M1 Panther II
Mineclearing Tank
1/35 Kit No. 00346
Review by Terry Ashley

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The main detail differences between the IPM1 and later M1A1/M1A2 vehicles is that the IPM1 did not have the NBC over pressurization system fitted to the left hull sponson and there were sponson storage boxes located on both sides of the hull top.
The head light guards were the early straight type which differs from the later type which incorporated a distinct step and the rear engine deck didn’t have the two small inspection hatches as included on M1A1/A2 engine decks and the front fenders didn’t have the X stamping on the outer section as again included on M1A1/A2 fenders

The Kit:
Trumpeter are the first with their M1 Panther II kit with Dragon to release their kit later in the year so without wasting time lets see how Trumpeter faired in depicting the Panther II?

The kit consists of 462 parts in dark green plastic plus a length of twine, some fine chain for the mine plough, a length of copper wire and some vinyl tubing and clear inserts for the driver’s hatch periscopes plus a small decal sheet.

Most of the parts are from Trumpeter’s previous M1A1/A2 kits (00334, 00335, 00336 and 00337) with the lower and upper hull, Sprue A (road wheels), Sprue C and the tracks being common to all kits with the mine rollers (sprue H) is from kit 00336 and the mine plough (sprue E) from kit 00335 with one new sprue (J) with parts for the Panther II.

The quality of the moulding is very good with well defined details and includes the non-slip surfaces on the upper hull as well as separate engine deck, front fenders and lightening holes in the drive sprockets, while the hull features separate axles and suspension parts with the wheels held in place with poly caps. I’m sure most modellers with an interest in the Abrams will be familiar with Trumpeter’s kits but if you wanted a detailed rundown on how they stack up with the others available then check the excellent M1 kit comparison at Vodnik’s Place.

So did Trumpeter get the details correct for the IPM1 based Panther II?
They have addressed one of the alterations needed by including a second sponson box cover and the instructions indicate to sand off the armoured covers for the NBC system and replace with the new cover but the side mounted NBC panel (part C28) is still included and the instructions show to fit this to the model. This should be left off and the side drain hole added while you need to fill the cut-out for the fire extinguisher handle and relocate this approximately 15mm further forward on the hull side.

A new engine deck is included (part J1) but this unfortunately still has the two rear inspection hatches included but again this is easy to deal with by filling the engraved outline and sanding off the hatch detail. For some reason the new engine deck doesn’t include the non-slip surface as does the rest of the hull and this looks a little out of place.

The front fenders still have the X stamping but again a bit of filling and sanding will fix this while the head light guards are still the later stepped type and will need to be replaced.

All this means the main adjustments needed on the M1A1/A2 parts to depict the IPM1 have been missed but are not that difficult to remedy.

The new parts on sprue J include fairly thin bars for the storage rack but care will be needed removing these from the sprue and in fitting while the .50cal MG is quite nice with the gun mount included with the gun but with a separate mount and ammo box while the Commander’s cupola has separate periscopes plus a water can and five equipment packs.

The tracks are also the same as with the previous kits and give you a choice of vinyl continuous length ‘big foot’ track which have nice details included but there are two raised pin ejector marks on the inside of each link or plastic link and length tracks which again have nice detail but also have the pin ejector marks to be removed from each link.

The mine plough and roller assemblies are quite well detailed and include the lengths of chain and vinyl tubing for added detailing but you will need to decide which you are going to use as they use different mounting brackets on the hull front but overall these are very intricate assemblies that should look good when assembled.

Conclusion:
While the basic kit is quite nice as are all the Trumpeter Abrams kits they haven’t nailed the features of the IPM1 hull but the work needed to rectify this isn’t a great deal. The inclusion of the mine plough or roller unit is a nice bonus and I guess we will have to wait and see what Dragon do with their kit to see which is the better.

The Sprues:

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Page created 30 April 2004