piece lower hull tub moulding. I have built the HB kit and it goes together beautifully.
Konrad
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Thanks, it was a bit of work to spray the pattern, but I found the various online tutorials on fine line airbrush work you can find on FSM and elsewhere super helpful.
Konrad
The ones I did were for an M74 which had a Sherman M4A3E8 base and each link had 4 parts, Maybe other track types are less complex? I have use 3d printed tracks since then and one type worked fairly well on a 1/48 Panther G, but they are very fragile.
