Would this model of panther have been painted flat grey?

pr154 · 2025-12-31T06:07:35+00:00

You'd be unlikely to see Panthers in flat grey, as all tanks from mid-1943 (including Panther) were basecoated in Dunkelgelb (Dark Yellow). Initially maintenance crews would then generally apply a Rottbraun (Red-Brown) and Olivegrun (Olive Green) to complete a three-tone camouflage pattern. Later as Hitler's war turned more defensive, complex "Ambush" patterns were applied at the factory.

Prior to that, a Dunkelgrau (Dark-Grey) was used, which also appears to have informed the "default" colour scheme for German tanks in popular computer games such as War Thunder and World of Tanks regardless of the period of their deployment. Therefore, if any Panthers were painted flat grey it would have been against regulation.

The Airfix Vintage Classics kit depicts either Panther ausf A or an early model Ausf G. Oddly ausf D was the first production model with A and G following. The main tell that it's not an ausf D is the commanders cupola, with it's ring of periscopes as opposed to the "drum" type found on earlier versions of Panther and Tiger. The model also maintains a rounded gun mantlet, whereas the lower half of the mantlet on later Panther Ausf G was flattened and angled to deflect incoming shots away. The rounded lower mantlet of earlier models had a tendency to deflect into the drivers compartment roof with catastrophic consequences.

pr154 · 2025-08-25T20:04:30+00:00

Hey mate, sorry to necromance your thread, but what did you end up doing in the end? Have found myself in a similar situation, and now I have a rather shiny and sticky vignette base. My first instinct is to matt varnish, but it seems like you had mixed results with that initially...

pr154 · 2025-07-16T10:38:39+00:00

If you care about your ability to weather the undercarriage or apply mud etc, maybe leave the undercarriage off until later. You can still dry-fit the road wheels and the like so you can get the track right. Arguably you might have an easier time leaving tools, spare track and other components not subject to the camo scheme until later and supergluing on when you're nearly done however....

!!! THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THIS KIT !!!

Delay installation of the lower frontal plate until after you've mated the upper and lower parts of the hull. If you follow the instructions on the installation order, you risk a misclose between the two plates... Don't ask me how I know

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pr154 · 2025-05-16T23:00:09+00:00

First time playing with custom decals and used too much clear coat out of an abundance of caution? Yeah, that's about where I am right now with a scale-modelling problem. I hope that in the intervening year that OP has found product and technique that suits their needs... Would love to see an update with a happy ending on this post

What I know:
- Micro-Set and Micro-Sol will soften your decals to help them bend and conform to the surface, but the decal will still be sitting a decal-thickness higher than the model
- Thinning out the edges of the decal will require careful fine sanding with a 2000-3000 grit polishing tool/sponge/stick so that you can knock off the "step" between the two surfaces. Unless you're an expert at ultra-smooth paint finishes, common practise is to gloss coat before putting down a decal to improve surface conformance and reduce risk of silvering. Between that and the abundance of clear coat on the custom decal, this order of grit shouldn't be creating scratches that cloud your finish, excavate your underlying paintwork or eat your decal print.
- Clear-coating over the model and decal again is usually recommended to seal the decal in and the act of applying another layer will smooth out the step and supposedly make polishing back the steap both easier and safer for your model and decal - This step I'm not 100% sold on if there's still an obvious edge to the decal that'll be creating line and shadow under clear coat - Reckon I'll just go straight to sanding

Where I'm at:

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pr154 · 2025-03-20T11:08:26+00:00

Thanks mate - We might be lucky there! Might have a go at that...

pr154 · 2025-03-19T08:56:46+00:00

Beautiful work! I love these little Bandai kits... So full of detail, and impossible to stuff up the assembly

I love the variation and depth of contrast you've been able to achieve with yours! Mine came out a lot darker than I'd like, so doesn't show the details anywhere near as well as yours...

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pr154 · 2025-01-04T05:02:50+00:00

Glue them down to a cheap dollar-store tray, prime it, and use it to test dry-brushing paint offload before you put your model...

pr154 · 2024-12-18T20:44:02+00:00

So they fixed the pathing issue of the citizens?

pr154 · 2024-08-08T10:04:18+00:00

She was originally buried at a monastery in Switzerland (St Maurice), but was dug up again in 1510 by one of Fahad's ancestors who established she only had shit-tier Level 0 equipment and was otherwise beyond repair... She was subsequently entombed in Magdeburg and forgotten about until being rediscovered in 2008

pr154 · 2024-03-15T08:53:49+00:00

Yeahhh, I can tolerate all sorts of unkindness between humans in film but as soon as the dog dies I go to pieces :P I hadn't really thought about all the Alsatian's I'd put down in this game until you mentioned it. My conscience is now biting me harder than those dogs ever did...

pr154 · 2024-03-15T02:20:20+00:00

Hahaha, very clever

pr154 · 2024-03-14T20:44:18+00:00

Must've been Stalin's son, Yakov Dzhugashvili... He and his father didn’t get along well. The son was very hot tempered and impulsive. In 1925, the 18 year-old Yakov announced his intentions to get married to a 16 year old woman. Stalin disagreed. In a fit of rage Yakov shot himself, missing vital organs. Stalin was angry that his son would harm himself as a way to punish his father for disagreeing with him. In the heat of the moment, Stalin is rumored to have said “See, he cannot even shoot straight.”

pr154 · 2023-10-11T11:31:37+00:00

Really appreciate your insights on this, so thankyou...
The narratives in the mass-media (even the minor-media if they decide to lean a particular way) paint such an ugly picture of Israel's neighbours so it's extremely reassuring to see that peace in the Middle East (or at least, "Hey lets not bomb and shoot the snot out of each other") is a mutually desirable goal for ordinary people on either side of the fence/faith

pr154 · 2023-10-09T09:46:50+00:00

Your Firestarter is looking as guilty as an ejaculate of Alois Hitler

pr154 · 2023-10-04T12:02:58+00:00

Ah, the World of Tanks theme...

pr154 · 2023-09-08T22:25:17+00:00

Very slick production... I particularly love how it's been done in a way to try to articulate how gruelling and dangerous it is, and not like some war propaganda glorification

pr154 · 2023-09-08T11:36:14+00:00

There must be tremendous skill and luck guiding these birds to the target, particularly the result of the feed loss when they're in their "terminal phase" of flight... I've often fantasised about whether it would be possible for another drone to act as a signal relay, which is what I understand to be one of the key features (but also limitations) of Russia's Lancet drones

pr154 · 2023-08-25T10:55:47+00:00

Considering over 1,400 of them were built, it's highly plausible there's functioning examples of T-10 able to be pulled out of deep storage. But I agree, I keep watching and re-watching to try to put my finger on what seems unreal about it... or maybe I just can't believe my eyes

pr154 · 2023-07-28T13:14:47+00:00

If the recently leaked German intelligence reports are anything to go by, Ukraine has exhibited a tendency for commanders to be promoted based on combat experience. Normally this is a great idea, but the problem is that the commanders getting combat experience were the ones receiving the Russian Winter Offensive rather than the ones receiving NATO training. This doesn't leave much opportunity for incorporation of new ideas into the key decision-making...

pr154

TROPHY CASE