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The re-released Airfix 1/76 scale Panther tank is a kit that goes back a long way. By today's standards the kit is not particularly outstanding, it's more than 30 years old you know, and it's quite basic really, but it's a relatively cheap, easy to build, no-frills kit that should appeal to many wargamers as an inexpensive source of Axis armour firepower, and it is also ok for beginners or those who just want an uncomplicated kit to build for pleasure (and I mustn't forget those like me who have fond memories of this model from their younger modelling days either).
I was really pleased to see it on the shelves again when I visited a hobby shop during a trip to Manchester in the UK, but when I got home and started building it and found that the tracks were nearly 1cm too short !!! - VERY FRUSTRATING.
I wrote a short letter to Airfix and they quickly sent me replacement tracks of the correct length ... but not quick enough for me, as I was never blessed with the virtue of patience and I couldn't wait for them to arrive so I ended up finishing the model with tracks "stolen" off an old damaged Matchbox Panther. And to be honest, well, the Matchbox tracks fitted perfectly and are far superior looking to the Airfix ones.
Some minor extra details were added such as towing hooks from telephone wire, radio antenna from a strand of horse-hair, and also typical ad hoc "tree branch and bushes" ambush camouflage (that at the same time hides the kit's inherent lack of detail, and a multitude of other sins;.-)
The decals are not particularly brilliant but they do their job and I was lucky on this occasion as they included two sets. I used the second set of decals on the old Matchbox Panther, which I repaired and repainted and on which I then used the new set of tracks that Airfix sent to me to replace the shorter ones.
No figures are supplied with the kit which is a shame as the model lacks a tank commander, but I left the commander's hatch open in any case and will try and look for a suitable figure from some set of German polythene figures, maybe one from the Lufthwaffe Personnel set
In spite of the tracks problem, I found it to be quite a nice easy kit to put together and it makes a nice addition to my small collection of German AFVs. In any case, it did also prompt me to fix up the old Matchbox panther I had lying in the plastic "scrap yard", something I'd been meaning to do but just hadn't got around to yet. © John-Michael Murray |
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