Tank duel between the Cologne Cathedral Panther and the T-26 Pershing

Started by Louis Gardner · 80 · 3 months ago
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    Michael Turner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    G’day Louis (@lgardner),

    I am enjoying your build as something totally unfamilliar to me (an armour build, that is).

    I built a Panzer 40+ years ago, but that was a basic build and is the only time I’ve ever attempted armour. For me, the Panzer is the essence of a tank.

    I do have one kit - given to me by a friend who has no interest in armour, so I dont know where he got it from.

    You have tempted me to have a look again at the kit.

    It comes with two sets of the "Magic Tracks" - early and late types - and early and late hull tops, but no indication of which goes with what vehicle. I guess that is up to personal research.

    So, watching your build makes me think it can’t be as hard as I fear. (Which is not a slight on your evident skill and experience).

    Maybe it would be a quick-ish build?

    And it is aircraft related.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    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.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten) ·
    Thank you for your comments and compliments. I sincerely appreciate them. I hope to post more progress tomorrow.

    John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
    I am VERY impressed with the Royal Tiger pictures. It has an incredible story behind it. Who knew it could have been purchased in 1945 for a bottle of Cognac ? It would be wonderful if it could be restored to a running condition. I saw where the end of the main gun barrel was welded back on, using parts from a left over Panther... wow.

    I took some time to look at the museum's website. They have some astonishing artifacts. If I am ever in Europe, this is one of the places I would LOVE to stop by and see in person.

    How far away is it from where you live ? Is it too far to get more pictures of the Royal (or King) Tiger ? I am especially curious about the impact points on the front slope where it was obviously hit by incoming rounds. I wonder if any of them penetrated the front slope armor, or if the crew abandoned the vehicle after the Commander received his head wound and the main gun barrel was shot off. Wartime photos also show the Starboard side track was also damaged and blown off during the fighting.

    If you have more photos of this tank I would love to see them if possible, as the Royal / King Tiger is among my favorites. I have a few of them left to be built in the stash. Seeing these photos is making the urge to build one harder to resist.

    Like George mentioned, I would not want to face this tank on the battle field in a Sherman or anything smaller than that. These Allied tankers were very brave men indeed.

    I had an ancestor who was gravely injured during the Battle of the Bulge while he was in Bastogne. He was in the 101st Airborne at the time when he was injured by German mortar fragments. As he laid there bleeding, he was then shot by a German sniper. So he laid perfectly still until it got dark. Only then did he move to get the help he so desperately needed. He had lost a lot of blood by this time, and he was lucky to have survived. It was the end of the war for him though. Once the Battle of the Bulge was over, he was sent to England where he recuperated. Once he was well enough to travel any distance, they sent him back to the States.

    He was one of the four Gardner brothers who were all serving in the ETO at the same time. Two were killed, (one in Normandy at D Day plus 3) and the other two were wounded, all in a matter of 108 days. It was a rought time for our family, but they pulled through.

    I pray things like this never happen again.

    Because of this, I have a strong personal connection, and want to build some vehicles from Battle of the Bulge with Peiper's 1st SS Panzer Regiment. I think a model of the King Tiger you shared the pictures of would be a great candidate for this.

    Thank you my friend. I sincerely mean this a lot.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    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.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    @lgardner, indeed, according to the story this tank was bought for a bottle of Cognac, incredible. During battle the Allies took this tank out of action by a 'lucky' shot hitting the barrel. The museum is small but has a lot of interesting pieces to look at, which is valid for this entire region in Belgium. So much is still present from the Battle of the Bulge. Definitely a must to go there once you are in Europe. For me it is just a little less than a 3 hour drive.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    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.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    @lgardner, those are the other images I took last year. It does give you a better idea on the hits it took, especially from the front but also some less severe hits from the right side.
    Just let me know if this already helps you, I'm always in for a trip to the Bastogne region again 😉

    9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    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.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    Today was a good day but I have not had as much bench time as I wanted.

    But I have made some progress on the Panther tank.


    This is what the turret looked like at the beginning earlier today. I like the plain look of the Zimmerit with nothing on it.

    However the Cologne Panther had spare track blocks that were hanging off the turret and the rear of the hull on the side sponson's.


    I assembled enough spare track blocks to hang on the outside of the Cologne Panther. I also assembled and mounted the track jack.


    I figured out where the track hangars needed to go on the turret by studying the various pictures that I found online.

    I also had some spare track hangars that were from a previous 1/35 Tamiya King Tiger build. They were perfect and exactly what I needed to use here. They were included in an individual track link set that was made by Tamiya for this particular King Tiger model. I had to carefully cut away some of the Zimmeritt in order to glue the track hanger brackets in place on the sides of the turret, since I was using plastic glue.


    Since I was working on the turret I decided to add a handle on the loader’s hatch. I had a few spare parts in the bin and I picked one that looked pretty good as far as the size goes.


    The Cologne Panther was a Command tank and was operated by the Platoon Leader. As such it had a different set of radio antennas mounted on it.

    This is the base for the “Befels” command radio antenna. It was taller and had a larger diameter base than the typical one had.

    Luckily for me I had one of these in my spare parts bins too. So far so good.


    This is what it looks like when installed on the rear deck. This is supposed to be the correct location and it looks pretty good when compared to the original pictures that showed the Befel’s antenna mounted on the tank.


    The Starboard side of the rear hull had the correct number of spare track blocks installed on it too. Typically we see a total of 6 track blocks bolted on here on the typical Panther. They are bolted on in groups of two, so you will see what looks like three track blocks. But trust me here, what you see is actually a group of six when it's fully loaded.

    I’m not exactly sure if I have the Port side of the hull done correctly but it looks like it could be. It was an odd arrangement on the other Port side, and looks as if it could have only held two sets of spar track blocks in place of the typical three. This could have been a field modification or simply they were left off ...


    One the Starboard side you can see a pile of tracks on the ground next to the rear of the hull where they would have been placed. I’m guessing that the heat from the fire and possibly the impact from the 90 MM main gun hits nearby might have been enough to crack the welds that held the spare track brackets. Another possibility is that after the Panther caught fire, the ammunition began "cooking off" which caused numerous explosions inside the tank. Some were larger and more violent that others. This might also be why we don't see the track blocks mounted on the side of the hull, and instead they are laying next to the tank.

    Another possibility would be that souvenir hunters or maybe scrap dealers had already started to pick the carcass of the burned out Panther and then left the track blocks on the ground when they realized how heavy they were.

    This makes me think that it was probably the heat / impact as the most likely cause.

    A souvenir hunter as the second choice, as a scrap metal man would have been excited about getting his hands on the tracks. The more metal he could get the more money he’d have in his pockets at the end of the day. Because of that I would think that a scrap dealer would have taken the tracks with him after he worked to remove them from the hull.

    However, I don't see the track mounting brackets where they should be, but I have identified something that could be the brackets. They may have been moved by someone of they could have been tossed a little by one of the explosions. If so, then this lends itself back to the scrap man and a combination of the heat and impact of the main gun rounds from the Pershing as to why these track blocks are lying next to the tank on the ground.

    Who knows ? Maybe it's a mixture of all three theories ... or maybe just two. There may not have been a scrap man yet, and what I see (and have pointed out in the cropped / zoomed photo), could actually be the track hanger brackets... This makes one wonder.

    OK maybe just three people in the whole world wonder, with me being one of them.


    This shows how the rear upper deck looks with the spare track blocks and the Befel’s antenna installed.



    Remember the steel wheel Panther in the previous post ?

    Here it is now under construction. The basic chassis was built. It has a working suspension and the torsion bars are attached on one end and the road wheel arm is loose. This allows the road wheel arms to articulate and I think it is a cool design.

    It’s a little bit confusing at first but now I have it figured out so I will build the remaining three kits to this point and then decide what I want to do next on them.

    As usual comments are encouraged. Thanks for stopping by.

    Good night everyone.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 months, 1 week ago:

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

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    John vd Biggelaar said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    Progressing beautifully, Louis @lgardner
    I will definitely pm you when I will be visiting the Bastogne region again.

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    George R Blair Jr said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    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.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)

    Spiros,
    I have managed to make more progress and will be posting pictures soon. Thanks again my friend.

    John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
    John,
    I think I will be just as excited about this trip as you are. Please do send me a PM prior to your visit. I do sincerely appreciate your help with the pictures.

    By chance is there a Panther tank on display anywhere near your home ?

    Thanks in advance.

    George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
    George
    I remember building those kits as a kid. One that immediately came to mind was a model that I made back then and it was supposed to be a M-46. I kind of looked like a M-46. Kind of. 🙂

    It might have had less than 20 parts in the box as well. It may have been an Aurora kit that was in 1/48 ish scale.

    Yes sir, your comments are spot on.

    With that, here’s some pictures that will show you how the Cologne Panther is shaping up. I still have to do some detailed painting and I have not even bothered with painting the tracks just yet.

    So please stand by as I am posting the photos next.

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    Louis Gardner said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    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.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    The Panther looks fantastic, my friend @lgardner!