| DML DRAGON 1/35 Sd.Kfz. 171,
PANTHER Ausf. D
52nd BATTALION, 39th PANZER REGIMENT, KURSK OFFENSIVE, JULY 1943 KIT NO. 6164
MSRP: $31.98
Greatmodels price: $24.00 |  | HISTORY: The Panther was a German medium tank, in service from 1943. The German army had been rudely surprised by the appearance of the Soviet T-34 tank, and they carefully studied some captured samples. Hitler ordered the development of a similar vehicle, to weigh about 30 tons, and prototypes were developed by Daimler-Benz and Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg (MAN). After initial indecision the MAN model was selected for production, originally scheduled to begin in December of 1942. The first model was the Ausfuhrung (Ausf.) D version. (subject of this new kit) It incorporated torsion-bar suspension, with overlapping road wheels, sloped armor plates to deflect shot (a feature copied from the T-34) and a long 75mm (2.95-in.) gun in the turret. No hull machine gun was fitted, though a flap in the glacis plate could be opened to allow a machine gun to be thrust through and fired. Production began in January of 1943, but in April all of those produced to date were recalled for modification and it was not until May that the first vehicles reached service units. They were first used in action at Kursk in July of 1943, and a total of 850 were produced before manufacture of this version stopped in September of 1943. WHAT'S IN THE BOX?: The kit comes in a large, 15" x 9 1/2", tray and lid type box. The beautiful color box art painting is by our old friend Ron Valstad. It shows a Panther on the Russian steppes (I assume at Kursk?) with a group of four German soldiers, passing a burning T-34 in the background. One side panel of the box shows color photos of the completed model. The kit contains eight cello bags, filled with 11 trees of medium gray plastic parts and two white vacuformed sheets of side skirtzen parts. A small decal sheet and the instructions complete the contents. Large letter "A" tree is identical to the same tree in DML's earlier release of the Panther Ausf.A, except for the deletion of one corner of that tree which was the turret top in the Ausf. A kit. This tree holds the hull top, rear, turret bottom, final transfer housings, gun travel lock, jack, rear bins, etc. (25 parts). Medium sized letter "B" tree is also identical to its twin in the Ausf. A kit. However, two parts are shaded out on the instructions as being excess/not used for the Ausf. D. These appear to be two halves of a main gun cleaning rod storage canister. Other parts on the tree are the fenders, hatch lids, storage rack parts, tools, etc. (43 parts) Letter "C" is the hull bottom. Again, this is identical to the Ausf. A kit. Suspension arms are molded into it, so posing it going over rocks on a diorama base will not be possible. Too bad! There are two identical letter "D" trees in the kit. They are also twins to the ones in the Ausf. A kit. They contain the main gun halves, drive sprockets, idler wheels, and other small fittings. (43 parts per tree) Letter "E" tree is identical to the Ausf. A kit also. However, six parts are shaded out on the instruction sheet as excess/not to be used on this version. This tree holds the front glacis plate, inner mantle part, turret rear, etc. (35 parts here) Lettering of parts trees now jumps to letter "J". This is an ALL NEW tree to this kit. However, there are seven parts that are shaded out on the instruction sheet, again, as excess. I gather from this that another Panther kit uses those? This tree holds the new turret top, outer mantle piece, cupola parts, gun cleaning storage tube, etc. (41 parts) Finally there are four identical letter "K" and "L" trees molded together. Letter "K" holds the road wheels with the 16 bolt pattern and the return rollers, while "L" contains individual track links. (combined parts per tree - 59) There are four identical white sheets, as I mentioned earlier, with side skirtzen embossed into them. No crew figures are supplied, nor is any zimmerit (a prominent feature of Panthers) molded into any parts. It would have been nice if DML had done this for us. I hate to do my own with putty. It never turns out right for me...groan. A small decal sheet and the instructions complete the kit contents. The instructions are in the new format that DML recently went to. It is a large sheet that bi-folds out into eight pages. It is in FULL COLOR and printed on glossy coated paper. Assembly steps are depicted with color photos of the ACTUAL kit parts, instead of the old method of just line drawings. I like this new method a lot. Page one of the instructions begins with a color repeat of the box art. There is no vehicle history given (a weak point in most DML kits). The bottom of this page gives the parts trees drawings. Page two begins with some cautions (in six languages), international assembly symbol explanations, and color number listings. Assembly steps 1 and 2 are at the bottom. Pages 3 through 7 give us the reamaining 23 steps, for a total of 25. The last page gives us two paint schemes for Panther D's: -
The 52nd Panzer Battalion, 39th Panzer Regiment, Kursk Offensive, July 1943 (with the turret number 521 and a white panther's head in front of this number). -
The 51st Panzer Battalion, attached to Panzer Grenadier Division "Grossdeutschland", July/August 1943 (with turret number 445 and a full panther drawing in white) The bottom of this page gives the decal application instructions. Conclusion This new kit features DML's superior molding and detail throughout it. Highly recommended. I bought this kit from Greatmodels. | 
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