I’m assembling a MENG MODEL Panther D. Recently, there have been more and more kits of MENG MODEL in stock. If I notice, the lineup has increased a lot. I used to make Dragon Models kits a lot and still have them in stock. I may have more opportunities to make MENG. It’s a little disappointing that VOIIO, which I had been curious about as an emerging manufacturer, will likely stop working soon, like Xact.
The first step is to assemble the rollers. It takes time to file the gates, but there is no parting line on the side of the wheel itself. I wonder if they are thinking about positioning the parts of the mold.
It’s quite a large tank, but it’s box assembling. It doesn’t look easy.
Since the parts fit well, there seems to be no problem in assembling the tank body. I could assemble it without stress.
It’s been a long time since I made a hound’s tooth check pattern rollers.
(2020/11/03)
Finally, I have started to assemble the link tracks.
It takes a lot of time to separate from the runner one by one. Since the gate is stuck into the back of the track, I can cut it off horizontally with a nipper, but the edge will be easily damaged. It is troublesome, but I put a nipper in two parts, one vertically and one horizontally. I think it’s rather challenging to use a design knife alone. It’s a small matter. The rest is how the parts fit and how easy it is to roll to the chassis.
I needed to assemble a considerable length of a track belt, even on one side. However, when it comes to Panther class, the size of a single track is quite large, so the length was longer than I thought I had assembled certain links.
It was equipped with a jig to express the slack of the panter’s track. If you are a modeler used to making AFV modeling, you can assemble them usually without using jigs.
I didn’t count the number of links, but I could wear them well. It’s getting more like a tank, and I’m getting excited.
The caterpillars on both sides were successfully attached to the AFV body.
(2020/11/05)
The upper part of the tank body and the exhaust fan of the engine is painted black. After installing the mesh photo-etched parts, the paint will not reach, so that I will paint it first.
Since there are not so many photo-etched parts, it is not difficult to assemble them. But including plastic parts, the total number is quite large.
I wonder if it can cross a little deep river. I decided to assemble it with the snorkel extended. There are many meshes of engine grills and there seem to be a lot of gaps, so it doesn’t look like it can be submerged. But I like it! The panter with the snorkel is also enjoyable.
The assembly of the tank body is almost completed. If it drives roughly, the whole thing will come off. I was impressed that there were toolboxes in a rare place in the back.
I think the Panther has a beautiful loose track, so I decided to remove a part of the side armor and assemble it. The metal side armors are the easiest way to make a natural part. It comes with a kit, as there are 12 plates in total for left and right.
The tank I’m building has a ladder on the vehicle’s left rear. I had some questions about it, but it was interesting, so I attached it. Can I attach it to the side armor?
(2020/11/07)
It’s a turret with a very different assembly method. Depending on the Panther model, the position and form of the hatch may be different, or there may or may not be a hole on the side. There are many parts to choose from.
The turret assembly is completed. For some reason, the only hatch is a metal part. The mold of the smoke discharger is excellent.
The fire extinguisher couldn’t be installed in the direction of the assembly manual when I glued the towing rope first. I turned it in the opposite direction and equipped it just in case. When I was looking at the old material in Japanese called the Pictorial Panter, there were a lot of destroyed tanks and a lot of poorly equipped tanks in the picture. After all, the pictures of tanks under operation are cool.
I think the design concept is similar to Dragon Models. When I was building it, I thought MENG kits had many parts to choose from. Rollers, tool holders at the rear, etc.
It’s pretty different from the Panter tanks I made in the past, such as snorkels, toolboxes, and ladders for going up and down.
(2020/11/09)
I blew the flat black first.
After blowing dark yellow first, red-brown and dark green are also airbrushed. At first, I always painted while looking at pattern samples, but when it came to an end, it became my sense.
I use a decal softener for marking. It looks like a cat when it is marked. Speaking of cats, it’s getting colder these days, so he often comes on my knees and stops my work. Come to think of it, Tamiya’s decal softener is not very effective. I don’t have much chance to use it. According to what I heard, it is good to use water-based acrylic paint because it does not damage the paint’s surface.
(2020/11/11)
Meng Model Panther type D is completed. I think only shallow water can cross the river; I built it with a snorkel with some diving function extended. The fact that the first D type has this function means that various tanks have been able to cross the river since then.
By the way, is there a submersible tank IV from Tristar?
There was a time when I didn’t think Panther’s tilted armor looked so cool from the front or the side. Now I think it’s pretty cool looking.
There are two toolboxes in the back. I can’t see some photo-etched parts, but it’s OK.
This time, I decided to make a Panter D that participated in the Battle of Kursk, the assembly manual No.3, so it seems that the machine gun attached to the hatch is not attached. It is said that the anti-aircraft machine gun mounting ring was added to the tank commander’s cupola after August 1943. I think it would look better if it were attached, so I decided to attach a ring and a machine gun.
The Meng Model Panther kit is considered in many ways. Strictly speaking, tanks in this period are said to have no machine guns, so I hesitated to mount them.
In the battle of the Kursk tanks, the Panther tanks were deployed in the 10 Armored Brigade, and among them, the 52 Tank Battalion was extracted into the 11th Armored Division.
This Panther marking is the 11th Armored Division 10th Armored Brigade 39th Tank Regiment 52th Battalion 6th Company 3rd Platoon No. 2 tank. Detailed… When it participated in the battle of the Kursk tank in July 1943, it didn’t have a hatch-mounted machine gun. I adopted the setting of autumn and later as machine-gun equipment. The 11th Armored Division attacked from the Southern Area in the battle of Kursk.
This tank marking is the 11th Armored Division 10th Armored Brigade 39th Tank Regiment 52th Battalion 6th Company 3rd Platoon No. 2 tank. Detailed… When it participated in the battle of the Kursk tank in July 1943, it didn’t have a hatch-mounted machine gun. I adopted the setting of autumn and later as machine-gun equipment. The 11th Armored Division attacked from the Southern Area in the battle of Kursk.
For the past several years, various manufacturers have released primary German tanks, and it’s like the Age of Civil Wars period. I’m not sure if it’s because of the competition, but the price of Panther is set to be relatively low, which is suitable for a modeler. It’s easy to assemble, and it’s good mold.
(2020/11/13)
