Snapdragon

The upper hull section has taken extra time as there are sub assemblies and very small parts and I have spent time on the floor looking for some. I am using period colours including primer colour so It will give you a good idea on how these were built and painted.

This build in reality is quite modular with many little sub assemblies within the modular approach. It actually means that you can jump about within the full build as you wish but within reason. The overall build in the manual is, main gun, upper hull inside and exterior, lower hull sub divided into fighting compartment, engine compartment. So I am starting with the main gun, the famous 88mm /L71. It takes the first 7 steps in the build manual with some sub build areas. Right! finished! Ready to install. Just the mantlet and Aber barrel to stick on! Time to move on and tackle the upper hull which I will also pull into this section the roof and back panel.

The box is stuffed full of plastic and the only changes I am making is to change the kit barrel to Aber's offering and R-Model metal track and pin set to replace the kit tracks. I do prefer to use metal tracks as they tend to hang naturally due to their weight and so add a bit of realism. The plastic on this kit seems a little different than my previous build, The cutaway panther and it changed from a orange/sand colour to a yellow when using Tamiya glue. I am not sure if the plastic formula is a bit different to the other panther kits 5016 and 5019. that have full interior, but it certainly shares sprues and parts. The only thing that it missing in these three kits (5016 with clear turret and upper hull option, 5019 with cutaway hull parts option and 5022 Jagdpanther with clear roof) are the side skirts, although the mounting parts are included in the kit. RFM have their own seperate side skirt set available that does fit the panthers and should fit the Jagdpanther. It is an etched set and includes full mounting parts. So... this is what is in the box... That is everything in the kit. Now there are lots of parts which won't be used and could be useful in your spares box. R- Model Tracks: Aber 88mm barrel: I am trying to figure out how to make the interior more visable as at this moment I can only see that keeping the upper hull with main gun mounted loose and removeable is probably the best option. I won't leave the clear roof unpainted. Considering the parts that have to be added then masking is not worth it to have a few clear bits. The roof will be removeable too. If there is to be another release of this kit then I would love to see a clear upper hull and a cutaway hull option too. I would love RFM to do these in 1/16 too.

Hi folks I have been working on this for some time and I am sort of calling this finished although I reserve the right to add exterior equipment at a later date. In this kit and its companion with a clear upper hull and turret (which I have in my ready to build stash) there are parts to build a panther from 1944 to 1945 but you have to know the subject as they are labelled 1944 or 1945 in the instructions. For this build I decided to do a March 1945 Panther with RAL 6003 green as the base coat (OKW paint orders 29 December 1944, in effect 1 January 1945). From this build you can see that to walk around these things in a museum or at a re-enactment they are big mancines, but inside it is very cramped. I hope that you like this subject. Some touch ups may be needed but at this moment time to move on to a new build. Comments and questions most welcome. Snap.

Hi to everyone. I'm a new member, invited by Mark (sorry it has taken so long). I have been building models since I was about 7 years old and it was my late father who sent me on the way. I have never really stopped apart from a couple of breaks for military service injuries and a major heart issue which now keeps me firmy within the building side. I moved into partworks with my first being the Red Baron I think but due to illness and injury and a vast drop in income as I am unable to work, I have moved back to plastic kits as I no longer have the financial means for partworks and I find that they are now, to me, really expensive, although I did enjoy them while I could afford them. I would actually take a plastic kit, paints,brushes etc on active service deployments and would build and paint in my down time which actually seemed to help me mentally while in combat zomes etc. Now I do help out HK Models and have provided finished kits for their Telford Stand. The owner sends me a pile of plastic and he is stunned by what appears at Telford so long as I am given enough time as it can take 1-2 months and sometimes a bit longer to get things finished. I also do research and dig up information for them. I will also help out any manufacturers. All they have to do is ask. So, my activity will be in the non-partwork section for my builds and I hope that you will enjoy seeing them. I tend to do start to finish, showing what comes in the box and any add ons. I never do any weathering, instead do "factory fresh" chipset accurate colours as I usually do 1/35 armour, 1/32 aircraft and the odd foray into 1/16 full interior armour. I will have to learn the ins and outs of posting pictures on here too. Everything is a learning curve. Hi to all, Snap.