Reply To: Panther Tank

[a27cromwell 3188xp 0]

Early D had letter box flap bow MG , fuel drum looking commander’s cupola , the message  port on the turret as well as 3 pistol ports  ( early Tiger II Porsche turret had these as well ) .Then message port welded closed , then removed . Pistol ports removed next  . Just like the Tiger I , the panther seemed to have cosmetic  changes / mechanical  up grades about every 25 to 30 tanks built on the assembly line . IRC , the Panther had about 8 variations of the exhaust pipe setup ,wtf ?  Plus you had them  adding older parts left in stock to the newest version of tank being built , really making it a PIA to identify the date of manufacture . Lots of great books out there if you want to go deep into details , Panzer Tracks , Nuts & Bolts , or go cheap with Squadron/ Signal or Osprey paperbacks if your not to much of a rivet counter