Early Jagdpanther |
| By Russ Takashima |
| Started: | May 9, 2007 | | Updated: | Dec 6, 2007 |
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My goal is to convert an early '70s Tamiya motorized mid-Jagdpanther into an early Jagdpanther in Normandy 1944 with a full interior, photo etch, new track, turned barrel, etc.
Essentialy add almost every single after market part on to the model. I am also planning on adding figures and putting the model in a diorama. |
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| Finishing Touches | Dec 6, 2007 |
| I have added a dust coat to this big cat. I think I might have over done it. The green camo patches are hardly visible now. I have added tow cables. The tow cable ends are from a Tamiya Panther G spare sprue. The cables are scratch made by twisting seven wires together. Twisting wires together is not... more |
| The Crew - All Finished | Nov 27, 2007 |
| The crew has been completed. All that remains is a Vallejo mat finish to seal everything up and get rid of the shine. I will add a little dust and dirt to the uniforms, especially to the boots and pants. So far only the figure on the right has a five o'clock shadow. I am still debating about adding... more |
| The Crew | Nov 21, 2007 |
| Since this jagdpanther is intended for a diorama, a crew is needed. I decided to use the Dragon Achtung Jabo set since I feel the poses are appropriate for the June 1944, Normandy location I am trying to create. All of the heads have been replaced with Hornet heads with the exception of the 3rd figure... more |
| All together now | Nov 17, 2007 |
| The hull has been attached to the chassis. The gun cradle has been installed and the mantle and barrel added, but not glued on yet. Dut to the ever present dimensional difficulties, the gun cradle does not sit perfectly within the hull and therefore the gun periscope is off and I am having problems trying... more |
| Tracks On! | Nov 13, 2007 |
| The tracks are the Tamiya Panther Separate Tracks kit. I primed and painted them while still attached to the sprue. It was just a lot easier this way. First a coat of primer, then black arts & craft store acrylic paint, next was a coat of Vallejo German Grey. I then sealed the grey paint with a brush... more |
| I See Spots | Nov 10, 2007 |
| Since I am trying to make a Jagdpanther that was in Normandy in the summer of 1944, all of my reference material points to camouflage of green blotches. I used Tamiya Deep Green (XF26) applied with my trusty Aztec airbrush. Right now the paint job looks horrible, but the weathering will tone things down.... more |
| Time to Add Some Colour | Nov 6, 2007 |
| The interior has been completed, so it's time to finish the exterior. First the exterior was brush painted in a cheap craft store black acrylic paint. Next a base coat of dunkelgelb with an Aztec airbrush. I used Tamiya Dark Yellow (XF60) with Tamiya Flat White (XF2). I made it much lighter since... more |
| Interior Finished | Nov 2, 2007 |
| The interior pieces have all been painted and glued into the chassis. The interior is from the Verlinden set. The only scratch built detail is the tank commander's seat. I am guessing he sits behind the radio operator who is to the right of the driver. I am debating on whether to build the gunner's... more |
| Ready to Paint | Oct 28, 2007 |
| I have finally added everything to chassis and painted the primer coat. The next colour is a coat of black acrylic paint from a arts & craft store. It's cheap paint, easy to use, just dilute with water and little dish soap and brush on. On closer inspection, I am not happy with some of my homemade... more |
| Front Hull | Oct 13, 2007 |
| I have added the Atak zimmerit to the front of the hull. Again the dimesional difficulties have forced me to cut up the Atak piece to get it to fit on the front plate. The gray zimmerit parts are Tamiya putty. The periscope is a leftover from an Aber etch set. The Jordi Rubio gun mantle has been glued... more |
| Left Side Hull | Oct 10, 2007 |
| I have decided to scratch build the tool brackets. The originals lack detail. I did use Aber tool clasps. The towing cleat, wire cutters come from the Tamiya pzkfw IV tool set. The shovel and fenders come from Aber.The towing cleats brackets are scratch build since I did not like the look of the Aber... more |
| Right Side Hull | Oct 4, 2007 |
| Here are the tool brackets on the right hand side of the hull. Again I scratch built the brackets. The starter crank, axe, towing cleat and pry bar are from the Tamiya pzkfw IV tool set.The fire extinguisher is from the Verlinden set. The jack block is scratch build the the reinforcing bands from the... more |
| Gun Cradle Finished | Sep 1, 2007 |
| The gun and cradle have been painted in ivory. I have weathered and added chipping. The contrast is pretty stark, but I figure it won't look too bad once installed inside the hull. |
| Road Wheels | Aug 18, 2007 |
| I have painted and done some weathering of the road wheels, drive sprockets and idlers. Here they are dry fit to the chassis. As well I have painted the chassis. My plan is to complete the chassis with paint before I install the interior. Once I have the interior in, I want only minimal handling of the... more |
| Test Fit | Aug 3, 2007 |
| Now that I have scratch built the roof plate, it's time to check if everthing fits together. In this pic the roof plates is just taped in place. Not seen is the gun cradle inside. The gun mantle and barrel are just dry fit in place. Also the hull is just sitting on the chassis. The rear door is... more |
| Roof Plate | Jul 31, 2007 |
| Once again the dimensional challenges forces me to scratchbuild a new one. The original roof plate has an incorrect layout. It also kind of got messed up when I had to fix some mis-guided battle damage. So I had removed the original roof plate with the intention of using the Verlinden roof plate, but... more |
| Rear Plate | Jul 29, 2007 |
| Took a week off work, which gave me a chance to get a lot done. Things are coming together. Here's a pic of the rear plate. In this pic I have added the zimmerit. I had to cobble up single piece into many pieces to get the zimmerit to fit rear plate. Also with the dimensional problems I have encountered,... more |
| Painted Transmission | Jul 20, 2007 |
| Here is a photograph of the completed and painted transmission dry-fitted to the floor pan. |
| Painting the Interior | Jul 18, 2007 |
| I have decided that the interior will be fully installed and painted before I finish painting the exterior of this tank. So I have started painting the interior. This is the interior painted with red primer and ivory and the resin floor piece dry fitted. The floor piece has been weathered a bit, the... more |
| The Transmission | Jul 11, 2007 |
| Okay I have dry fit the interior and the transmission. The Verlinden instructions are lacking with regard to the various levers and foot pedals even though they are on the etch fret. So using reference pic for jagdpanther and panther I have added them to the transmission. I also scratch built the lever... more |
| Gun and Cradle | Jul 3, 2007 |
| I have started assembling the gun and its cradle. I found that the connection for one of the adjustment wheels did not quite match up so I used some plastic strip fix it. It is not completely visible in this pic. Since this pic I have dropped the assemble, d'oh! Naturally I could not find all of... more |
| Sponsons Added | Jun 17, 2007 |
| Now that I finished the running gear, I have added the sponsons. Next I will add the rear plate. I need to add some zimmerit above the storage boxes on the rear plate first. I think it will be easier to add the zimmerit before the rear plate is attached. I will use milliput for the zimmerit. I will fix... more |
| The Running Gear | Jun 14, 2007 |
| I have added the two missing axles for the first and last set of road wheels. I have scratch built from plastic the swing arm for the rear idler. I have added the small wheel on front gear housing. In this picture I have test fitted the drive sprocket, road wheels and rear idler. The set of road wheel... more |
| Final Drive Housing | Jun 9, 2007 |
| Here's a photo showing the resin copy of the final drive housing. Also you can see the zimmerit added to the side of the chassis. The Atak zimmerit did not match with the various fittings on the side of this old kit, so I had to do some cutting and pasting to get the zimmerit on the side. I still... more |
| Front Plate | May 30, 2007 |
| I have added final drive housing that I copied from the Dragon Panther II kit with molds I made with RTV and two part resin. I have also added in detail on the inside of the final drive. I added weld beads for the front plate with plastic strip and Tamiya liquid glue. The Atak Zimmerit was added, but... more |
| Holes filled in | May 27, 2007 |
| I have cut out the axle channels, removed the front plate. I have filled in all of the chassis holes and the channels where motorized axles dropped in at the rear. The front plate has been replaced with plastic sheet. I still need to remove the final drive details on the sides of the chassis. I will... more |
| Filling in the Holes | May 23, 2007 |
| I have removed the channels for the front and rear axles. I have filled in the holes from the removal of the axle channels. I have also filled in the motorization holes, including the slots on the side where the motor and rear drive sprocket are located. I have also replaced the front plate with plastic... more |
| The Original Chassis | May 20, 2007 |
| Here's a look at the original chassis with various holes for motorization and channels for the axles. First step is to fill in all of the holes and remove the axle channels. I also noticed the front plate is at the wrong angle. So I will try to fix that. I am not going to fix other dimension errors,... more |
| Upgrade Kits | May 12, 2007 |
| Here's a look at the upgrade kits that I want to use. Not pictured is the Aber front fenders. This is my first attempt at a full interior and Atak zimmerit. |
| The Starting Point | May 9, 2007 |
| Here's a look at the original model as I had built in the 70's. I had some strange ideas regarding paint and battle damage. No internet for references back then. Besides who did research when you're a teenager. |
