Sd.Kfz. 171 Panther G (early)

Manufacturer: Dragon Models (Kit No. 7205)

Since Revell removed the Panther G from theircatalog, the annoucement of this Dragon kit generated a lot ofinterest. Personally, the reason I bought it was because I wasintrigued by the inclusion of die cast metal parts for thechassis. I wondered if this would be a benefit to the kit, whichunfortunately, it is not. My opinion is that this kit isbasically a nice collection of spare parts for other Pantherprojects, which for the price, really is not a bad deal.

The entire hull is made from cast metal. Why?Perhaps this is the same hull Dragon uses for their line ofcomplete die-cast tanks, and they wanted to save on toolingcosts? I don't know for sure, but this is the only logicalexplanation I can think of, since there is absolutely noadvantage to have a metal hull in a kit like this. The detail onthe lower hull is really quite nice, except for the two screwholes in the bottom plate. The upper hull has some nice features,for example around the driver's viewscope and the headlightmount. But the crew hatches are closed, and it will be anightmare to open them. There are huge holes on the hull sidesfor attaching the various tools and track, and the side skirtmounting brackets are also molded on, which looks quite poor. Thefit between the two parts is very bad, with a huge gap at thefront nose. I imagine that it might be addressed by some carefulfiling of some parts, but I haven't yet tried. All in all, ametal hull was a poor choice.

The main sprue of detail parts has a lot ofstuff on it, including a great many parts for the forthcomingJagdpanther kits. The detail on most of these parts is very welldone, and some nice options are included as well, such as openengine access hatches. But look at the shovel . . .

There is an engine bay insert included, whichalthough it may not be adequate for an open engine hatch, it willcertainly look nice beneath the engine ventilation grates, whichis a first. If a modeler wanted to replace this insert with acomplete engine from Extratech, have fun cutting away all thatmetal. Several tow cables are included, as well as the end loopsfor several more, which the modeler can make from scratch (anduse on the Elefant/Ferdinand kits?).

The wheels are the best part of the kit. Very,very nice. And all of you bolt-counters will be happy, becausethey actually have the proper number of rim bolts (24). Thesprockets are the best I've seen for a Panther kit. Notice thevariety of exhaust styles included. But do you also notice theflaw in the road wheel on the left? There is a thin line in theplastic, which I have often seen on many of Dragon's large scalefigure sets. I've never been able to figure out what causes that,but this seems to be the only company that suffers from thisflaw.

The last sprue of parts is for the turret.While this is generally a very good piece, it suffers from poormolding. Notice the horizontal sink mark that mars both turretsides (red arrow). This is from a heavy notch of plastic on theinner surface of the turret walls. While this is easy enough tofill with putty, we really shouldn't have to. But if you plannedon adding zimmerit, that should take care of it anyway. Thecommander's hatch is open; the rear loading hatch is closed; theAA machinegun is very fine; the main gun barrel is superb (withopen end); the gun travel lock is awesome; and the spare tracklinks are gorgeous. As far as I know, the only difference betweenthis kit and the forthcoming Late Panther G kit, is the style ofgun mantlet, which Dragon removed from this sprue. This is asenseless move, considering how many other optional parts theyleft included, but in this manner, they will encourage modelersto buy two kits now, instead of just one.

As for the tracks, these are some of the bestdetailed tracks I have seen in vinyl. The tread pattern iscorrect for the Panther, and they do in fact, look very good. Itis possible that one can get away with using these tracks,considering that the upper track run will be hidden behind thearmored side skirts, if you choose to use them. If not, then I'mnot confident in how they will look. Even so, a lot of supergluewill be needed (and you may wish to reinforce the rear of thelinks that wrap around the sprocket, to keep them from bending inthe middle).

Dragon have outdone themselves on the markings,and actually included two choices this time: one for 12th PanzerDivision in the Ardennes, 1944; and the other set for the 11thPanzer Division in southern France, 1944. The decals are thin andsharply printed, though slightly out of register.

One thing I have not done yet, is takenmeasurements of the hull for comparison to plans. Maybe I'll getto that soon.