Several years ago, Hasegawa released a plastic kit of the Panther II, which unfortunately was completely inaccurate as a Panther II. As far as I know, this re-released resin kit from CPL Overby's is the only other Panther II available, and unlike the Hasegawa kit, this one accurately represents this prototype tank, which was never completed prior to the end of the war. Recently (2012) Cpl Overby released
an updated, corrected version of this kit.
The main hull for this kit is a heavily
modified Hasegawa Panther G hull, with thicker armor plates added,
and engine deck and other details correctly altered to represent the
Panther II. While I like the changes made to the engine deck, I think
that the upper deck with the crew hatches could have been a little
better, because it is off-center (too far to the left). The only drawings
I have of this tank doesn't indicate that this is accurate. The other details molded onto the hull, such as the spare track links, the gun travel lock, the armored episcope covers, and the gun cleaning rod storage tube all look very good. The running gear, which was the main weak part of the Hasegawa kit, is correctly represented here as a modified set of Tiger II wheels (from the ESCI King Tiger kit), along with altered Panther tracks. There are a couple of air bubbles needing to be filled on some of the wheel hubs, but otherwise, the resin casting is very good. The turret has very nice detail to it,
and again, unlike the Hasegawa kit, is accurate in size, shape and
detail, with one exception. The turret roof slopes downward to the
front, when in fact, it should be a constant height from front to
back. I think a simple fix to this problem can be had by adding a
spacer under the front edge of the turret, and filling behind it,
smoothing it back to the turret rear. This should correct the turret
height nicely. Again, considering the simplicity of the kit assembly, this model may appeal to wargamers in particular, but with just a little extra effort, it should build into a nicely detailed, and accurate, Panther II. Thank you very much to CPL Ken Overby for providing the review kit.
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