Cyber-Hobby 1/35  Befehls Panther Ausf G

The most important Medium German tank in the last two years of WWII had to be the Panther. Based on information gleaned from Soviet T-34s, on paper, the Panther was superior to it and many other Allied tanks. However, it was rushed into production after some concentrated in-fighting between the design team and the army. It was overweight for the transmission, causing many failures and the loss of otherwise complete tanks. Despite that, it was developed into a superlative tank and can easily be said to be the basis for most post war armor. Even tanks of today can base some of their design on what was learned from the Panther.

Of the many variants of tank built, one was the command tank. This vehicle was equipped with additional radios to help co-ordinate action on the battlefield and can be identified by the larger 'umbrella' antenna on the back of the tank. This was pretty much standard stuff for the German army as they often modified extant vehicles to perform this role.

Typical of Dragon's Smart Kits, this one has a ton of features, including many newly tooled bits and pieces. I'll let the PR guys at Dragon spell this all out as I'd undoubtedly miss something.

Of course, the Magic Tracks make up a sizeable portion of the hundreds of parts in this kit as does the operating suspension. The usual photo-etch option is always welcome as is the fact that you don't have to use it if you are not comfortable with this medium. The instructions use the usual Gunze paint references, something that is becoming more and more difficult to find in the US since the company pulled out. There is only one markings option provided. It is an overall panzer yellow with large areas of Brown and Green. It is from an unidentified units in Germany during 1945 and has no distinguishing markings. Judging that nearly 400 were converted in two years, you'd think there would be a photo of one somewhere.

Another superb armor kit and one that I know you will enjoy building. Dragon and Cyber-Hobby kits probably offer more parts per dollar than just about any other. This all goes to providing you with the best that can be made.

Scott Van Aken

July 2009

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the preview kit. Get yours today at your local shop or on-line retailer.

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