Author Topic: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP  (Read 4821 times)

Ballardian

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Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« on: May 24, 2017, 01:47:53 am »
The Company B E-50 I'm expecting soon comes with a spare schmalturm, so I thought I'd have another bash at a Panther F, this time giving it the steel wheels the first one lacked. Thanks to being able to acquire the tracks/wheels from the Rubicon Tiger (many thanks Captain Blood) & with a Panther G in hand I thought I'd have a stab at swapping the wheels.
 The first issue is that Panther & tiger roadwheels were different sizes (the Panther's were slightly bigger), which required that the newly liberated tiger wheels needed to have a band of (in this case very thin plasticard)added to increase their diameter/circumference. I then had to extend the axles of the innermost set of wheels in order to securely fit the outermost.
 The Panther wheels that were attached to the tracks had to be removed & replaced with the Tiger ones  - & thats about it for the tracks (aside from a bit of tidying).
 It'll probably get additional armour plates on the rear deck/intakes & turret roof & some Thoma skirts (I've found some fine woven steel mesh which'll look the part) Hopefully this project can be fitted around the others currently on the go - will post pics as it comes along.






ultravanillasmurf

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2017, 05:40:40 am »
Looks very good.

I will be interested to see how it turns out.

Ballardian

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2017, 03:58:44 am »
I managed to forget to put blank discs at the centre of the outermost roadwheels, but that's fixable :P If I were to really go for authenticity I'd have to fill the guide teeth - they found that steel wheels tended to break the hollow ones of the standard track.

Swamprat33

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2017, 04:48:17 pm »
Hiya, this looks rather interesting.
Dont forget that the crew hatches were also different between the ausf.G and ausf.F Panthers.
Cheers
Tim

Ballardian

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2017, 10:43:06 pm »
Hi Swamprat33, which hatches did you mean - the forward crew hatches (driver/bow gunner) are usually represented as the same as the Ausf G, sometimes with more elongated hatches, though in the same position, & occasionaly as angled like those on the Ausf D (& the Panther II for Panzertracts & the Doyle book).










ripley

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2017, 06:10:50 am »
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

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2017, 10:19:46 pm »
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

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2017, 02:03:23 am »
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

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2017, 01:11:28 pm »
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.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2017, 06:20:20 pm by Pinky »

Pinky

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Re: Steel wheel Panther F conversion WIP
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2017, 01:15:43 pm »
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...
« Last Edit: May 30, 2017, 06:19:09 pm by Pinky »