German military term Verschnaufpause (Pause Between Battles) is lull between engagements for its forces to resupply and reinforce itself before next enemy onslaught. Hence, crew in model diorama rearming Panther with tank shells. Reloading men from 1.35 DML German Self-Propelled Artillery kit, tank shells from 1.35 TAMIYA German Tank Supply Crew kit. Crew wearing reversible winter outfits (white on one side for winter, grey on other side for autumn climate) and insulated winter boots. Exception is Panzer Kommandeur sitting on top of copula, he wears white winter pants, but retain his Black Panzer tunic as symbol of German Panzer arm and readily identified as tank commander.

Panther armed with 7.5 cm Rheinmetall-Borsig KwK 42 L/70 gun and 79 rounds of ammunition. It can fire 3 different types of ammunition : 1) Armor Piercing/High Explosive Pzgr. 39/42, 2) High Explosive Sprgr. 42, 3) Armor Piercing Pzgr. 40/42. In general, High Explosive warheads used against enemy infantry, fortifications, and soft-skin vehicles. Armor Piercing warheads are High-Explosive shells with armor cap designed to pierce enemy armor hull before detonating inside vehicle.

Inset 1 : Close-up of resupplied model items of tank shells in transport crates, water canister, fuel cans. Shells painted Gold body - Flat Black sleeve - Silver cap. Crates painted TESTOR Military Brown, paint washed in TESTOR Black. Canisters painted acrylic TAMIYA German Grey.

Panther gun was one of the most powerful WW2 tank guns given its long barrel, large shell propellant charge, and muzzle velocity (longer barrel retained compressed gas for longer duration, hence impart greater speed to tank shell). For faster gun-on-target, turret rotation powered by hydraulic motor. If this fails, its crew had to hand-crank turret for targeting.

Rollover : Panther crews painted winter white uniforms, in real-life crew fought - worked - slept in same uniform, hence its "white-ness" was quickly lost. Dirty crew uniforms were painted by grey paint wash, then rubbed with cotton cloth dabbed in black pastel powder.

Inset 2 : Other variants based on Panther chassis was Bergepanther (recovery Panther tank), its size - power - traction needed to recover other Panther tanks. Basic version was Push-Pull vehicle, with towing apparatus attached to rear and pushing plates mounted in front. Bergepanther had not turret, hence this opening was covered with circular or rectangular wooden structure. Later bergepanther versions would have large anti-ditching spade in rear and built-in tow cable motor. Photo below depicts two abandoned Bergepanthers encountered by US troops in western Germany, both had large lumber block for anti-ditching tasks.