Historical Background
As early as 1938, a project was started to replace Panzers III and IV, designated VK 20, a 20- to 24-ton tank armed with a 50 mm L/42 or L/60 or a 75 mm L/43 gun. However the appearance of the T-34 tanks during Operation Barbarossa gave a nasty shock to the German General Staff. At the insistence of General Heinz Guderian, a special
Panzerkomission was set up to assess the T-34. The commission concluded that the combination of the sloping armour, allowing better shot deflection and effective armour thickness, effective main armament and good power-to-weight ratio coupled with wide tracks, made the T-34 an almost 'perfect tank', superior to anything in the German armory. This caused the VK 20 to be dropped and a new design, VK 3002, a 30-35 ton tank incorporating the commission's findings, was drawn. Daimler-Benz and Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nurnburg (MAN) were given the task to design this new tank by April 1942. Daimler-Benz's design has leaf-spring suspension with large doubled road wheels and no return rollers. The drive sprocket was mounted at the rear while the turret was forward-mounted (in short, similar to the T-34). This gave the tank a low silhouette and narrow hull, allowing the design to be within the specified weight limit. However the internal space was very limited and it proved very difficult to fit the L/70 75 mm gun. It was powered by a diesel engine.
The MAN design used torsion bar suspension, making the hull higher and wider. It also used the
Schachtellaufwerk suspension as the Tiger tank, giving it a low ground pressure, better traction and mobility. Powerplant was petrol and the armament was fitted in a centrally-mounted turret, which was also larger and roomier. The two designs were reviewed from January to March 1942. Reichminister Fritz Todt, Minister of Armaments and War Production, and his successor Albert Speer recommended the Daimler-Benz design over MAN's to Hitler. However, at the final submission, MAN revised their entry, having learned from Daimler-Benz's proposal through a senior engineer in Waffenamnt Prufwesen 6 (weapons proof department 6 - panzer and motorised branch- of the German Army), who was an ex-employee of MAN and others. In May 1942, a special commission selected the MAN design, which was immediately approved by Hitler. One of the reasons for the selection was that the MAN design used an already existing turret, saving the time for further development. On 11 May 1942, the VK 3002 project was given the name 'Panther'.
The Panther, like the T-34 has sloped sides. The front of the hull was protected by 60 mm of armour on the upper plate and 50 mm on the lower hull. On Hitler's orders they were later increased to 80 mm and 60 mm respectively. The side armour was pretty thin, just 40 mm (it was later thickened to 50 mm). Further protection was provided by the interleaved road wheels and later on, a 10 mm-thick schurzens. The turret was also-well sloped and originally has a frontal thickness of 80 mm. This was later increased to 110 mm (in Ausf. A) and 100 mm in Ausf. G. The cast mantlet was 120 mm thick. The armour plates were also interlocking and welded to increase strength. To prevent enemy tank-killing squads from sticking anti-tank mines, a composite material known as
zimmerit was factory-applied to all tanks from September 1943. An order for the application of zimmerit to tanks in the field was made in November 1944. However following (false) reports of fires being caused by hits on the zimmerit, the practice was discontinued in September 1944.
The Panther was armed with a Rheinmetall-Borsig 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 gun. 79 to 82 rounds were carried, usually of the HE, APCBC-HE and the rarer APCR types. While 75 mm was the common calibre for medium tanks of the time, the KwK 42 was among the most powerful during World War 2 due to the large propellant charge used and the long barrel, which gave it a very high muzzle velocity (and consequently better armour-piercing qualities; actually even better than the Tiger's 88 mm KwK 36 L/56 gun). For close-in defence, the Panther had two MG 34 7.92 mm machine guns, one located co-axially with the main gun and another in the front of the right hand-side of the hull. The Ausf D and early Ausf A variants had the hull weapon hidden behind a 'letterbox'-style flap while late Ausf A and the Ausf G had the weapon mounted on a ball mount.
The Panther was initially powered by a Maybach HL210 P30 engine rated at 650 hp. This was later replaced on the production line by the HL 230 rated at 700 hp. The engine power output was however reduced by the low quality fuel used. The HL 230 was a compact powerplant with mnimal space between the cylinders, this in turn create problems with the closely-spaced connecting rods, including blown head gaskets and failed bearings. These teething problems were solved later in 1943 with the introduction of improved seals and bearings. The engine compartment was made watertight so that the Panther can ford rivers, but this made for poor ventilation and engine overheating. An engine governor was fitted in November 1943, together with improved coolant circulation to avoid overheating the engine. This, coupled with non-isolated fuel connectors (in early versions) caused leakages which led to engine fires.These problems were however rectified in later marks of the Panther.
The Panther entered service in early 1943 when Panzer-Abteilung 51 and 52 received their tanks at Grafenwoehr training grounds. Although training began immediately, the tank's problems manifest themselves, causing some tanks to be returned to the factory for repairs. Mechanical and technical staff from MAN were also sent to Grafenwoehr to assist the crews. The problems were serious enough to cause Guderian to visit Grafenwoehr in June 1943 and he concluded that the Panthers were not yet ready for combat. Furthermore, the interuptions caused by the failures were detrimental to the crew training programme. Nevertheless both Panzer Abteilungen consisting of 96 Panthers each plus the Regiment Stab 39 with eight Panthers were sent to the Eastern Front, becoming part of XLVIII Panzer-Korps, 4th Panzerarmee, Heeresgruppe Sud, taking part in Operation Zitadelle. Due to the aforementioned problems, coupled with abbreviated crew training, many Panthers broke down even before battle was joined. at the end of the first day of Zitadelle, only 40 Panthers were left serviceable. many were abandoned or blown up by their own crews due to the breakdowns and lack of recovery equipment. Despite the setbacks, the Panther showed great promise, with their crews claiming 267 enemy tanks destroyed.
In the West, there were only two regiments of Panthers, totalling 156 vehicles. Reinforcements swelled this number to 432, according to a German Army report on 30 July 1944. During the Battle of Normandy, the majority of the panzers (six and a half divisions) were concentrated in the fight for Caen while another one and a half panzer division fought against the Americans in the western edge of the campaign area. The Panthers however found their long-range firing capability was offset by the close bocage country, although there are open areas where their long-range advantage was brought to the fore. However the same open areas allowed the equally powerful Ordnance QF 17-pounder gun, whether in its towed or mounted versions, to harm the Panthers. Apart from being unable to exploit their long-range firepower, the bocage country (and also the built-up areas) also allowed Allied infantry anti-tank teams to close in on the Panthers and attack their vulnerable sides and rear. As part of Operation Watch am Rhein, a false-flag operation code-named Operation Greif was executed to deceive and throw the Allies into disarray. As part of Panzerbrigade 150, five Panthers were disguised as American M10s by welding additional plates and applying US-style markings and paint. They were however detected and all five were destroyed.
A total of 6,906 Panthers of all versions including command (Befehlspanzer), artillery observation post (Beobachtungspanzer) and armoured recovery vehicle (Bergepanther). The Panther chassis was also used for the Jagdpanther tank destroyer.
Dragon Model Limited came up with a new-tool Panther (an Ausf. A) in 2002 (the original Dragon/DML Panther first came up in 1995). In 2006, the moulds were retooled to create the Ausf. G version and in 2009, with modern plastic moulding technology, the mould was modified to incorporate the zimmerit pattern. I was informed that in years gone by, some manufacturers tried the same thing but it ended up badly. The kit came in 596 parts (including 16 clear parts), 12 metal parts, 7 PE parts (this being one of Dragon's 'Smart Kit' series), 4 DS100 soft styrene parts (two tracks plus two rear hull storage boxes with built-in dents), two metal cables plus the usual decal and instruction sheets. The zimmerit pattern is nicely rendered and I believe it was not as 'neat' as the ones moulded on their slightly earlier King Tiger kits. Omissions in the kit include no schurzen (although the hook and rails were there) and AA MG 34 (although the mounting is included). The decals provide markings for four vehicles:
1. '128', 12th SS-Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, Normandy 1944
2. Un-numbered, 1./SS-Panzer Regiment 1 Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Paris 1944
3. '432', 9th SS-Panzer Division Hohenstaufen, Normandy 1944
4. '503', Panzer-Brigade 106, Northern France 1944
Construction
As usual constructions started at the bottom of the vehicle and like many of its German panzer models, Dragon provided the modeller with a fairly complete torsion bar suspension, which will be hidden in most cases. The external parts of the system, plus the final drive housing were then cemented to the lower hull. At the rear of the hull, Dragon also provided some rudimentary, but still nice-looking radiator faces, which I painted Steel as the bare plastic might stick out like sore thumbs if viewed through the grille cover, especially directly downward. This was followed by cementing the rear panel to the main hull and afterwards all the fixtures and fittings on the rear panel was cemented except the exhaust stacks and the jack. As mentioned before, Dragon provided plastic stowage boxes or alternatively, two dented boxes moulded in their DS100 styrene. I chose the normal ones. Since the wheels are of the overlapping type, I painted them on the sprue (and retouched the paint after removal) and assembled them. They were however left off at this time.
Next up was the upper hull. The instructions have you tackle the hull machine gun first but I decided to do it later. Instead I started by cementing all the engine and radiator intakes and hatches and the crew access hatches. The latter include the hinges but since I have the hatches in the closed position, they were left off. This was followed by the schurzen mountings, periscopes and various small fittings. The mountings for the various tools and spare track links were attached although in order to ease painting, the tools and the track links themselves were left off at this time. The gun cleaning rod container were however assembled and cemented as it would be painted in the hull colours. Holes need to be drilled to accommodate those items although the instructions didn't mention it (it did but just for the spare track link mountings only). The PE grilles was then superglued to their places and only after that the hull machine gun and headlight assembled and fitted to their places. The upper hull was then cemented to the lower half with no problems as the fit is excellent.
The turret assembly started at the gun assembly. The barrel is a plastic one-piece affair with separate muzzle. The latter consists of three parts to ensure good detail. At the other end of the barrel, Dragon provided a fairly good representation of the breech so the interior of the turret won't look that empty if you have the commander's hatch open. I joined the upper turret shell (the rear face is separate by the way) with the bottom before adding the details on them. The commander's cupola was then assembled with the hatch in the closed position. I was thinking of adding an unused figure from my Tamiya
King Tiger but decided not to as I wanted to depict the Panther in the summer of 1944. Dragon provided the mounting for the commander's AA machine gun but the weapon itself was not present. No matter really as many photos show Panther Gs without them. But if you want to place an MG 34 there, you have to find your own. Finally track-hanging hooks were superglued to the turret roof. They have already been pre-formed, simplifying the task greatly.
As the marking schemes feature different patterns, a decision had to be made at this juncture. The 10th Panzer-Brigade was out as it was little known (to me) while the Leibstandarte Panther was rejected as I already have one model in their markings (a Dragon
Panzer III Ausf. J). That left the HJ and the Hohenstaufen Panthers. The latter was chosen as I believe the pattern is much easier to do. The model received a base coat of XF-60 Dark Yellow and successively followed by XF-64 Red Brown and XF-58 Olive Green. The paints
then received a filter layer of XF-57 Buff. This was followed by a pinwash of the usual black/brown mix. The 'metal' parts of the tools were painted XF-56 Metallic Grey, which then received an application of Tamiya Weathering Master Rust/Soot while the wooden parts were painted XF-64. The jack block was painted XF-60 overall and received an XF-64 wash. The tracks were painted XF-64 Red Brown and then washed with AK Interactive's Track Wash. The track cleats were dry-brushed silver. A wash made up of the usual black-brown colour was made and this was followed by a filter layer of XF-57 Buff.
Finishing
To start this phase, the wheels were first cemented to their places, taking note which wheel goes where. The exhausts, having been painted Burnt Iron beforehand, received an application of Tamiya Weathering Master Rust and were then cemented to the rear hull. The tracks were then cemented to form a loop and fitted over the wheels. The problem was how to make the sag look natural enough. After looking at various photos, I deposited a little superglue on the fourth wheel in order to get the best-looking sag. The jack was assembled, painted Steel and placed at the rear hull panel. The various tools were painted their appropriate colours and then cemented to their places. Of the braided wires supplied with the kit, the shorter, thinner one is meant to be the track-repair cable. In this case it was way better than just the single-strand copper wire with no eyes provided by Tamiya in their (in my case)
Jadpanther. Even so, I did not use the cable as it was too springy and cannot be looped. Dragon also provided a diagram for the placement of the tow cables (with an alternative arrangement). Finally the spare track links were assembled, weathered and hung on the turret hooks. A pair of jerricans from AFV Club graced the engine deck. For weathering, the lower hull and running gear was given a further wash of AK Interactive Earth Effects Wash and afterwards it was followed by an application of Mig Productions European Dust.
Another winner from Dragon. The base kit is already good, in fact I believe it os better than Tamiya's, especially in the details (the hollow track guide teeth for example). The zimmerit pattern is also well-done and the moulded-on pattern is definitely a bonus for those who are afraid to attempt it themsleves (me for example!). The minimal PE parts, achieved through their philosophy of 'Smart Kits' is also another boon as it allowed a faster building time.
