Bulldozer - Ramschaufelpanzer Panther

Today I would like to present the work which was prepared in the end of 2008 for publisher in Poland but unfortunately it didn’t come out. Here it is:

Bulldozer

Another Panther?

No, it’s too much, I’ve had it ...
   Somehow I got bored with these vehicles, though undoubtedly a great figure and diversity of painting. What can be done with a model that has already been shown in all possible options and versions?  Something original ... Tough ... It took several days and finally I came across this "something". Bulldozer cleaning streets with debris - a plow, a tower without a barrel, and a variety of painting (at least the possibility of do), most probably compilation of several other tanks. Superb!

On the Internet  I found only two pictures of the vehicle - two shots show the front of the vehicle, the left and right sides. Basing on the opinions from the discussions forums I was able to determine that  tank was the only one ever made in this configuration. She was called Ramschaufelpanzer Panther. It was a rather random projection for removing rubble from German cities because originally chassis of Pz.Kpfw. III i IV were supposed to be used as Panzer-Straßenräumgerät.

    Analyzing the images I can conclude that the hull is a D version, most likely without zimmerit, with the tower of the same version, but with the zimmerit (it seems to me that this is a pattern with vertical rows, divided into squares) and other camouflage. Probably the tower was removed from a wrecked vehicle, which went to the maintenance workshops. The gun was probably removed to use it in another vehicle, it is also possible that the designers wanted to avoid its demage by fragments of falling and crumbling ruins.  If we accept the version that the parts of the tank come from wrecked vehicles, it can be concluded that the Panther could be destroyed sooner. On the available photographs I don’t see clearly whether the hole in the barrel was blocked by anything. I decided to cover it.

   Another important element are the tools that are generally visible on the sides of the Panthers. In this case, sides of the vehicle are clearly visible, but there is nothing on them besides  the standard hangers. It is possible that they were transported to the rear of the engine, or simply lost by the crew while using the bulldozer. There are many of possibilities. I decided to use the tools in a very loose configuration, which is why some of them are hanging in its place, while others are scattered in various places on the model.

    While the front of the plow is clearly visible, its attachment is complete science fiction. At the time of writing this article I found on the Internet  resin converion  allowing  the construction of this particular model. Plough is based on four brackets bolted to the hull. A similar solution has been applied by me. The front of the plow has a characteristic plate on the left. Perhaps there was some damage which the mechanics repaired by a large piece of metal? Who knows?

   To make the painting easier I put the pics into Corel and found that the tower was probably painted with sand color and wide green spots. The hull was a bigger problem. The  bright marks on the front I suppose were painted with sand. And what color should the body be painted ? Something dark - red or green. As you can see I decided for red. Why? First, it is possibly that this was so, and secondly, the various shades of red gave the opportunity to diversify and revitalize the model blocks. I found that the whole tank should be painted with sand stripes.

    For the construction I used Dragon’s  Panther D Premium (6299). Additionally, the model is enriched with Friulmodel tracks (ATL-33), which gave the opportunity for workable chassis. In addition, photo-etched parts were used. Zimmerit was performed by Tamiya’s  putty. In addition Archer dry decal was added to the fire extinguisher. The plow was build using plastic sheets with some alluminum plates and pieces of thin rod. Tent is a piece of tissue with wood glue.

For painting I used Vallejo Model Color paints and enamels from Model Master Authentic  Series. Weathering and chemical works were done using MIG products.

The kit is a part of private collection.
 

 

P.S. Today after showing this kit on the M-L Constuctive Comments Forum, I received the link (thank you Tony!) with 3rd archive picture. It comes from www.forum.panzer-archiv.de and here it is: