PzKpfw V Panther
Manufacturer: Revell AG.
These two kits seem to betransitional between the earlier, not-so-great Revell kits, suchas the Sherman and Stug. IV, and the later, spectacular kits,such as the PzKpfw III and IV. While they are light years aheadof the Hasegawa Panther kit, they still have some minor flaws,and in fact, the out-of-production ESCI Panther A rivals this newAusf. A kit, even though the ESCI kit was produced about 20 yearsprior to the Revell kit.
The two Revell kits sharemost of the same parts. The turret, lower hull, wheels and tracksare the same in both kits; each has a single sprue of uniqueparts, including the upper hull and other details.
This is the first sprue,which includes the turret and wheels. The turret is a littleplain compared to the ESCI turret, with a very smooth surface,and none of the small details present on the ESCI kit, such asspare track brackets for the Ausf. A, etc. Also missing are thesmoke launchers, pistol ports and communication access hatch forthe Ausf. D. The periscope cover for the Ausf. G is included on alater sprue. Both styles of cupola are present, for either theearly or late versions of the Panther. The late style cupola ismissing a periscope; there should be seven instead of six (thanksto NikoAposalo for reminding me of this).
The wheels have generateddiffering opinions between modelers; most feel that they are verywell done, highly detailed, and better than either the Hasegawaand ESCI efforts. But the bolt-counters don't like them because,well ... they don't have an accurate number of bolts. Early Ausf.D's had wheels with 16 bolts. Late D's and later versions had24-bolt wheels. These kits have 20 bolts on theirs. I know that Ihave been labeled as bolt-counter in the past, but to be honest,I don't really care about this particular flaw. A missing hatchon the side of the turret is one thing ... but the number ofbolts on a wheel? Nah. Doesn't bother me a bit.
The next sprue containsthe lower hull, chassis parts and pioneer tools. Take note on howthe wheels are attached. The axles are on a backing plateseparate from the lower hull, so the modeler can paint andassemble the wheels and tracks prior to attaching them to thehull. This is a very nice feature, and I can attest to the benefits of this particulardesign. The gun barrel is nice and straight, and the spare tracklinks are useable too. The pioneer tools are only slightly betterthan being molded onto the hull, and best replaced.
Same sprue from the otherside. Notice the grooves along the edge of the overhangs of thelower hull. These need to be cut through for the Ausf. G in orderto fit inside the upper hull.
I feel that the tracks arevery well done and they look very good on the completed model.But they are a bit larger than the real things, which is alsoreflected in the fact that the sprocket wheels thus have fewerteeth than they should. I imagine this was because of Revell'sdesire to not mold anything more delicate than the tracks are,but I think that molding finesse shown in their later releaseshave proven this to be a poor decision. (Two track sprues areshown in the scan, but only one is included in each kit.) Here isa close-up of the track detail:
This is the sprue includedwith the Panther D/A kit. Two types of exhaust pipes areincluded, the single pipes for the Ausf. D, and the tripleleft-side pipe for the Ausf. A. Also shown is the flap cover forthe hull machine gun on the Ausf. D. The ball mount cover for theAusf. A and G is included on another sprue. The hull details arevery well done, with outstanding relief to the hinges, handlesand panels. One interesting oversight though: the circularcooling exhaust grills are not correct. There is a spiral patternto the framework in the grills (which is actually spiralling inthe wrong direction) which was only seen on the Ausf. D. Thegrills on the Ausf. A did not have the spiral pattern; insteadthe frames radiated straight outward from the center. The handleson the driver's and radio operator's hatches need to be relocatedto the center of the hatches for the Ausf. D. One area where theESCI Panther beats this kit is the shape of the hull sides. Thenotched area towards the rear of the hull is shaped incorrectlyon this kit, and looks much better on the ESCI kit.
This is the sprue includedwith the Panther G kit. Notice all the options given: thedifferent styles of gun mantlet, the different exhaust pipes, andthe raised cooling exhaust vent for the left side. Although theseoptions give the modeler many choices, I think that the lack ofsteel wheels was a major oversight. If you feel like spending theextra money for a Hasegawa Late Panther kit, the steel wheels inthat kit are pretty good, and with some creative surgery, can beused on the Revell kit. All in all, the Ausf. G has many fewererrors and ommisions than the Ausf. D/A kit.
The decals for the Ausf.D/A kit includes markings for one of each version: an Ausf. D onthe East Front in 1944, and an Ausf. A of Panzer Lehr Division,Saint Lo, 1944.
The Panther G kit includesmarkings for two unknown units, one on the West Front in 1945,and another on the East Front in 1945.
According to thedimensions in Achtung Panzer No. 4 - Panther,Jagdpanther and Brummbar , these kits scaleout almost perfectly to 1/72nd. I can recommend both of thesekits whole-heartedly, especially the Ausf. G. Brass detail setsare available from Eduard, ExtraTech and PART, including severalpatterns of zimmerit coating from PART, and all of these setswill go a long way in improving the kits, especially the D/A.
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