Growl of the Panther Tank

[lufttiger]

Nice site Jim, i think i saw that years ago, glad its still arround.

[McCoy]

Here's a better picture of the Flammendämpfern but I've yet to find a picture of the curved top to it.

[cyberia]

McCoy, so good to see your posts, photos and helpful attitude again. Glad you're here!

LT, found all sorts of Panther ass shots, but so far only these with the sleeve and still none of the dampener. I still have a few more books to go through, so perhaps I'll find a winner in those.

[lufttiger]

Yeah none of those have that funny looking exhust pipe, i'm wondering if they ever really used them?

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by cyberia

They are hard to find, but I have a pretty good panzer library here. Let me do some digging.

Here's an odd "Fun Fact" about the Panther tank.

The Ausf D model was produced FIRST, followed by the Ausf A, and then the Ausf G.

For photo ID purposes, the main difference between the D and A models, were the elimination of the small ammo port on the left side of the turret, the tank commanders cupola was changed, and bow mount MG port was modifed from a small letter box shape, to the more familiar "mound" port. The Ausf. G model eliminated the drivers hatch on the glacis plate (the sloped piece of front armor) to further strengthen the front armor. There were also some changes to the exhaust manifold but I don't know the details.

Of course there were internal mods as well but they are not generally visible in a photo.

Maybe Cyberia can whip up some pics to demonstrate my point, I don't have the time at the moment.

[cyberia]

Sorry, P-D hit the edit button by mistake. I changed nothing.

No problem. Three Panthers coming up!

[cyberia]

Panther 101

New Panther Ausf. D's rolling out of a factory. The shell port is clearly visible

Panther Ausf. A in action on the Eastern front. No shell port on the turret left

Front view of an Panther Ausf. D in Russia 1944 with the "letter box" port

Front view Panther Ausf. A in operation in Italy 1943 with "blister" mg port

Panther Ausf. A (left) beside a Panther Ausf. G (right) showing the drivers vision hatch eliminated in the G series

And finally, that Panther Ausf. D I spoke of on the Italian front with a cast steel commander's cupola

[razorboy]

Some you may not have seen:
Ausf. A:

Some More "A's" being moved on flatcars.

Command Vehicle, 2nd Bttln or Regt. of some unit:

Late model (look at exhaust), Germany 1945, note camo. netting.....sweet!

Razorboy

[cyberia]

Originally Posted by lufttiger

Yeah none of those have that funny looking exhust pipe, i'm wondering if they ever really used them?

Not only did they use them, but you can build a Panther with that "Funny Looking Exhaust".

The Panther Ausf F. Dragon has a kit in 1/35.

Here's the link.

Dragon Armor 1/72 German Panther F Tank Berlin 1945 (60043) | Antics Online

[Jim O]

Very cool pics guys. I especially like the comparison shots of the different versions.