Another Trumpeter 1/16 Panther G Build - Steel Wheel - ONE MORE CORRECTION...DAMN TRACKS.

[Juggernut]

A little more progress this evening.... Swing arms in place and some detail painting done.  I learned a painful lesson using this acrylic Mig-Ammo paint.  It's absolutely imperative that you use a primer under these paints.  I tried painting the swing arms without a primer and the paint just started scratching off if i looked at it the wrong way.  So, with 16 swing arms in hand, I set them into a small tub and coated them with Easy Off oven cleaner.  A couple hours later, I scrubbed them with a toothbrush and removed all the paint.  I know...why it scratched off so easily when I was handling these things but took Easy Off oven cleaner to remove it completely is beyond me as well.  After that, I cleaned them, remasked the areas that I didn't want painted (bearing surfaces in the hull and interior structure can't have paint or the damn swing arms won't articulate easily), sprayed Tamiya lacquer based primer on them, waited, resprayed the primer red-brown and then painted the torsion bars....NOT DOING THIS AGAIN...note to self:  use the DAMN primer! 

 

The patchy appearance of the paint on the torsion bars and in general is from some experimenting with washes (I got a little sloppy here and there).  I'm hoping it will all level out with a good coat of stain/matte.  The primer red-brown is Mig Ammo, the nut details are Tamiya, the torsion bars are Tamiya X-18 semi-gloss black and I'm planning on using a clear satin or matte lacquer to overcoat everything.  Right now there's a lot of sanding dust still in places as you can see in the pictures.  I had to "ream" out the torsion bar holes so the swing arms would pivot easily and return to their neutral position.  This was a HUGE pain in the butt and took way longer than I wanted it to.  I've got some touchup to do and this Mig Ammo paint does work well in the airbrush and by paintbrush without changing the viscosity. 

 

Since these tanks were in service for only a very short time, there won't be much weathering of the interior beyond normal wear and tear.  The particular series of vehicles I'm modeling (steel wheeled Panthers built by M.A.N) were built in the mid-September 1944 and the vehicle I'm modeling was knocked out mid/late-December 1944.  The only action these tanks saw was during the Ardennes offensive and for about two weeks max, including assembly and road march.   The red-brown primer on the sponson's will be overshot with cremeweiss (ivory).  It wasn't until October when the German regulatory agency (Waffenamt?  I can't remember the word at this time of night), directed the assembly firms to stop painting the interiors of the panzers and to leave them in the primer they were delivered in from the armor manufacturer.  So, this guy needs to get a coat of cremeweiss at the sponson level and up.

 

 

I deviated a little from the assembly instructions on the shock absorbers.  I cut the piston assembly off the actuator rod(not shown) so I could add the octagon detail at the top of each shock body.  It's really only visible in the shot below on the left.  I also added three bolt heads to each shock at the top per the prototype.  I'll slide the actuator rods into the body when it comes time to mount the pins on the hull.  I really thought about changing the color of the shocks and swing arms a little bit to give it some variation but I got lazy and said screw it.

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Juggernut

[LSP_K2]

With no springs being apparent, will the torsion arms sag over a period of time, lowering the entire vehicle? I know they most certainly will on my Jagdtiger, so once I establish "ride height", I'll epoxy them into a fixed position.

[LSP_Ray]

That is a good Q. They wouldnt if they were metal, but I dont know about plastic.

Great work so far, Jug!

[Juggernut]

I guess time will tell if the torsion bars lose their “spring”.  If they do I’ll have to do the same thing but I’ll probably use thin superglue to run in the torsion bar/hull interface.

 

Thanks for the comments.  I hope I can get this done in time for the nationals in August....should have a COVID vaccine by then.

[CShanne]

Looking fantastic so far!

 

 

[Uncarina]

Great work! It’ll look stunning when done.

 

 Cheers,  Tom

[Juggernut]

Thanks for the positive feedback.  I hope this comes out well too.  This ones going to the Las Vegas nationals if it does.

[LSP_K2]

12 hours ago, LSP_Ray said:

That is a good Q. They wouldnt if they were metal, but I dont know about plastic.

Great work so far, Jug!

 

On the Jagdtiger, there is substantial free twist of the torsion bars, even though one end (the keyed hexagonal end), is rigidly fixed into position. Given the amount of twist with no load at all, I can only assume that, much like the real vehicle will do, it will inevitable start to settle downward over time, and thus my reasoning for anchoring the outer ends in some form or fashion.

[LSP_Ray]

I wonder if you could drill through them into the floor and insert a steel pin? You could even pick a distance from the hull wall to allow some torque but more stiffness?

[LSP_K2]

Perhaps. Since I could care less about what's in the interior of mine, I'll just epoxy or superglue the daylights out of them. With this one from Jug, if he's trying to maintain original appearance, that might prove difficult.

[Juggernut]

Some more progress, this time it's the transmission that's getting all the attention.  It does need it....

 

First up is this little doo-dad that's very visible on the right, rear of the transmission.  I'm not exactly sure what it is but it has something to do with the oil.  There will be two more lines attached on the left side of this part when it's mounted in the hull.  I sratchbuilt this guy using styrene rod, superglue, styrene punched discs (Waldon) and Plastruct styrene hex rod.  I have one more piece to add to this and it'll be complete.  The overly long, white rods around the periphery of the transmission cover are a smaller size of Plastruct styrene hex rod to represent the bolts that held the cover to the transmission proper.  These will be snipped to the proper height when the cement has cured.  I drilled an appropriate sized hole, inserted the hex rod and cemented in place with Tamiya Extra Thin.

 

Oil service ports and the tach generator cable fitting are also  visible.  Grandt line nuts add a nice touch to the tach generator cable fitting.

 

 

Some more details added to the transmission.

 

 

Some additional details.  I think these are the hydraulic steering components but I really am not sure of that.  The left side came out a little better than did the right side but I'm ok with it.

 

 

 

More stuff to add to the transmission in the coming days. 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Juggernut

[LSP_K2]

Nice! While I do appreciate all the work that can go into the interiors of these big machines, I just can't bring myself to do it. Lookin' good, Jug.

[Juggernut]

1 hour ago, LSP_K2 said:

Nice! While I do appreciate all the work that can go into the interiors of these big machines, I just can't bring myself to do it. Lookin' good, Jug.

I can’t see myself going full David Parker on this but if you’re going to have the interior showing, the basics provided by Trumpeter need to be improved upon.  In order to accomplish as much as I dare, I purchased a 1/35 Rye Field Models Panther G with a full interior.  This kit is an awesome reference for building its big brother and comes with almost every detail anybody could want in a Panther G.  
 

I spent last evening adding more detail to the transmission including some of the details on the gear shift lever.  I also spent a couple hours creating a decal for the gear shift sequence placard located on the transmission cover.  I’ve still got some more work to do on it but it’s coming along nicely.  Adobe Illustrator has been kind to me as I’ve not spent much time with it in several years.

[LSP_K2]

I've heard the RFM models are quite excellent, though I don't yet own any. There's another guy that's going stone cold nuts on an interior, either the Panzer IV or Panther, I don't remember which. I'm fairly rapidly approaching the point where I can spritz some primer on my own big Jagdtiger, but were I to tackle the interior as well, you could tack another year onto that time (at least). Since the kit of mine is destined for a show here in September, I really need to move on it, as I'd like to have it 100% finished by mid-May at the latest.

[Juggernut]

19 minutes ago, LSP_K2 said:

I've heard the RFM models are quite excellent, though I don't yet own any. There's another guy that's going stone cold nuts on an interior, either the Panzer IV or Panther, I don't remember which. I'm fairly rapidly approaching the point where I can spritz some primer on my own big Jagdtiger, but were I to tackle the interior as well, you could tack another year onto that time (at least). Since the kit of mine is destined for a show here in September, I really need to move on it, as I'd like to have it 100% finished by mid-May at the latest.

 

I'm watching your build.  I haven't commented recently but it seems to be coming along.  September will be here before you know it so I'll second that "get cracking" attitude.  Mine's due in August so I've got to get moving along too. 

 

I think the guy here is building a Panther (Jose) and he's doing a job on the interior as well.  I actually studied his transmission photos to see what he added, and how.  Uncarina is also building a Panther but I think he's concentrating on the Lanc nose at this time.