CUSTOM 1/32 PANTHER A

[ledhead0085]

THIS IS MY CUSTOM PANTHER A. its built on a 21st century toys panther G chassis. using parts form 21s c and fov. keep in mind that its held together using ticky tacky for this photo shoot. i don't want to glue anything because after i have it done i have to put thought into how to recast it in resin. then it will become available to buy along with extra peaces for all who are creative. there's also parts for a panther d im working on and a burgepanther with working wench. sounds crazy but i've already started on the burgepanther. and a bugehetzer is started also. i destroyed alot of kits and spent alot of time gathering references and alot of time went into building these and thought to make all the hatches open and close even the drivers view port works. i work alot so i don't have alot of time to put into this so when they do go on sale they will be few but it will be announced on here first as this is the only site im a member of.

[ledhead0085]

well let me know what you think

[ledhead0085]

[ledhead0085]

[ledhead0085]

[PanzerArm]

Looking good so far, can't wait to see the finished product.

-Kevin

[flyboy_fx]

WOW! O_O

[ledhead0085]

if anyone has any extra peaces to a panther (21st or fov, jagd or not) and would like to donate to this project it may help. i don't want to destroy anymore kits. youll be surprised what i can do with them especally if i have it early in the planing stage. some of these parts maybe modified and recast as options for the final product.
ex: panther: wheels, tracks. (tools and tool racks off a fov jagdpanther.) all peaces my be helpful even if i don't know what to do with them right away.

[ledhead0085]

i don't know what the price will be as i plan on putting them on ebay and letting that decide on the price. but numbers will always be low as im 1 man and i work enough as it is. im not a greedy man as i make enough were i work but money would help for the other projects and casting material. that said i rather inspire others to crate customs so if you have a nice custom 1/32 that you can recast. id rather trade even up. no shit ether. i see this as art and i don't think art should be only available to the rich. i did this project cause i cared not to see how much money i can get and now i want to share it. thats why great care was put in to hatches and view port work as it would have sold with out these details

[NHoggard12]

Very cool! Love the Panther!

[PanzerArm]

I saw a D model front plate in there as well, planning on doing one of those with the old cupola as well?

-Kevin

[ledhead0085]

yes i am making the panther D the thing that is holding me back on the D is how to make the bow machine gun retracted back in and the plate to open and close. when it dose come out, as a D model it will have to be a late war D model because i don't know how i would make the early style tracks and im not planing on changing the bolt pattern on wheels ether. my plan is the D version will be (early A/D) option kit as i only have to supply a few extra peaces to make it that way. also on the D model theres a door on the side of the turret. i want to make that open and close but thats a hole new mold i have to make and will interfere with the (a/d) option kit. so this side door having it open and close is this a really popular idea or can i leave it closed?

[PanzerArm]

I'd say leave it closed, the mp schtoptfen (I can't recall exactly their spelling) on the side turret would be a novelty at best for the casual collector and the only people I see caring about something like that would be judges at an IPMS event. They hung from chains anyway and have them pull out and dangle from a chain is something a competent customizer could do on their own if they desired that level of detail.

As far as the roadwheel bolts and track differences; minutia that shouldn't hold you back. I am game for it all!

Hell, I would never have made most of my 1/32 custom builds if I had gotten hung up things like the fact that my JS-2 had not quite accurate engine intakes, or my Panzer III M has an early turret disguised as a late one, or my Tiger I has the wrong configuration for tow cables in Tunisia. I say, if you are going to make the big stuff for these conversions, go for it, and let those inclined to worry about things like roadwheel bolt patterns deal with correcting that if they choose to; I'd be happy to let that slide and display a pretty cool Panther D and A.

-Kevin

[ledhead0085]

your the one that did the js-2 i must say seeing that was a great inspiration for this project. if you were able to recast that js-2 into a kit i would gladly trade even up for it. also you had a t-34/76 also i had plans to make that conversion also but if you can cast is that would be awesome! as i said i rather inspire people to create then to make money that said tho im just starting out on the customs and all the plasticstruct, resin and silicone cost quite a bit and i bought it in bulk so it was all at once. i still have to buy the soft resin for the tracks and im not sure if will really work. i hope i dose cause i have no other ideas for the tracks. i had been working on a individual track link for burgepanther G that idea was only going to be as spares as trying to make all of them would be a nightmare without injection molding. i actually think i finish that link ill have to pull that burgepanther out. it been a long time since i worked on that. hey send me a link in a private message of your customs Kevin so it will always be easy for me to find.

[PanzerArm]

Certainly, but there is a caveat to be able to see the customs. The thread with the most extensive ones is below, but it no longer has pictures. Webshots, the site I hosted the photos, decided to go and charge for their services, so I ditched them and haven't re-hosted the images since. I have the pics all saved, but I will have to email you pics of them or something. Here is the link to their respective forum pages (sans images). PM me an email and I will bombard your inbox with pics though

http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... um#p277141

I haven't had much time in recent memory for the hobby stuff. I am in the last 6 weeks of the UH-60A/L course here at Ft. Rucker, and besides needing to focus on the flying stuff, I didn't really bring the hobby stuff with me down here(left in storage in AZ). I was just starting to experiment with molds/casts/resin etc before I left, and I plan on picking up where I left off when I get back home in June. You beat me to the Panther conversion lol, I had plans drawn up for parts, but never got around to fabrication before I left. I guess other plans I have were to recreate the Panzer III conversions I did (G, N, and M) and cast those because they would be pretty easy to do (hopefully ). The JS-2 is more of a kitbash than a scratch-build. I used two "1/30" Ogenok kits (they are actually 1/31.5), a ISU-152 and KV-85, and created an early JS-2. The kits were OOP, but I think someone is re-manufacturing them nowadays.


-Kevin

[ledhead0085]

new progress pics

[ledhead0085]

i tried to get some good pics of the weld detail on the hull, if you zoom in you can see it in some of the pictures. its coming along quite well, the upper hull has been glued but alot of the details are still held on with ticky tacky.

ooops a pic of a jagdpanzer 4 got in there. that custom wheel for the jagdpanzer 4 will be recast available also when the time comes.

[Fitzy]

Looking Good!!! A jagdpanzer iv . That's one on my want list. Keep them coming. Looking foward to the next update!

[Light.Inf.Scout]

very nice

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

Looks great, bout time someone starts doing a jagdpanzer IV

[[CAT]CplSlade]

So, how many of those old Monogram Jagdpanzer IV's do you have?

I'm actually building one of those now along with the Ostwind and Panzerspahwagen.

[ledhead0085]

i have 2 full jagdpanzer 4s and the one you see in the back is missing a bunch of peaces. im looking for one more so i can make a jagdpanzer 4 A/O version. i have the specs drawn up and everything ready to go i just need the kit that i can cut up. but they are priced too high right now. the plan is when they are done to recast them and ill offer them as an after market kit to put on your fov panzer 4s. also on that panzer 4 self sprong wheel. you cant see it in the pics but bevels in toward the center like its supposed to its not flat. i need to get better with lighting for the pics. i love that jagdpanzer 4 something about the way it looks

[PanzerArm]

Looks fantastic! I especially like that new mantlet!

-Kevin

[blitzhazed]

looking great we need this in 1/18 hint hint

[ledhead0085]

the plans i have are detailed enough that i could make this in 1/18 but i don't think they make the sheet styrene big enough for what i would need. i guess i could try card board it shouldn't matter to much as its just a master for a mold. im just learning on the casting thing so im going to stay small for a while. i have alot of plans for ww2 vehicles that are detailed enough for 1/18. thing is i currently don't have the room for an operation like that.
ill let everyone know now tho the master panther A is almost done. im just super detailing now and experimenting with how to make the molds. also a sturmtiger is coming