Dragon
1/35 Panther D with Zimmerit
Kit Number: 6428
Reviewed by  Michael Delano, IPMS# 45465

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MSRP: $58.95
Web Site: www.dragonmodelsusa.com

It is my humble opinion that Germany's Panzerkampfwagen V, or Panther, aside from being widely regarded the overall best tank of World War II, was also the best looking tank ever produced. With its sloping armor and wide stance, it looks like an armored vehicle that you might see roaming the fields of Eastern Europe. For that reason, the Panther has always been one of my favorite subjects to work with.

Dragon's new release of the Panther D includes pre molded Zimmerit coating. For anyone not familiar with the terminology, 'Zimmerit' was a ceramic coating consisting of Barium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfide, and Sawdust as a non-reactive ingredient. This coating was intended to be the answer to the threat of magnetic- and adhesive-based anti-tank mines presumably used by the Russians. It provided a rough, non-magnetic surface layer on the vertical surfaces of a tank to which these magnetic or adhesive mines could not effectively stick.

Overall, the kit does not disappoint. The good news? This kit comes with DS vinyl track instead of the normal MagicTrak staple. The bad news? The kit comes with DS track. Call me crazy, but I am one of those people who really take enjoyment out of assembling individual track links. I'm not a big fan of the DS track unless it is for the 1/72 scale armor kits. But to each his own.

The kit comes boxed with 16 sprues molded in gray, 1 sprue in clear, 1 photo etch fret with a wealth of extra details, 2 lengths of DS track, a 12 piece side skirt set, and metal barrel. In addition, the upper and lower hulls are provided separately packaged.

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A nice sheet of Cartograf decals are included for two units:
· Unidentified Unit, 1943 (Turret No. 232): Dark Yellow base with Green and minimal Red-Brown.
· Unidentified Unit, 1943 (Turret No. 425): Dark Yellow base with Green and Red-Brown.

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I decided to go with Turret No. 232 and what I really liked about the decals is that the numbers are on the sheet are individual and not all on one carrier film. While this makes the numbers much more fragile, they look great on the pre-molded Zimmerit.

In looking through the instruction sheet prior to beginning the project, I noticed a number of mistakes in numbering of parts.
  • Step 20: This indicates part J19 (Smoke Grenade launcher bracket) should go on the right-hand side of the turret, when it should actually be part J20.
  • Step 23: This indicates that part J20 should go on the left-hand side of the turret. Part J19 should actually go here.
  • Step 24: Indicates that parts D6 (D5) and D8 (D7) should be placed as the aft most side skirt brackets. Parts B8 (B7) and B6(B5) should actually be placed in those two positions on each side.
  • Step 25: This step indicates that PE Parts MA2 should go on the engine deck towards the front of the tank and that parts MA2 should be towards the rear. These parts should actually be reversed to get the proper fit.
  • Be careful with step 24. By looking at the arrows in the picture, it would have you believe that the upper hull simply sits on top of the lower hull. This is not the case at all. There is actually a lip on the upper edges of the lower hull under which you need to slip the sponsons. To get the correct fit, you must carefully spread the upper hull to fit around that lip.

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To begin the project, I separated the unit into 4 major sub assemblies:
· Turret and main gun
· Upper and lower hull
· Road wheels, sprockets, and idlers
· Track lengths

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The track lengths were closed with liquid cement and set aside. All sub assemblies minus the tracks were first given a base coat of Mr. Surfacer 1200. Next, I gave all of the sub assemblies a coat of Floquil Oxide Red followed by a base coat of Depot Buff. The green used was also a Floquil Depot Green. Next, the rubber rims of the road wheels were painted in Testors MM Flat Black.

The entire unit, minus track was given a spray of Future and decals were applied. The decals can be quite tricky, especially if you plan on going with the 232 turret number. Keep in mind that the numbers are individual on the sheet and VERY thin. In working with the first side, I got my first '2' a little tangled up, which took about 45 minutes to straighten out. With the help of some Micro Sol, the decals layed down very well over the Zimmerit. The decals were then followed by another light coat of future to seal them in. Several light oil washes were applied followed by minimal Mig Europe Dust pigment. For the side skirts, I simply used needle nose pliers to 'mangle' the edges or the front- and rear-most panels along with a little bending of those panels in the middle by hand.

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For the track, I departed from my normal painting routine of using gunmetal or dark metallics over Vallejo Oxid Paste. This time, I used a mixture of Tamiya XF-1 (Flat Black), XF-10 (Flat Brown), and XF-51 (Khaki Drab) at a ratio of 2:2:1 respectively and thinned to about a 50 / 50 mix of paint to thinner. The track was given a base of Tamiya XF-64 (Red Brown). This was followed a coat of the XF-1 / XF-10 / XF-51 mixture. The track runs were dry brushed with Tamiya XF-56 (Metallic Grey) and dirt simulated by Mig Europe Dust pigment.

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Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the kit and it is a great addition to Dragon's line of pre-molded Zimmerit kits in 35th scale. Aside from the instructions being a little vague in some places and some of the part numbering reversed, I had no complaints with this kit. At first, I had some reservation over the choice to include DS Track instead of individual linked track, however I was very pleased with how it turned out. Visually, I can discern no difference in the quality of appearance from other Panther kits utilizing MagicTrak.

Pros:
· Pre-molded Zimmerit
· An extra OVE sprue allows you to utilize the included PE tool clamps
· Metal gun barrel option
· Inclusion of DS Track

Cons:
· No MagicTrak option
· Several numbering mistakes on instruction sheet
· No interior turret detail

Many thanks to IPMS and Dragon for the opportunity to review this kit.

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