What have I gotten myself into…
Ok, so every year when my company gives us our bonus, I choose a kit I would normally not spend the money on, a pat on the back for surviving another year (actually I love my company, so surviving is easy). In the past I have gotten 1/32 Tamiya aircraft, but being a Panther fan, when Rye Field Models announced their 1/35 full interior kit, I was intrigued. When it came out and I saw it...well I had to get one! The first thing I was impressed with was the box, for gosh sake it's taller than a pint of beer! Upon opening the box, you are overwhelmed with a ton of plastic, color artwork and a wonderful work book for instructions. I plan on painting it so the clear hull and turret are not a big deal, but really what a cool idea! Man going through the instruction book tonight I will be up to my ears in this. Luckily the sprues are all well labeled and seem to follow a logical sequence, where there seems to be little jumping around searching for one part on sprue A and another on sprue B for the same assembly. Wish me luck boys I'm goin' in!
As a fellow Rye Field Model owner, I understand where you're at. I have both the the Desert Storm M1A1 (HA) kit and the M1A1 / M1A2 (with full interior) kits. The ODS 1991 version is the "basic" kit with over 500 parts, while the M1A1 / A2 kit has over 1500 parts!
As you mentioned, the instructions are excellent and since other reviewers have mentioned it, the large box is VERY sturdy. And full of parts.
That Panther must be VERY new. I think the clear plastic is very novel and certainly one of the only ways to truly "show off" a kit that features a full interior. Another way would be to make the hull halves separate by not cementing them together, but that creates its own set of problems that would have to be addressed.
Anyway, congrats on treating yourself to a great kit. Have fun!
What a great way to spend part of your bonus! This is probably the best Panther G kit around and well researched. Congrats and lots of fun with it Rob!
Good luck on this one, Rob. These armour kits always have a high parts count, but it all seems to work out in the end.
That looks like a very comprehensive model indeed. If there's a tank that can push me into changing sides it’s the Panther. That camouflage in the box looks terrific.
The only thing that scares me a bit (take in consideration that I build airplanes exclusively) is the huge number of parts to assemble. Good luck with this beauty Rob!
Nice way to spend your bonus, looks like it should last until next year's bonus.
Good choice and have some fun building this Rob.
Cant wait to see this finished Rob, finish that beer and get started...
Wow, the kit looks great and will be going on my wish list for sure. Don't know if you follow Track-Link, but there is a build log of this very model, http://www.track-link.com/forums/site_blogs/25787/flat. I didn't read the entire thing, just skimmed through it, but there is some useful information. Keep us posted!
Look on the bright side, Rob...if the whole thing's gonna be clear, there shouldn't be much complicated camouflage to be applied, right? Lookin' forward to seein' whatcha do with it. 🙂
Oh I plan on painting it, just haven't worked out which scheme yet. Most likely I will start by picking general features I want on it then figure out paint after that.
Oh yeah...I re-read your narrative and you DID say that, didn't ya. Kinda defeats the purpose of a 'full interior' then, don't it (unless you've figured a way to "show it off" if ya want). Good luck, my friend.
Good luck with this build. It should keep you really busy and look forward to seeing it built.
Good luck! Reminds me of the Phantom Mustang kit of old. Keep us posted - I'm leaning with George on this one - we're not gonna be seeing much of you unless you create a WIP thread!
I had one of those great P-51s! AND I had the same kit but with regular, silver toned plastic.
The wheels would retract, the prop spun very quickly, and you could use small red levers to drop the bombs! I forget the scale, but I THINK it was in 1/24th scale. VERY nicely detailed for the day!
More old, cool Monogram winner(s)! I'm pretty sure those kits (I had both at the same time) are the reason I tend to think of the Mustang as my favorite aircraft.
I think you will really like this one Rob... I bought a Rye Field Models Tiger 1 "Group Ferrhman" kit and it is uber detailed...
Like you I am building up my courage to dive in...
Please do a work log here on Imodeler when you start it. The Panthers are my favorite WW2 German vehicles. That clear view hull looks really cool. It reminds me of the King Tiger turret that was at Fort Knox years ago. They cut away part of the side of the turret so you could look inside the tank and see just how thick the armor really was...
Rob, good luck! I've never seen a Rye Field kit, so I'll be following this. Sounds like they are the Wingnut Wings of tank models. Jeff was impressed by their Abramses, and he crewed one for real. Says it all.
Looks like you've got some spiritual reading, also.
The Bovington Tank museum has an example that was made after the war. The Brits had factory workers build several Panthers for testing purposes and the tanks camouflage is made up of two thirds of it is made up of red oxide primer and the rest is Panzer yellow. The Rye kit should go good with your humor Rob. And the IPA will smooth things along too.