Michael Turner (@michaelt)
First off, thank you for taking the time to read this build journal. I am happy that you are finding this build journal interesting. I usually build 1/48 or 1/32 scale aircraft models, but I do enjoy building 1/35 armor kits once in a while too. It's a nice change of pace, and I think I needed this right now. I find armor builds to be easier to do than aircraft are. You tend to do more of the building with them at first, with less painting up front. The painting part comes on later towards the end when you are wrapping things up.

This DML / Dragon model of yours looks like it is a nice kit for building. I have a similar one in the stash. It is not a very big model when completed, but it looks really nice and you can definitely make it into a show stopper if you wanted to. I personally like the "magic" tracks. They save a lot of time and look good. Having a second set is a nice option.

DML kits occasionally include extra parts that will allow you to build a different variant of the same type. It might be covered more in detail on the instruction sheet. It pays to study the instructions before you even start cutting the plastic. I still do this step, even though I am an experience armor builder, and served in a tank crew when I was in the Army.

This is an important step that I have learned the hard way not to avoid. It might help to clarify the reasons why these extra parts are included in the box. The decal options for the model also might be the reason why the different top and two sets of tracks are included. One may be for an earlier vehicle, and another decal option may be for a later version half track. These are SO cool I think.

Another thing you might be able to do is to simply Google search the model by using the part number on the box to see what comes up. Occasionally you will get someone who has posted a good build or preview of the kit. These build reviews can be a valuable tool as well and will sometimes help to clear the minefields before you start working on your model. Most builders will tell you the good things and what to look out for based on their experience.

I am thinking it would be a build like you are expecting. Not too quick and not too slow either. Plus you will be learning something new by going to armor, and who knows ? You might find yourself more inclined to build more armor models afterwards.

For me, learning the history about the men and the machine is just as much and important as the actual building part is itself.

I say go for it. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. I will do my best to steer you in the right direction, plus we have a lot of other accomplished armor builders on here who could also help if you run into trouble.

I don't think you will have trouble though, because this kit is not too terribly complicated, and I have seen the quality of your aircraft builds. You can do this and I don't have any doubts about it. Take it slow, go one step at a time and above all read and understand the instructions before you begin. This is the most critical part.

I say go for it, and have some fun while you are at it. You don't have anything to lose monetarily, as this was a gifted model to you. Your friend would like to see you construct it or he wouldn't have given it to you. I think you will have fun, and it will open up the doors to other types of model building. Have some fun with it.

I had an idea that you might find interesting. If you really wanted to, you could start building it and make a journal in the current Luftwaffe group we have going and you have your BV-141 underway. You could tie it in there as being a Luftwaffe anti aircraft defense vehicle, which many were used for this very purpose. It would definitely fit into the group for these reasons. If you have any built 1/32 scale LW models, this would look very authentic parked nearby as you were taking pictures of it. It could be a very nice feature for your future LW articles in larger scale. It's a win no matter how you look at it.

Thanks for stopping by, and please keep me posted on your Hanomag.

George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
Thank you George. I agree, facing this King Tiger in a Sherman or anything smaller would have been a daunting task. This is where you hope you have at least 10 fellow tank crews all working together and artillery available too. These tankers were some VERY brave men. I have read stories about how some of these WW2 Sherman tankers had survived after having 4 (or even 5 in some cases) tanks knocked out from under them.

Dad told me that he lost 4 tanks in Korea. One was when a 122 MM mortar round was dropped on the rear deck, blowing the engine completely out of the tank. It was a Pershing going from memory. He ran over a land mine in a Sherman, which disabled it, and flipped it up on it's side. He did the same thing again in either a Pershing or M-46 Patton, but it remained upright and only suffered damage to the suspension and tracks. I would have to look at my notes to verify.

His last tank was disabled when it had one of the tracks shot off by the enemy. He never gave me the full story behind this one. He mentioned a T-34, but never said if that was actually the exact cause or if it was something else. He also told me that he lost crew members in most of these encounters. I can only imagine. Dad told me about these events, and many others that were much worse during his last two weeks of life. I think he wanted to clear his conscience, as he knew he was dying. I held his hand as he died, so he was not alone. I hope that someone will someday do that for me too. Time will tell. I hope it's not anytime soon. I have way too many models to build ! 😉

Thanks again for the compliments, and I really like the ANA 615 Middlestone color on German armor.

Thank you John. I’m not asking you to make a special trip but, if you happen to be in the area and have some spare time, I’d sincerely appreciate it if you could take some more pictures of the King Tiger tank. Anything and everything you can get would greatly help me with my future project for building a tank model like this one.

In particular if you can get some good close up photos of the front slope and the impact points where it was hit by incoming rounds that would be like icing on the cake.

I have been searching around online for this but so far I have not been successful.

Again I sincerely appreciate your assistance with everything and sincerely thank you for your help.

John

John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)

Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing these. This is exactly what I was looking for and should be good enough for me to make a more detailed and accurate King Tiger.

Now if you wanted to go back over there to the Bastogne area again and it’s not any problem for you to go there, then sure ! Whatever or whenever you decide to go back and grab some more up close pictures that would be awesome.

However since you have shared these photos with me it’s not necessary unless you specifically want to go back over again. If you decide to go again please let me know. I’d like to send you a PM if you do.

I’m going to be building a few models for a Battle of the Bulge which the anniversary is coming up in December and January. I’m going to be working on several different Panther tanks and a King Tiger or possibly two. If things go well I hope that I can make a few Sherman’s as well.

I want to do a build or several that are going to be used to honor my ancestor who I talked about earlier in the build journal.

Man these are really fantastic pictures.

I sincerely appreciate it.

PS. Here’s a few pictures of the models that I have on deck for building as a part of this project.

I have two of these steel road wheel Panthers. I’m going to build one with the steel wheels and the other one with the regular rubber rimmed type. Both types of road wheels are included in this kit. It's an awesome model straight from the box.

This is one that was a Panther modified to look more like an American armor vehicle. I believe it could have been a part of Kampfgruppe Pieper, and was supposed to look like a M-10 or M-36 at a quick glance. It definitely has American markings and is painted in American colors. This is one of the most interesting Panthers I have in the stash and I'm looking forward to building it.

This is another Panther G but it has the Zimmerit already done and it is molded into the surface of the plastic. This should look very nice and also speed up the building time required.

These 4 Panthers are going to be built in my typical "Iron Werke" style. All four of these Panther kits share the same articulated suspension and lower hull parts. So I can build them to a certain point and then stop if the need arises.

Thanks again.

Still excellent progress and ditto looks, my friend @lgardner!

Looking great, Louis (@lgardner). I marvel at how complex armor models have become. I remember building some tanks when I was a kid and they were so much simpler than these.

Here’s some pictures that show how the Cologne Panther looks right now.

The track hangers were painted with the ANA Middlestone color. The spare track blocks have been added on the side of the turret. This is a nice side view of the tank.

The PE grill and fan tower parts look very convincing after a light coat of paint. These parts were included in the box with the model.

The tracks were installed and I made sure they had the correct amount of sag in them. Here you can also see how the inner road wheels are painted with a bright silver color to simulate the wear from the center guides on the tracks.

This is a great picture that shows how the Zimmerit pattern was created on the main gun mantlet. It also shows how the spare tracks were hung on the side of the turret. The Cologne Panther had three sets of four track blocks suspended on both sides of the turret. This picture also shows the loader’s vision port and the turret ventilation motor roof and three lifting rings. They were used when the turret was removed from the hull.

As best as I can tell, from personal experiences and after talking about this with Jeff Bailey who went through the US Army master gunner school we are in agreement that the turret was held in place by gravity.

This photo shows the front slope and the Zimmerit pattern on it. You can also see the pattern that I made on the “kugelblende” or armored MG port. This area was often seen as a weak spot and fired at by the opposing forces.

The later versions had a stepped edge and it was more effective against smaller arms fire and damage.

This shows the Panther from the Starboard side. I still need to complete the detail painting on the small parts like the bow gunner MG and the exhaust pipes. The tracks are still in bare plastic color and they have to get dirtied up as well.

This is a good head on view that shows just how menacing the tank was. I would not want to come up against one of these tanks because the main gun was able to pierce the armor of most Allied tanks at a range of 1,000 meters.

In fact there’s several documented instances where they fired through one Sherman tank that was knocked out , in order to kill another tank that was hiding behind the first knocked out Sherman. There are also recorded instances where German gunners with the high velocity 75 and 88 MM guns would fire through buildings to hit a tank that was parked on the other side. These hits were just as devastating as if the tank was caught out in the open.

The Germans had some VERY potent weapons.

This is a good picture that shows how the sloped angle was incorporated into the side armor of the hull and the turret. This was copied by the Germans after encountering the T-34 tank on the Eastern Front.

This shows how the tools / OVM brackets were installed on the sides of the hull. You can also see how they installed the spare track blocks on the tank in this photo.

This is a very nice picture that shows how the Panther looked from the back. This is also the optimal way to engage the Panther if you’re in an Allied tank. The rear of the tank had thinner armor and it was more susceptible to damage from incoming fire.

You can see that I still have to paint the exhaust pipes. The Zimmerit looks great from here and the track jack has been installed in between the exhaust pipes. This is where it was moved to from the earlier design.

I will leave you with these two pictures of the Cologne Panther. They show exactly how the tank looks right now.

This is a photo taken that shows two of the Panther tank hulls after the torsion bars and the road wheel arms have been installed. I have also installed the radiators, and the radiator fans as well. The road wheels are done and are ready for painting.

One tank has the resilient steel wheels that are similar to the ones that were used on the King Tiger tanks. One problem with this is that they reduced the ground clearance a little because they were the same diameter as the typical road wheels were minus the rubber.

I have made some excellent progress with the other four Panther G tanks that have been started and have been placed into their own Kindergarten. I’m thinking about adding a late model Jagdpanther G tank destroyer into the Kindergarten as well because it also shares the suspension with the other Panthers in the group.

The hull suspension has individual torsion bars and mimic the actual suspension of the real tank. It’s a bit complicated and confusing at first. But once you get the hang of it then it becomes much easier.

These tanks and the tank destroyer will likely be completed as part of my personal Battle of the Bulge tribute to my ancestors who fought there.

As always comments are encouraged. Thanks for stopping by.