Pantherposition
Model and report: W. KampfhoferKit: Tamiya 1:35
Figures: DRAGON, built by Christian Kleisz, IGM Wr. Neustadt
Photos: W. Bradac
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 Historical background: Berlin 1945 The Panther kit The painting The diorama Gallery |
History
Towards the end of WWII some immovable Panthers were used as dug in positions at important crossroads. To add further protection, debris and scrap iron was put around the tank.
As far as I know, those "last minute bunkers" were only used in Berlin although Panther turrets in prepared bunker fortifications have previously been installed from 1944 onwards. Those were also in used in Berlin. It would be interesting to get some information with which devices they were taken to the positions. Who knows more about that?
Der Tamiya Panther
I suppose that many modellers have a Tamiya panther kit Ausf A (Nr.: 35065) at home. This model from the good old sixties is still in production. So there is a great possibility that relatives or beginners are dazzled by the brand or the – compared to products from Dragon or other Panther types from Tamiya – low price and take it. If one doesn´t want to "present" another victim or cannot exchange it, will have to answer the question, what to do with this rubbish? As the flaws are enormous like a scale which is rather 1:32 than 1:35, wrong inner road wheels, simple details, wrong tracks and too broad gun shield, I will show you a possibility to use this model properly.Heinrich Z., in whose private museum my work is stored now, built this Panther some years ago and gave it to me for further treatment. I took off all model "details" and tools at the hull sides, the boxes and the exhaust pipes at the rear which were remade by metal and plastic- as well as photo etched parts as a substitute.
The Zimmerit was made by using Tamiya putty that was structured with the help of a screwdriver. The turret should resemble to derive from another tank, was structured in a different Zimmerit pattern. The vertical lines were made with the screwdriver again.
To prevent the putty to bend at the edges of the lozenges when pulling the lines, I took an unused blade of a paperhanger measurer to imprint the straight lines at once. The angled periscopes were made from plastic sheet, the weld lines with a soldering iron.
Painting
I took Revel airbrush colours. Even if it isn´t clearly to detect, the turret was painted in a different shade compared to the hull.
The weathering was started by applying white, ochre, and brown spots of oil colour. Then these spots were wiped away nearly totally with a brush, soaked in Turpentine.
One only has to be careful, not to let the oils stay within the Zimmerit grooves.
Rust was simulated by means of translucent oil colour from Schmincke (Mussini). These brand comes with a lot of different shades of brown.
Dust is best simulated with pigments. I used those from MIG-productions which were applied dry. Surplus dust was wiped away with water and a damp cloth.
The Diorama
Initially I wanted to make a much bigger diorama: the Panther position at a crossroads with buildings and all that on a square meter base! The underground level should show civilians in the drains and cellars.Not enough! Another lower level should be the bunker level – already full of Red Army soldiers. But only considering the proper scale distance from the ground to the second bunker level of approximately 15 to 30 meters let me cancel this project. What remains is a square 24cm basis.
The bitumen road surface consists of alabaster gypsum, which was poured into an appropriate Vacuform. After the surface area was manufactured, I had glued the model onto it. The debris is genuine building debris, which I took from a container. Unfortunately I had not enough from this material left and thus I had to blend it with stones from a river and bricks of plus model.
This mixture was then mangled in wallpaper glue and positioned onto the base. During the drying process some holes occurred that were filled with some further debris.
Figures
These are from the Dragon "Volkssturm" set (6173) and were built and painted by Christian Kleisz, IGM Wr. Neustadt.
References:
Concord, "Armour battles on the eastern front, part 2"
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge! Pictures open in new window.
