Ahlfors' panther G

[cahlfors]

Finally time for tiger-Ahlfors to start building his new panther!

This is a first generation Armortek kit from 2006/2007, so will require some patience and maybe skills.

I have always wanted to build one of the panthers from Dr Franz Bäke's rescue operation from Korsun/Cherkassy, but they were much earlier variants. This will have to be a G variant. Any suggestions of a suitable prototype?

Anyway, unpacking and structuring of the parts is done. Work has begun to "fit" the parts of the turret. I write "fit" within quotes, because the term "fitting" apparently refers not only to assembly, but doing everything necessary to the parts to make them possible to assemble. I think turrets, with all their angles and bends are typically quite challenging to produce.

Turret started:

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[mrTyko]

Fit (Opps)
But as we say in our hobby.
There is room for improvement.

Robert T

[RC_BobM]

Awesome Chris - always room for another Panther. Its the same gen as my Panther G. Are you planning to run with steel tracks? Are you planning to replace the Aluminum wheels with steel upgrade? Mine is still stock with wheels and tracks. Great kit either way!
Bob

[cahlfors]

I have a set of HongKong-Vincent's steel tracks and planning to use them against better knowledge. If it fails, I also have a set of Liam tracks to fall back on. Steel either way. The downside is that the first tracks are not size compatible and the running gear has to be modified to fit. Any modifying back to standard would be just sooo tiring.

There are most likely things I would like to improve on the kit, but at this stage, it's impossible to know what. The plan is to use the aluminum wheels, provided that they have the proper dimensions and improve on the screws, nuts and hubs.

But let's see if I manage to assemble the turret first...
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[RC_BobM]

Chris,
Yes I heard that about Vincents track, that's why I was reluctanct to buy them. I think I'd just go with Liam's track, its made to fit the AT running gear. One less thing to change. There's lots to upgrade detail wise.
B

[cahlfors]

Hmmm... Sounds smart. I'll have to think about that.
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[cahlfors]

Straight out of the box, the fit of the parts was so, so. Not sure what's wrong, but the lower left corner doesn't look right:

But there are other issues as well:

Correcting the bottom plate was necessary:

...as well as the rear wall cutouts on both sides:

The cutout on the left side appeared to have been done twice at the factory - in different locations...
This led to a rather "roomy" fit. I was trying to avoid using fillers, but this idea failed right there.

The turret rear wall tabs were shortened a bit, so not to stick out through the sides. With all this now done, test assembly is next.

I realize now that this build log did not start at the right point in time. It actually started a few years ago, when Liam in Australia made a set of idlers from my CAD drawing, using the Selective Laser Melting process (photo courtesy Liam Mahoney, LSM advanced composites):

So good looking!

They are designed for Vincent's tracks.
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[cahlfors]

Test assembly has meant some additional milling and then some filing. The fastening screws have been upgraded from M3 to M4, since there is significant force required to pull the parts together.

I decided to leave the steel roof untouched and have adapted the turret sides to fit instead. That bit went well and now the turret looks okay in shape, without any too large gaps anywhere. The top has been prioritized to look good at the expense of the bottom, which hopefully can not be seen.

This is the result:

Next, is fitting the roof holding tabs with threaded rivets and testing the turret ring for clearance.

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[mrTyko]

Stuff is happening here.

[RC_BobM]

Looking good Chris, remember AT models are only 85% done from factory. The other 15% is up to you!
Bob

[cahlfors]

Well, let's not judge them by what they did almost twenty years ago. Time sure flies, doesn't it?

Work has now commenced where people normally start - with the suspension bars. In this case, there was a double torsion bar upgrade kit available:

The belly plate in this old kit is made of steel and is very heavy. Kinda cool! The mounting holes are countersunk on the underside. Good thought, but it's done too shallow. I will get myself a larger countersink bit and redo them, so that the screws do not protrude above the surface. The parts are just test fitted to check what needs to be done:

Later panther kit vintages have one more hole in the sides to attach it better to the suspension bars. I will do those holes, in order to build a more stable hull. I have only done tigers in the past. A panther sure has thin walls!

It turns out that some of the torsion bar pivots were too large to fit their brass bearings. The old chief engineer often talked about "tolerances" in the machines they were using back then. Here it translates to a shaft designed to fit an 8mm hole varies in size between 7,97 and 8.04. The latter just don't fit. I will try to set them up in the lathe and touch them up, either with a cutting tool or maybe just a file or some emery cloth.

Most torsion bars look okay, but there is at least one "rogue". Rather than getting held up, getting material and making a new one now, I will probably try to use it either as is or that I grind it down further, at least making it flat. If it breaks, I will address that when it happens.

So, there are a few things to correct in the next workshop session, in order to make assembly of the hull possible. Next I will check my books for the thickness of the lower hull plates to see if anything needs to be done there.

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[cahlfors]

According to the manual, the torsion bars were pre ground to the correct angles, the swing arms and their bushings were threaded identically and with the correct angles and so, after assembly, very little adjustment would be necessary, if any. Yea, right:

There were shims included to put behind the swing arms. That way, the angle would be adjusted in increments of, I think, ten degrees. Best knowledge I have managed to consult, says 32 deg for the swing arms, which meant that several shims were needed under all of them - to the point that there were not enough shims. Another problem with many shims, is the fact that the corresponding wheel is shifted slightly outward. Or very much in this case.

New torsion bars had to be made. The double torsion bar system is a bit difficult to predict and a couple bars had to be remade again. I am quite confident that the swing arms will settle and things will have to be redone again, after a season of driving. This result will have to be satisfactory for now:

With the suspension fitted, things could be taken apart to gobble some paint on it. Those who know me are probably very worried now, but RELAX! It will be clearcoat.

Well, that's pretty much back to square one, I guess:

Next, is perfecting the countersinks in the bottom plate. They are currently too shallow. On these old models, this part is 3mm STEEL and HEAVY.

Well, a bit of weight is never wrong and usually, a low center of gravity is a good thing - and a bit of structural integrity might come in handy...

Now, all I need is painting weather.... (December, Sweden - really?)

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[mrTyko]

You have really been diligent my friend.

[cahlfors]

Rain, rain, rain, but mild weather, so I have been able to paint in the garage and weather out the fumes.
But the christmas feeling suffers...

The interior will get a bit of color, for tidiness and ease of finding dropped parts. Don't ask how I know that's a good idea...

The process of reinstalling the torsion bars is started. It's quite involved with the double bar system and I decided to put the bars in place first - THEN assemble the suspension blocks and sides:

The sides have been primed:

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[RC_BobM]

We are about to drown here too Chris, what happened to Global Warming?? '

Great Progress on the Panther - looking good!
Bob