Well, after a 30+ year wait, an accurate 1/35 scale Panther Ausf A has finally
arrived. No more agonizing over the grotesque inaccuracies, hideous "detail," and missing roadwheels of Tamiya's old
clunker, or dealing with the outline issues and soft moldings of Italeri's more recent kit. DML has given us a
21st century armour model, a model worthy of this highly coveted and much-needed subject. Furthermore, DML has chosen
to begin with a version never before released in plastic: an early Panther Ausf A (August to November 1943 production, once
known as the "Late Ausf D" in many references), complete with letter-box bow MG mount, binocular gun sight, and twin exhaust
pipes with jack mounted horizontally below them. This version is commonly associated with the Italian campaign, and
one of the two markings options is for a vehicle from Anzio. The other is for a whitewashed, non-zimmeritted version
from the Russian front. Both markings options were researched by Ron Volstad (who also did the superb box art), and
are very accurate.
We should begin by discussing what's in the (beautifully illustrated) box: very
crisp light gray styrene, individual track links, and four sheets of die-cut acetate. The acetate, incidentally, is
for the side skirts. They provide near-scale thickness, and hang accurately on the nice skirt holders. While very
crisp and petite, curving of the skirts may occur, so they will probably be replaced with photoetched by a lot of modelers.
Speaking of photoetched, none is included in the box. Unlike some previous DML kits, it's
an all-plastic effort, which means you are on your own (read: ABER) to supply engine screens. A minor shortcoming in
the grand scheme of things, though, and one of the few shortcuts in the kit to keep the price down.
The kit has excellent moldings, and shares nothing in common with any previous kit, including the
ex-Gunze Panther G and Jagdpanthers (unusual for DML, which has a tendency to re-use as many sprues as possible). The
engineering is top-rate, and fit appears extremely good. The parts breakdown also makes obvious the future release of
other variants (a Kursk era Ausf D has already been announced for a June 2002 release). Particularly noteworthy are
the superb roadwheels, perhaps the best included in any Panther kit. The bolt patterns are very convincing, and the
double rim on the outer wheels is captured nicely. One regrettable similarity that the DML and the Gunze kits share
is that the torsion bar arms are molded integrally with the hull, which means that articulating the suspension will involve
a lot of cutting.
The track links, as mentioned, are individual link, and 192 are included in the box (enough for
two full runs and plenty of spares). The ice cleat pattern is correctly molded, and the guide teeth have good detailing
on them, although they are solid. Light punch marks mar the inner surfaces of the links, but are easily cleaned
up. Perhaps their greatest weakness is the relatively loose fit to each other (especially compared to models like DML's
IS/ISU series, which had snap-fit tracks). This makes life a little less simple when positioning the tracks
on the wheels. The final drive housings, while beautifully detailed, suffer from some annoying ejector-pin marks.
The hull and turret are both very well-executed, with separate hatches everywhere, including the
pistol ports in the turret and the driver's vision port in the glacis plate. Detail on the inside of the drivers' hatches
in particular is very fine. The fenders are well-detailed, being part of the pieces which box in the sponsons, although
their shape is a bit suspect, with a little less of a curve, perhaps, than they should. They include the flip-up portions
for the tow cable attachments molded in. Periscopes are included for all
of the hull and turret stations except for the commander's cupola.
A note when building the hull. In step 12 of the instructions, be sure to attach the glacis
plate to the upper hull and the rear plate to the lower hull, then attach the upper hull and lower hull to each other.
After that, glue the fuel tank armour to the upper hull, and finally attach the fenders and sponson roofs. If you follow
the assembly sequence shown in the instructions, you may have difficulties with fit around the sponsons.
The engine deck is all ready to be opened up, with separate access doors. A nice touch is
the inclusion of two complete sets of both the radial and spiral pattern circular grills for the engine deck, allowing the
modeler some flexibility in the configuration modeled. Unfortunately, one DML tradition continues: no tow cables or
tow cable ends are included, despite excellent tools and tool racks, as well as correct mounting points for the missing cables.
The track changing cable is also missing.
The main gun is very well-done, and even has the internal baffle for the muzzle brake molded in
place. The coaxial machine gun inserts into the mantlet in a very convincing manner, indicative of the care which
went into engineering this model. The travel lock can be built in the open or closed positions, thanks to optional pieces
for the chain. The rain guard, at the front of the turret roof, seems to be inaccurate, however.
Finally, the instructions are quite different from the norm, and being in colour is only part of
that. The illustrations are actually colour photographs of the actual kit pieces being assembled. While this is
useful in that it makes part orientation and identification much easier, one hopes that this rather gimmicky approach did
not drive up the cost of the kit. As nice as they appear, the instructions do have a notable omission: there is no mention
of zimmerit anywhere on the instructions, despite the fact that one of the two vehicles depicted in the kit had it applied.
Some discussion of where on the vehicle it should be applied and what pattern to use should have been included.
Overall, this kit is very highly recommended. Except for a few minor areas, there is little
to improve, and we wouldn't recommend anybody bother waiting for Tamiya to do a Panther A anymore; it's difficult to imagine
what they could improve upon. If you grab a set of photoetched screens and decide to build a non-zimmeritted version,
this would make a nice weekend project. Buy it, and buy the Panther D and Late Ausf A when they come; dare we hope for
a Bergepanther on this hull? It's nice to see a few of the last major gaps in German WWII armour being closed in such
a fine fashion.
