Scale: Panther Ausf. G

Here we have another scale model which I have modeled with my Dust Warfare axis in mind.  This time a 1/48 Tamiya Panther Ausf. G.  Or rather a Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausführung G.  I still have another one of these to build along with a Tiger II, but they are out of production.  Unfortunately this scale did not prove popular enough with many modelers.  There are no rules for this tank in game, nor have I tried to make any up as of yet, but surely I will at some point.

The main thing I have done to try and make this take look a little less typical is add the Infrared scope, which was an early form of night vision.  I got this off of one of my Axis walkers and tweaked it to fit as seen.

I used a hot piece of wire to melt a couple of dents into the frontal armor.  It bulges up the edges quite nicely.

This kit comes with a die cast metal lower hull, which gives it a nice heft when assembled.  It also includes a braided string to assemble to tow cables and allow them to lay more naturally.

One thing on the kit I was not happy with was the exhaust guards, the plastic was just too thick.  To remedy this I used them as a form and shaped my own from thin sheet copper.  This allowed them to be thinner, but also dent them up a bit.

I assembled the tracks with the wheels all unglued for painting and got them spot on the first time around.  Unfortunately I ended up dropping them.  I dropped one and it took some time to fix.  Once it was done I promptly knocked the other off the work table so it too could explode.  They just would not line up right the next few times I put them together.  It took a couple of hours of work to fix them. Only about 30 minutes for original assembly.  I was ready to throw the whole thing against a wall.

Here you can see some kill markings and the IR scope.

The scope is based on real German wartime technology, which was actually mounted on Panthers, though not as above.  I figure in Dust they have the 1 above the gun with screens inside that the crew can share.  Here you can see the real thing, an infrarot-scheinwerfer.  

The tank is called Die Barenjager or "The Bear Hunter." As in Russian bears, this tank fights on the eastern front.

Here's the commander, who is part of a set of resin commanders I got from Verlinden.  I added the radio headset and binoculars.  I actually painted the hat and pants in flecktarn, though it is hard to see here.  The MG has been updated to an MG44 with a gunshield.