 |
| Panthers on overwatch. |
This box comes with everything you need to build 5 Late War Panther Gs. These are the ones without Zimmerit, which is correct for Late Late War - I still prefer with Zimm. Right off the bat, we notice that these are NOT the long-awaited Battlefront 'Plastics' - I hate assembly anyway. You get a hefty resin model with various plastic and metal accessories. Magnets and decals are also included.
 |
| Everything but paint and glue! |
 |
| Lots of extras included. It looks like there are pieces for another kit in here... hmmm....older Panther exhaust, and 88mm gun... |
The accessories sprue has a ton of stuff. The second MG has Zimmerit, so I expect this is a multi-use sprue. Also note that the muzzle brakes or drilled. Woo hoo, Kayjay!
 |
| Metal stowage and such. Magnets too. |
 |
| Numbers too... if this is your 4th |
These guys went together pretty well. I did the usual -- hull, turret and tracks groups. These took about 10 min or so each to assemble. There is very good detail on the tracks and very little flash. The hulls were in really good shape as well. I did find the metal accessories are pretty full of flash -- I am guessing the molds are just old, as these accessories are in tons of different box sets.
 |
| Ready for camo pattern. |
There was one problem with assembly. When I got the tracks and hull together, the side skirts just would not fit properly. There was a gap near the front due to the tracks poking out beyond the mounting rails and the fenders. See pictures below.
 |
| Note the tracks out beyond the hull in the front. |
 |
| Gah! I'm not going to green stuff that gap. |
I immediately emailed the guys at Battlefront, and got an answer in like 5 minutes. Apparently, they sent us a super early box that had this fault in the hull. The master had already been fixed and replacements sent to other folks who got the bad ones. They offered to send me new hulls, but I decided to just proceed without the side skirts. Meh.
 |
| These bad cats look pretty good nekkid, right? |
These guys painted up really nice. I love the increase in detail on the plastic tracks. I also like the 'feel' of resin - both from a weight and a paint standpoint. I don't know what it is about plastic, but I like the feel of resin when painting.
 |
| Nice detail on these. |
 |
| Exhaust is resin, so unless you want to do some modeling, these are what they are. |
 |
| View from the top. Model is slightly larger than the PSC model. |
THE GOOD:
- Everything in one box
- Model is lighter with more plastic parts
- Detail is better on the plastic tracks
- Some plastic, but not enough to really lengthen assembly much
THE BAD:
- Another casting issue. Though worked out, I'd like to get these correct in the box
THE UGLY:
Weighing in at $70USD for the box, this just seems like a resounding 'Meh'. You basically get the decals and magnets for free. A sizable portion of the community is very price-conscious and were really (REALLY!) hoping for a way to support Battlefront within their budget. This is not the set that achieves that goal, as it is not a plastic set. Plastics ARE coming from Battlefront(see Episode 39), and we will see if they are more attractively priced for our budget-tightening mates.
For those who are not as restricted in your budget, this is a great way to get everything you need to make non-Zimmerit Panther Gs.
SCORE: 6 out of 9 K-Rations issued to D-Day troops
All models provided by Battlefront Miniatures.
How did I paint these? See the German Camouflage Tutorial.
