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Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP

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ripley:
They both look to have the same G hull . IRC the F was to have  sideways sliding hatches ( on a track ) for the hull crew and it had an armoured flap sort of  like on the D for the bow mg which was to be  a MP44 instead of a MG34 .  Only eight  F hulls were built , and wether any  actually got the one ( 1)  F turret built , fitted by the Germans is  another mystery as IRC turrets and hulls were built at separate factories . The Panther with F turret in the Encyclopedia of German Tanks is believed to be  post war turret swap by the British for a photo op . But always good to see what - if builds , and before I forget , nice work on the wheels

Ballardian:
Thanks Ripley, I'd read that, but never seen a representation. That a shortage in lmg production would've resulted in the return of an Ausf D type letterbox slot to fire the crews personal weapons through, (also no more AA mounted lmg) always struck me as something that represented Germany's worsening situation rather than a reflection of design preference (though of course there's a discusion to be had of the relative merits of the two mountings, with arguably the smaller the hole you cut into your glacis the better for it's overall strength). Evidence, (such as it is) certainly agrees with you that F turret & hull never actually met - probably why nobody gave any thought to the one the Brits got their hands on at the wars end - it being used as a hard target on the range at Bovington before being partially restored (or in this case, the bits welded back together) for the museum.
 For my conversion it means that I'll probably stick with the standard G hull (less work for one thing), but I've now fixed the wheels, which now have the central large disc bosses as opposed to the stubs.

ripley:
I've read somewhere that the F turret was also proposed as a up grade for the Pzr IV j , ( with hull modifications ) , that would be a cool tank to build as well

Pinky:
According to 'Panther Variants', the Ausf F's modified Ausf G hull and Schmalturm were both manufactured at the Daimer-Benz plant just before the war ended.  The hull was intended to have sliding roof hatches, but the hull gun was a ball-mounted MP-44, not a letter-box.  It's doubtful any were fully assembled as the parts for the rangefinder weren't ready.

Pinky:
Spielberger says that they planned to put the Panther Ausf F turret onto a late Panzer IV hull, and there is a drawing of it in his Panzer IV book.  It never got further than the drawing board.  This and other 'what if' designs seem to feature prominently in the World of Tanks game...

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