Hi lads , this pix just caught my eye over at HLJ.


http://www.hlj.com/product/AOS04865

Looking at the rear of the upper hull side - it looks like a Ausf A?

Opinions?

Could we have a new Kittykat in the garden to play with?

Here is the Kingtiger thats coming out too


Fingers crossed its an accurate model

Best

Paul

Hi Paul
Yep looks like an Ausf A hull to me. Finger and toes crossed on this one.
Andrew

Hi All;

I did a bit of snooping around this morning and it appears that Aoshima will actually be
releasing TWO 1/48 kits in early December 2009.
They are both remote control and are priced at around $21.00 USD.
Listed as:
King Tiger: Remote Control AFV No.10

and
PzKpfw. V: Remote Control AFV No.11


I really don't have any great hopes for them ... but you never know.

GB

The hull does look a bit wide, but the pix are such poor quality we can't really tell anything. It will be out in December supposedly, and that will tell the story. If the whole thing works as an accurate scale model, there is your long-awaited ausf A Panther. If not, the hull sides and engine deck could always be used to convert the Tamiya ausf G, or I could finish detailing the Panther A/D hull from ID..... Bear in mind the hull sides and air intake grills are the biggest changes to the hull; the rest are details. The turret is quite different on the D in the front, but the A and G turrets were very similar, differing only in detail fittings.

FWIW, the Aoshima website says that these two kits will be out in the first ten days of December.

And here's what I hope are slightly better pics from the Aoshima website:





Also, FWIW, Aoshima is so confused that they have the King Tiger pic up with the Panther listing and vice versa.

Isamu

I don't know...I can't really tell if the Panther Hull is an "accurate" representation of an "A" or is just a sloppy reworked G/A in a confused state.

Ken

Well , I am going to jump and put in a pre-order for one , I will do my best to give the skinny on it once it arrives in due course - fingers crossed

Best

Paul

the details are all A. My only concern is that the hull seems to be considerably too wide, perhaps to accommodate the motors and radio equipment. Still, using a wide-angle lens can introduce this kind of distortion, so until we see the actual kit..... Note that the hull sides and engine deck (if they will fit) could be used to convert the Tamiya ausf G. The air intake grills are the pieces that would be the hardest to replicate for most modelers, and this new kit should provide those parts, if they will fit. I compared the ID Panther A hull to the photos of the Academy "A", and except for the possible excess width, the rest matched up fairly well. Note that on the new kit, the triple exhaust pipes are mounted on the wrong side; they should be on the left side, as you face the rear plate.

So if the hull is too wide, which part of the engine deck do you think is out-ot-proportion. The width of the grill section looks about right in the picture. If so, these can be removed and substituted on the Tamiya Panther. It may be too expensive for most modellers to buy this kit at roughly the same price as the Tamiya Panther. What are the copyright laws if someone wanted to just reproduce the grill sectins in resin for the benefit of their fellow modellers?

Also, anyone planning on getting the Academy Panther II when it comes out? were the Panther II turrets ever used as static defenses as with other Panther turrets?

It looks alot like the old Tamiya Panther A in proprtion. I believe that if they did that, then perhaps the hull would at least be minimally good and all that would be necessary would be to replace the detail parts from a Jagdpanther (Tamiya, of course) which gives you the remaining early exhaust details and then if you happen to have an extra Panther G turret, well you could use that to finish the job. Expensive yes, but what else can one do if you want this beast in plastic? Chris Schwach

where is the extra width, if the thing is too wide. That's why I said we'd have to wait for the thing to come out so we could see for ourselves. A Panther A air intake grill would not be that hard to make up. The master ID hull I have has four of them.....

Bruce;
Steve Faxon has made the grills for an A/D and cooling fans along with some exhausts as a seperate resin item in his line; as well as a useable Panther D turret. Chris Schwach

Of course, we are missing another aspect of this. How many will buy these not because they are 1/48, but because they are radio-controlled? Might be a good way to promote the scale.

Just went on my merry way to place a pre order for the Panther and i find that HLJ are not taking anymore pre-oders ...arrrggggghhhhhh

Will have to wait a bit longer now to see when the get confirmed supplies.

Acl - that will teach me to strike while the iron is hot.

Best

Paul