So this will be my entry in this GB
I will be building Tamiya's 2015 released Panther Ausf.D in 1/35th scale
But to start this build first a bit of history about this tank
The story of the Panther starts during operation Barbarossa
During the invasion of the Soviet Union the german army encountered new Soviet tanks
The heavy KV tanks and the medium T-34
Their current tanks included the Panzer III and Panzer IV
These tanks where armed with a 5cm and a 7.5cm main gun
Alltyhough a 7.5cm could be enough to penetrate a T-34's armor it was still the short barreled low velocity version
Wich had good HE shells but still a fairly whimpy AP round
That means the germans would have to get really close to the Soviet tanks in order to knock them out
The sloped armor and the 76mm gun of the T-34 however proved to be a couple of design features that where far superior to what the germans had at the time
So the germans strated the design of a new tank
Some features that where wanted where a new 7.5cm high velocity gun , sloped armor and wide tracks
Up to that point german tanks didn't have these features
Another new design feature was the way the armor plates where welded together
Eventhough the development started in 1941 the actual first use was during the Battle of Kursk in July of 1943
The version that was used was the ausf.D
Unlike previous german tanks the order of the types produced was different
It didn't go from A to B to C and so on but the Panther was actually made starting with the D then the A and finally the G
The next step was the F with a newly designed turret but that never went in production as the war was over before they could start building it
The initial use of the Panther was filled with problems
Mainly engine and suspension problems but also other reliability problems like the electric drive on the turret that stopped working
Besides that maintaining this tank was harder
It had a new engine ,new gun with new ammo and several other features thatb where unique to this tank
So spare parts , ammo and mechanics to fix the tank where i short supply at first
The tank preformed poorly in it's first battle but soon the D would get replaced with the A model wich proved to be a big improvement over the older model
In the end the Panther would be known as one of the best tanks of WWII bugt this is based on the G model wich in fact was a outstanding tank that was capabel of taking on just about every tank in a 1 on 1 fight
So after a brief bit of history it is time for some specifications
Lenght 8.86 meters
Width 3.42 meters including the schurtzen
Height 2.99 meters
Weight 44.8 tons fully loaded
Crew 5 men (commander ,gunner ,loader in the turret and the driver and radio operator in the hull)
Engimne , maybach HL230 P30 V12 (23 liter 4 stroke gasoline engine)
Maximum output 700 bhp
Max speed 55 km per hour (that bwas actually very good at the time)
Max range 250 km if it stayed on the roads ,cross country driving limits the range
Armament <1 KWK42 7.5 cm main gun ,2 MG34 machine guns 1 in the bow and 1 coaxial
Armor , 80mm at the front ,40mm sides and rear for the hull ,100mm at the front and 45 sides and rear of the turret
And now on to the kit
The box art
The kit contents
The upper and lower hull
Turret shell
The big sprue
The smaller sprue with various turret and hull parts
1 of the 2 sprues with the wheels
A background information booklet is provided
This also shows the painting and marking options for 3 vehicles that where present at Kursk
The instruction booklet
All kinds of small stuff
Decals
Photo etch grills
I found these 3 sets in a kit i bought
So i guess the trader forgot to take them out
I don't know yet if all these sets will be used
I think i may keep the smallest one for spare parts and just use the side skirts and zimmerit sets
And that is all i have for now
I started building it and by now i made a fair bit of progres with this kit
But that is for next time
Take care and happy modelling
Cheers
Mark
(not 
