Panther with overall Polly-S Dirty White acrylic camouflage, paint washed with Testors Black enamel for surface highlights. Other details added include equipment chain from model ship accessories, cable wrapped around toolset mount made from solder, tow cable was original kit part gently soften over candle to bend around parts. Tracks painted Testors Black, drybrushed with Testors Chrome. Panther hit in street battle Cologne-Germany 1945 - youtube.com/watch?v=IrQl1m6idpI&feature=related

Panther design was in direct response to Ostfront Soviet T-34 tank encounters in June 1941. With superior sloped armor, gun armament, cross-country mobility, the T-34 outclass all German tanks during initial timeframe (ex. Panzer II, Panzer III, Panzer IV with short barrel 7.5cm gun). German 3.6cm PAK36 towed anti-tank gun allotted to platoon level was equally useless against T-34 expect in very close range, this dire situation caused frequent "Tank Panic" as German troops scattered with on-rushing Soviet T-34 assault. 3.7 cm PaK 36 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak36

Captured Soviet T-34 tanks were meticulous analyzed, also impressed into German service due to shortage of armor. In fact German impressed virtually every operational Allied vehicle during WW2 since only 30% of its forces were mechanized, rest were traditional infantry on-foot or horse-drawn equipment. By 1944, mechanized forces were further constraint from petroleum shortages as Soviets overran German-allied Romania oilfields. Estonia Update On Recovered T-34 Tank With German Markings - www.rense.com/general75/germ2.htm

Inset 1 : Befehlpanther Ausf A during Nomandy-France operations in July 1944. This Panther command tank had extra radio equipment for communication with platoon, company, and sometimes aerial ground support coordination. Spare tracks bolted to engine deck and turret for extra armor protection. Long tube on side mounted barrel cleaner rods. Note twin rear muffler (indicative of Ausf A models) and "Star" or "Crows Feet" antenna in thick armor base ring for long range communication. Large milk canister is also next to turret by numeral "96". Panther also mounted side Schurzen (armor skirts) above roadwheels, but almost all have been torn off expect lead tangling plate. Panzer III Ausf M Conversion with Schurzen - www.dougstigerparts.com/heng_long_panzer_iii_ausf_m_conv.htm

German T-34 examinations did reveal Soviet preference for tank commander and gunner to be same person, thus enable smaller crew complement, leading to smaller gun turret design, hence make smaller target from enemy gunners. This created tactical deficiencies in actual combat due to commander/gunner tendency to recon battlefield only through gun periscope (this is reason why Soviet tanks did not mount commander armor copula in comparison to German tanks). Example of this Soviet deficiency was battlefield report by SS-Oberstumfuhrer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (his father was then German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop) of 1st SS Panzer Division during Kursk Salient battles, July 1943. Rudolf von Ribbentrop - pub133.ezboard.com/fpanzer4520frm10.showMessage?topicID=84.topic

As outlined in book PANZER ACES by author Franz Kurowski, upon commencement of Kursk armor battle, von Ribbentrop unit holding point position was swarmed by over 100 Soviet tanks as latter rushed "pell-mell" into German lines to rapidly close gunnery distance. German heavy armor (ex. Tiger, Panther, Ferdinand) had superior gunnery range than Soviet counterparts, thus strategy was rapidly close distance and negate this advantage. Within hundreds of yards of each another, Soviet guns was deadly as German guns. Von Ribbentrop flanking German Panzers were knocked out after being swarmed, commanding his Panzer IV tank he fired onto all Soviet targets within his gun arc and destroyed multiple targets, he then machine-gunned masses of accompanying Soviet tank-rider infantry. Panzer Aces: German Tank Commanders in World War II - www.amazon.com/Panzer-Aces-Commanders-Stackpole-Military

With sudden lull in armor engagements, Von Ribbentrop stated that with destroyed Soviet tanks in front of him, flanking Soviet tanks by-passed wreckage and kept its advance ignoring his tank. He surmise that Soviet commander/gunner being the same person, they often do not open their turret hatch during combat to recon battlefield, hence only look through gun periscope which had constraint linear view of battlefield. SS-Hauptsturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop - home.att.net/~SSPzHJ/VRibbentrop.html

Rollover : Panther top view with details of paint wash technique . Spare road wheels on turret sides were glue with silicon gel since liquid cement or plastic modeling glue would have scarred model surface. Due to Allied aerial superiority by late war stages, most German armor mounted MG42 machine gun for aerial defense. Model depicts dismounted MG42 and its ammunition drum next to commander copula. Copula's machine bracket taken from 1.35 TAMIYA Panzer IV kit. BTW, individually MG42 was almost useless against marauding Allied aircraft since it fired only 7.92mm bullet munition, while strafing Allied planes would be firing 50-caliber, 13mm bullets, to 20mm explosive cannon shells. It hoped that mass-firing of all MG42s within armor column may be able to provide some defensive arc. MG42 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mg42

Inset 2 : Late-model Panther tank (note glacis driver visor replaced with persicope to prevent shell penetration at this weak point) captured by Canadian troops at Wyler - Germany near Dutch border, 9 February 1945. Given its relevant good operational condition, British and Canadian forces did impressed captured German armor for localized engagements so long it was vividly identified with Allied markings to offset potential friendly fire. World War II Pictures in Color - www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/ww2incolor