In many respects, the Panther tank was viewed as the finest armored fighting vehicle of the Second World War. Based in large part upon the Soviet's highly successful T-34 medium tank, the PzKpfw V Ausfuhrung G was built by several manufacturers including MAN, Daimler-Benz and MNH. Mounting a fearsome 7.5cm KwK42 L/70 cannon and two 7.92mm MG34 machineguns, the Panther Ausf. G represented the third and certainly the most impressive installment in the Panther series.

The weight of the production model was increased to 43 tons from the original plans for a 35 ton tank. Hitler had personally reviewed the final designs and insisted on an increase in the thickness of the frontal armor - the front glacis plate was increased from 60mm to 80mm and the turret front plate was increased from 80mm to 100mm.

Once the problems caused by the vulnerability of the engine and the transmission were solved, it proved to be a very effective fighting vehicle. The crew was made up of five members: driver, radio operator (who also fired the bow machine gun), gunner, loader, and commander.

The initial Ausf. D and early Ausf. A models used a "letterbox" flap opening, through which the machine gun was fired. In later Ausf A and all Ausf G models (starting in late November-early December 1943), a ball mount in the glacis plate with a K.Z.F.2 machine gun sight was installed for the hull machine gun.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale German Late Version Sd. Kfz. 171 PzKpfw V Panther Ausf. D medium tank that was attached to 1./Panzer Regiment.2, 16.Panzer Division, that was deployed to Russia during 1943. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 4-3/4-inches
Width: 2-inches

Release Date: February 2015

Historcial Account: "Split Personality" - The 16.Panzer Division served as a reserve in Romania during the Balkans campaign in 1941. It then participated in Operation Barbarossa with Army Group South, also in 1941. A kampfgruppe of 16.Panzer Division, lead by Count Strachwitz, reached the outskirts of Stalingrad on August 23rd, 1942, brushing aside the sole Soviet defenses, anti-aircraft guns manned by female factory workers (possibly the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment). The 16.Panzer Division was encircled and ultimately destroyed at Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-43.

It was rebuilt for a campaign in the west, fought in Sicily and southern Italy during the Italian Campaign in 1943 and returned to the Russian Front later in the year. Severely mauled near Kiev, it was withdrawn to Poland for rehabilitation in 1944. The 16.Panzer Division returned to the east in 1945, where it surrendered to the Soviets and Americans in Czechoslovakia.