280014/280015 Panther Ausf A/D/G Revisited - New Tooling 180123

[ripley]

Don't forget the D and early A had the jack mounted under the exhausts

Of course you probably know that and are just showing the different exhausts on existing cad 

[Rubicon Models]

Don't forget the D and early A had the jack mounted under the exhausts

The jack design is in such a way you can mount it horizontally or vertically on the designated area.  So no worries. 

[Rubicon Models]

With the release of TS1 sprue for the Jagdpanther, our existing Panther kits (280014 & 280015) also benefit from the new tooling...















Enjoy!

[ultravanillasmurf]

Nice.

Will there be a change to the box to indicate the revised sprue?

[Tracks]

"Panther Ausf A/D/G Revisited - New Tooling"
This is great and all, but I already have the other Rubicon Models (RM) Panther kits. And they are very good kits. Yes, I read the comments and stuff on the various threads on the RM forum.


Again, we already have these nice kits.

Instead of spending time and resources on something old, I would like to see something new instead. I can't believe I am the only one that feels this way, but maybe I am. Also, there are so many plastic Panthers kits (RM and WLG) available to the modeler/gamer, that it makes me wonder if going this route is a good idea. Would they sell well? I do not think so.

You know, what we don't have available in plastic are things like:
SdKfz 10 Halftrack
M3 Medium Tank (Lee/Grant)
M24 Light Tank
Matilda II, III, IV
...and so on

[Pinky]

It looks as though Rubicon have just designed one of the Jagdpanther sprues so it's common to the Panthers.  So they haven't "re-tooled" the Panther kits as such.  I may be wrong, but that's how I understand it.  It's a bit like the sort of thing Dragon have always done.  Presumably, this means the Panther kits will include this extra sprue, and new instructions to explain which parts should be substituted.

[tyroflyer]

Although I would personally prefer to see the Matilda than a revamped Panther I think Rubicon are doing the right thing here. Opportunities to upgrade kits should be taken. The fact some of us already have an older version shouldn't preclude someone else benefiting from the latest technology/research or whatever.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Following on from Pinky's comment, we had asked if it was possible to build from the existing Panther kit core a Jagdpanther, reusing the existing Panther components. Our Gracious Hosts went away and designed the Jagdpanther in such a way that one of the sprues could provide improvements to the existing Panther kit.

As Pinky says, they have not redesigned the Panther, the upgrade is a bonus.

Though I have two Warlord Panthers and one Rubicon one (must finish painting that), I am glad future purchasers of Rubicon Panthers will get the revised sprue. I might even build Cuckoo, to fill in until I get a plastic Comet.

Rubicon should be applauded for their upgrade policy - even when their existing kits (M4A3) are reasonable, they have replaced them with better ones (M4A3/E8).

[ripley]

Well done Rubicon . Hopefully the next production run of Panther tanks will have this sprue included . Yea its  bit of a bummer if you've already got an older kit , but how would you take it all apart to replace the pieces any way  ?  Then again if you used the wrong type of glue it should pop apart almost by itself 

[ultravanillasmurf]

I dropped my T34/76 on the floor and nothing fell off.

[Ballardian]

 Excellent stuff, it's good to see the older models getting entirely logical 'upgrades' as bits from other vehicles based on the same chassis appear. Very pleased to see the more detailed tracks & the multiple exhaust types (wish I'd had the larger Flammvernichter to hand for a bunch of recent projects) plus the new barrel is a significant improvement, (I'd also thought 'Cuckoo' would be a fun modelloing project).

[elias.tibbs]

Tracks, it is very rare for a model company to go back and fix something that they or their customers weren’t happy about.

Rubicon have proved multiple times (Sherman, T34, panzer 4, panzer 3, panther) that they’re willing to go back and either start again (Sherman, panzer 4)  or just change small bits of the frame (t34, panther).

I applaud their efforts in this and their openness on kit development and although I also would like to see more kits, I also understand their need to go back and revisit things with new techniques.

[Tracks]

I applaud their efforts in this and their openness on kit development and although I also would like to see more kits, I also understand their need to go back and revisit things with new techniques.

I agree, and I too applauder their efforts and their openness. Do not get me wrong, I'm not against this new "Panther Ausf A/D/G Revisited - New Tooling" project. I fully support it. However, at the same time I wonder if this will delay releases of any new great kits that RM are going to produce. In short, I would prefer seeing a new kit like a SdKfz 10 Halftrack or something then a revisited Panther.

I guess I might be somewhat bias because I already have their current Panther kits, and I do not see myself buying the new "revisited" Panther kit. Probably because I'm not that much of a perfectionist when it comes to gaming models.

[ultravanillasmurf]

From what I understand, the bottlenecks are the manufacturing of moulds, the "new" Panther sprue is part of the Jagdpanther sprue set so is "free" in terms of mould manufacture time (though it will have effects on mould life as it is doing double duty).

Design wise, it would have added a bit of time, but not much (the Jagdpanther being based on the Panther probably saved more time). The joys of CAD/CAM combined with 3D printing.