Hasegawa Panthers
Over the years, Hasegawahas released four versions of the Panther Medium tank. Theoriginal Panther G kit was released long ago, I believe in themid-1970's, and it does not compare favorably with the new breedof small scale armor kits to have hit the shelves over the lastdecade. Unfortunately, the three follow-on kits are all based onthat original outdated kit, so are likewise not some of the bestkits available today.
Panther G(kit No. 31109 - MT9)
This was the originalPanther kit. Although the size and shape of the model arebasically correct, the amount and quality of the detail islacking by today's standards. It is a fairly simple model tobuild, and will likely prove satisfactory to wargamers who needlarge numbers of cheap and sturdy models. But for those who wishto build highly accurate scale replicas, the newer Revell PantherG kit is far superior.
| Sprue 1 | Sprue 2 | Wheels | Tracks |
As can be seen in thescans, the detail is soft and archaic in style, i.e., raisedpanel lines, closed engine deck grates, closed hull hatches,poorly-detailed wheels, anemic pioneer tools, and worst of all,very poor, one-piece vinyl tracks.
On the positive side, thekit includes two crew figures, and a choice of gun mantles. Thecannon barrel is straight and well molded, with a very goodmuzzle brake. Also, the wheels are to be glued onto a backingplate which is separate from the hull. This feature makes it easyto glue, paint and weather the wheels and tracks prior toattaching them to the hull. I wish that more modern kits includedthis design feature.
All in all, while this kitwas considered fairly decent for its day, it has been bypassed bythe newer and much more detailed Revell Panther G kit.
Panther G(Steel Wheels) (kit No. 31137 - MT37)
As mentioned above, thiskit is based on the earlier Panther G kit, and shares all of thesame weaknesses. The difference with this kit is the inclusion ofthe late war style, all-steel road wheels. These new wheels areactually very well done, and make this kit worth buying simplyfor the new wheels. The main drawback to the Revell Panther G kitis that it does not give the option of steel wheels, so a kitbashbetween the two would provide for a very nice late-war Panther.Luckily, Hasegawa kits can usually be obtained very cheap atmodel shows and some hobby shops.
Steel Wheels
Panther F(kit No. 31140 - MT40)
Once again, Hasegawasimply took their old Panther kit, and added some new parts forthe new version. This kit is the same as the Panther G (SteelWheels), plus a new sprue of parts for the schmalturm (smallturret). Also once again, the new parts are very good. Whilethere are a few finer details missing from the new turret, with alittle bit of added detail, it builds into a very fine replica ofthe Panther F. For my own PantherF project ,I used the new turret and wheel parts in a kitbash with a RevellPanther G in order to build a more detailed and accurate PantherF.
Panther F Schmalturm
Panther II(kit No. 31164 - MT64)
This is a special editionkit, which I don't think was produced in very large numbers, norwith the world-wide circulation as most Hasegawa releases. Thisis no great loss, since the kit does not represent an accuratePanther II. The kit is identical to the Panther F kit (new steelwheels and schmalturm) with the addition of a turned brass 88mmgun barrel. Again, the new parts are much nicer than the old, andthe metal gun barrel is especially fine.
But this is inaccurate fora variety of reasons. First, the main hull of the Panther II wasbased on the Panther G, but with thicker armor. I recallresearching this a while back when I first bought this kit, andalthough the differences in hull dimensions are minor, a brandnew hull would have been much appreciated. Also, the wheels arenot accurate. The all-steel wheels used on the Panther II moreclosely resembled the steel wheels from the Tiger tanks, than thePanther. Also the chassis is completely incorrect. Again, thereal chassis was altered, and also resembled the chassis on theTiger II.
Basically, there is no wayto build a correct Panther II from this kit. The project which Ihave in mind to undertake at some later date, is to kitbash thiskit (the turret and metal gun) with a Revell Panther G (hull) andan ESCI Tiger II (wheels and track). There will still have to benumerous scratchbuilt additions and corrections as well, but thatshould prove to make a fairly accurate Panther II replica.
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