I don't really feel cheated by CH I preordered mine and paid $39 or $41 for it I really can not remember I know I bought another kit I had wanted and drove the price up past the minimum for free shipping which I think was $50. It was a birthday present anyway I am very happy with it. I just believe that dragon is really working us with all these different variations of the same tank. All of them have very slight modifications. It is getting fairly monotonous with the variation thing IMHO. I know there are those out there that really love this aspect of the modeling hobby and I applaud you. To me it is like knowing the ERA of the relief pitcher of the 6th game of the 56 world seriers. Not my cup of tea. I really dislike it when a first rate product is devalued because of, for lack of a better word, greed. If there was new tooling or different "anything" that increased the fit or detail of the kit I would feel different. Slapping steel wheels in it that came from another already produced kit is in my opinion lazy.

Prototype turrets and hulls were built, and several Panther F hulls were on the production line alongside the final Ausf. G hulls when the Russians walked into the factory outside Berlin in May, 1945. The issue records up to the war's last few weeks indicate that only G models were actually delivered, though there is a tiny possibility that an F tank or two made it out the door, as records are missing for the last few days the factory operated. If they did, the tanks would have had telescopic sights only, as the stereoscopic rangefinders were never delivered by Zeiss. Likewise, they probably would have had the rubber rimmed wheels, as there don't appear to have been any steel wheels onhand, according to Jentz. And as I said above, the steel wheels were deemed too harsh for the standard Panther tracks and had been discontinued the previous year. The original 1990's Dragon kit was based on incorrect turret drawings made before a Panther F turret shell was discovered on the firing range at Larkhill in the UK. It also had a standard Ausf G hull, rather than the revised hull for the F. The more recent Cyberhobby kit had a choice of a G hull (for a test vehicle) or an F hull, and had the rubber rimmed tires. This new kit has the steel wheels instead.[/quote] The tale of any Ausf. F getting produced is even more interesting. Officials while being questioned testified that MAN never deliverd any Ausf. F Panther, but that Daimler Benz HAD delivered some Ausf. F hulls with Ausf. G turrets. The most fascinating bit is this howver, these Panthers would be equiped with steel rimmed wheels in staggered pairs. Regular Panther running gear is interleaved, not staggerd.

Could this be just a case of language mistranslation at the time? Not every interigator would have be fluent in German. Wouldn't staggered pairs mean a hull production line change, that would have delayed the delivery more? Just some thoughts on my part.

Could this be just a case of language mistranslation at the time? Not every interigator would have be fluent in German. Wouldn't staggered pairs mean a hull production line change, that would have delayed the delivery more? Just some thoughts on my part.[/quote] I think not, my idea is that any interogation carried out was done by those people who are fluent in German, so that any information given by their German prisoners is interpreted entirely correct. And as to shifting production from Ausf. G to Ausf. F, pictures clearly show that this didn't happen at the end of the production of the Ausf. G, but that Ausf. F hulls were delivered and entered the production line intermixed. Point being, that the turret-ring would take both the older Ausf. A/G turret as well as the Schmalturm. It is very well likely that when production switched from the Ausf. A to the Ausf. G, this same type of mixed production occured, only we don't see it in the finished products, since both chassis mounted the same turret. Therefore, and as I consider a fluent interpreter a must be attendee at any interrogation, I consider the statements given to be accurate. Thusly... marvelously interesting.

Definitely marvelously interesting... That said, I'm a bit on the fence about this "staggered steel wheels" business though. As attractive an idea it is, in some of my vexillogical historical research, I've seen examples where written descriptions have been clearly misinterpreted and led researchers down the wrong path. This is to say nothing of the examples I am thinking of, these examples didn't even have the added problem of interpretation and translation from one language to another. So I am willing to consider that "staggered steel wheels" could simply mean the usual steel wheels that we all know and nothing more. That being said, stranger things have happened, and the possibility that Panther F hulls might have been constructed with an E-50 suspension is very enticing. As was pointed out some time ago in an email to me from Herbert, the use of this suspension would have added extra room for extra rounds, another good reason for proceeding with it. I would love to see a Panther F built up with this type of suspension and hope that Herbert will hurry up on it! I'd love to attempt it myself, but I just don't have the requisite knowledge to even attempt it. I just know I'd get a lot wrong. So Herbert, if you ever do this, please document your build and present it here as an article! Now about this new kit: I own three of the C-H kits, but am relieved to see the new DML Panther F. I was actually very close to purchasing a steel wheel Panther kit in order to use the steel wheels with one of the C-H kits. Won't have to do that now! Hope it comes out soon!

You can say anything about German engineering, but they DID have the balls to admit that even their most prized and proud designs, the Tiger and Panther, had serious design-flaws. And about the Panther-F (Neue Art shall we say.....) the biggest hurdle to take is the tracks, I have nothing on the trackface, only have a drawing showing the inner surface with the central teeth.

Any educated guesses about these tracks? BTW, Dragon USA charged my card for SW Panther F. Does that mean it's ready to ship? I was under the impression that they don't charge until one's order is ready to go, but I might be mistaken.

I heard it's ready for an August shipment. Mine was charged too and I read that from an ebayer that is pre-ordering it.

Mine got here a short time ago. Looks good. I believe I am going to start this tomorrow as I rather like the look of the steel wheels on a Panther F. Definitely will do it in all olivgrun. Glancing at the instructions, there are options for "Early" and "Late" suspension arms. I'll have to compare that to my Panzer Tracts booklets in order to determine which would be "correct." Instructions also illustrate schemes for SW Panther Fs, listing them mainly as "Unidentified Unit, Berlin 1945" which seems a bit odd for something that's a "What If?" kit. Having said that, I like entertaining the possibility that one or two may have gotten out the door in the last days of the war and I'd like my build to reflect that possibility, instead of the "Afrika Korps 1947" etc. Sci-Fi builds. At a glance, the kit looks to have a complete set of rubber-tyred roadwheels, so for those of you that missed out on the original C-H Panther F, looks like you're in luck. Also, it does have both the G and F hulls. And to think that I bought three original C-H Panther Fs on the notion that they would never be available again... Whatever the case, I'm an easy guy to please, so rather than complain, I'll just say that this is a bonus for all of us.