1:72 SdKfz 171 Panzer V "Panther", Syrian Army; Golan Heights, mid-1967

[Dizzyfugu]

Another small armor whif, this time from a much later period and built directly after the Skyspark. Lengthy entry, though.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Some background:
The Panther tank, officially Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (abbreviated PzKpfw V) with ordnance inventory designation Sd.Kfz. 171, was a German medium tank of World War II. It was used on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 to the end of the war. The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 medium tank and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. It is considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower, protection, and mobility although its reliability in early times were less impressive.
The Panther was a compromise. While having essentially the same Maybach V12 petrol (700 hp) engine as the Tiger I, it had better gun penetration, was lighter and faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tiger I. The trade-off was weaker side armor, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long-range engagements.

The Panther was far cheaper to produce than the heavy Tiger I. Key elements of the Panther design, such as its armor, transmission, and final drive, were simplifications made to improve production rates and address raw material shortages. Despite this the overall design remain described by some as "overengineered". The Panther was rushed into combat at the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 despite numerous unresolved technical problems, leading to high losses due to mechanical failure. Most design flaws were rectified by late 1943 and early 1944, though the bombing of production plants, increasing shortages of high-quality alloys for critical components, shortage of fuel and training space, and the declining quality of crews all impacted the tank's effectiveness.

Though officially classified as a medium tank, at 44.8 metric tons the Panther was closer to a heavy tank weight and the same category as the American M26 Pershing (41.7 tons), British Churchill (40.7 tons) and the Soviet IS-2 (46 tons) heavy tanks. The Panther's weight caused logistical problems, such as an inability to cross certain bridges, otherwise the tank had a very high power-to-weight ratio which made it highly mobile.

The Panther was only used marginally outside of Germany, mostly captured or recovered vehicles, some even after the war. Japan already received in 1943 a specimen for evaluation. During March–April 1945, Bulgaria received 15 Panthers of various makes (D, A, and G variants) from captured and overhauled Soviet stocks; they only saw limited (training) service use. In May 1946, Romania received 13 Panther tanks from the USSR, too.
After the war, France was able to recover enough operable vehicles and components to equip its army and offer vehicles for sale. The French Army's 503e Régiment de Chars de Combat was equipped with a force of 50 Panthers from 1944 to 1947, in the 501st and 503rd Tank Regiments. These remained in service until they were replaced by French-built ARL 44 heavy tanks.
In 1946, Sweden sent a delegation to France to examine surviving specimens of German military vehicles. During their visit, the delegates found a few surviving Panthers and had one shipped to Sweden for further testing and evaluation, which continued until 1961.

However, this was not the Panther's end of service. The last appearance by WWII German tanks on the world's battlefields came in 1967, when Syria's panzer force faced off against modern Israeli armor. Quite improbably, Syria had assembled a surprisingly wide collection of ex-Wehrmacht vehicles from a half-dozen sources over a decade and a half timeframe. This fleet consisted primarily of late production Panzer V, StuGIII and Jagdpanzer IVs, plus some Hummel SPAAGs and a handful Panthers. The tanks were procured from France, Spain, and Czechoslovakia, partly revamped before delivery.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

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:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


All of the Panthers Syria came from Czechoslovakia. Immediately after Germany's collapse in May 1945, the Soviet army established a staging area for surrendered German tanks at a former Wehrmacht barracks at Milovice, about 24 miles north of Prague, Czechoslovakia. By January 1946, a total of roughly 200 operational Panzer IVs and Panthers of varying versions were at this facility. Joining them was a huge cache of spare parts found at a former German tank repair depot in Teplice, along with ammunition collected from all over Czechoslovakia and the southern extremity of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany. Throughout 1946, the Czechoslovak government's clean-up of WWII battlefields recovered more than one hundred further tank wrecks, of which 80 were pieced back together to operational status and handed over to the Czechoslovakian Army,

In early 1948, the now-nationalized CKD Works began a limited upkeep of the tanks, many of which had not had depot-level overhauls since the war. A few were rebuilt with a Czechoslovak-designed steering system, but this effort was halted due to cost. These tanks remained operational in the Czechoslovak army until the end of 1954, when sufficient T-34s were available to phase them out.

A Syrian military delegation visited Prague from 8 April – 22 April 1955. An agreement was struck for the sale, amongst other items, of 45 Panzer IVs and 15 Panthers. Despite their obsolescence the Czechoslovaks were not about to just give the tanks away and demanded payment in a 'hard' western currency, namely British pounds. The cost was £4,500 each (£86,000 or $112,850 in 2016 money), far above what they were probably worth militarily, especially considering the limited amount of foreign currency reserves available to the Damascus government. The deal included refurbishment, a full ammunition loadout for each, and a limited number of spare parts. Nonetheless, the deal was closed, and the tanks' delivery started in early November 1955.

The Syrians were by that time already having dire problems keeping their French-sourced panzers operational, and in 1958, a second contract was signed with CKD Works for 15 additional Panzer IVs and 10 more Panthers, these being in lesser condition or non-operational, for use as spare parts hulks. An additional 16 refurbished Maybach engines for both types were also included in this contract, as well as more ammunition.

The refurbished Panthers for Syria had their original 7.5 cm KwK 42 L70 replaced with the less powerful Rheinmetall 7.5 cm KwK 40 L48 gun – dictated by the fact that this gun was already installed in almost all other Syrian tanks of German origin and rounds for the KwK 42 L70 were not available anymore. and the Panther's full ammo load was 87 rounds. The KwK 40 L48 fired a standard APCBC shell at 750 m/s and could penetrate 109 mm (4.3 in) hardened steel at 1.000 m range. This was enough to take out an M4 Sherman at this range from any angle under ideal circumstances. With an APCR shell the gun was even able to penetrate 130 mm (5.1 in) of hardened steel at the same distance.

Outwardly, the gun switch was only recognizable through the shorter barrel with a muzzle brake, the German WWII-era TZF.5f gunsight was retained by the Syrians. Additionally, there were two secondary machine guns, either MG-34s or MG-42s, one coaxial with the main gun and a flexible one in a ball mount in the tank's front glacis plate.
A few incomplete Panther hulls without turret were also outfitted with surplus Panzer IV turrets that carried the same weapon, but the exact share of them among the Syrian tanks is unknown – most probably less than five, and they were among the batch delivered in the course of the second contract from 1958.

As they had been lumped all together in Czechoslovak army service, the Syrians received a mixed bag of Panzer IV and Panther versions, many of them "half-breeds" or "Frankensteins". Many had the bow machine gun removed, either already upon delivery or as a later field modification, and in some cases the machine gun in the turret was omitted as well.
An obvious modification of the refurbished Czech export Panthers for Syria was the installation of new, lighter road wheels. These were in fact adapted T-54 wheels from Czechoslovakian license production that had just started in 1957 - instead of revamping the Panthers' original solid steel wheels, especially their rubberized tread surfaces, it was easier to replace them altogether, what also made spare parts logistics easier. The new wheels had almost the same diameter as the original German road wheels from WWII, and they were simply adapted to the Panther's attachment points of the torsion bar suspension's swing arms. Together with the lighter main gun and some other simplifications, the Syrian Panthers' empty weight was reduced by more than 3 tonnes.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Czechoslovaks furthermore delivered an adapter kit to mount a Soviet-made AA DShK 12.7mm machine gun to the commander cupola. This AA mount had originally been developed after WWII for the T-34 tank, and  these kits were fitted to all initial tanks of the 1955 order. Enough were delivered that some could be installed on a few of the Spanish- / French-sourced tanks, too.

It doesn't appear that the Czechoslovaks updated the radio fit on any of the ex-German tanks, and it's unclear if the Syrians installed modern Soviet radios. The WWII German Fu 5 radio required a dedicated operator (who also manned the bow machine gun); if a more modern system was installed not requiring a dedicated operator, this crew position could be eliminated altogether, what favored the deletion of the bow machine gun on many ex-German Syrian tanks. However, due to their more spacious hull and turret, many Panthers were apparently outfitted with a second radio set and used as command tanks – visible through a second whip antenna on the hull.

A frequent domestic Panther upgrade were side skirts to suppress dust clouds while moving and to prevent dust ingestion into the engines and clogged dust filters. There was no standardized solution, though, and solutions ranged from simple makeshift rubber skirts bolted to the tanks' flanks to wholesale transplants from other vehicles, primarily Soviet tanks. Some Panthers also had external auxiliary fuel tanks added to their rear, in the form of two 200 l barrels on metal racks of Soviet origin. These barrels were not directly connected with the Panther's fuel system, though, but a pump-and-hose kit was available to re-fuel the internal tanks from this on-board source in the field. When empty or in an emergency - the barrels were placed on top of the engine bay and leaking fuel quite hazardous - the barrels/tanks could be jettisoned by the crew from the inside.

Inclusive of the cannibalization hulks, Syria received a total of roughly 80 former German tanks from Czechoslovakia. However, at no time were all simultaneously operational and by 1960, usually only two or three dozen were combat-ready.
Before the Six Day War, the Syrian army was surprisingly unorganized, considering the amount of money being pumped into it. There was no unit larger than a brigade, and the whole Syrian army had a sort of "hub & spokes" system originating in Damascus, with every individual formation answering directly to the GHQ rather than a chain of command. The Panthers, Panzer IVs and StuG IIIs were in three independent tank battalions, grossly understrength, supporting the normal tank battalions of three infantry brigades (the 8th, 11th, and 19th) in the Golan Heights. The Jagdpanzer IVs were in a separate independent platoon attached to a tank battalion operating T-34s and SU-100s. How the Hummel SPGs were assigned is unknown.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The first active participation of ex-German tanks in Syrian service was the so-called "Water War". This was not really a war but rather a series of skirmishes between Israel and Syria during the mid-1960s. With increasing frequency starting in 1964, Syria emplaced tanks on the western slope of the Golan Heights, almost directly on the border, to fire down on Israeli irrigation workers and farmers in the Galilee region. Surprisingly (considering the small number available) Syria chose the Panzer IV for this task. It had no feature making it better or worse than any other tank; most likely the Syrians felt they were the most expendable tanks in their inventory as Israeli counterfire was expected. The panzers were in defilade (dug in) and not easy to shoot back at; due to their altitude advantage.

In 1964, Syria announced plans to divert 35% of the Jordan River's flow away from Israel, to deprive the country of drinking water. The Israelis responded that they would consider this an act of war and, true to their word, engaged the project's workers with artillery and sniper fire. Things escalated quickly; in 1965, Israeli M4 Shermans on Israeli soil exchanged fire with the Syrian Panzer IVs above inconclusively. A United Nations peacekeeping team ordered both sides to disengage from the border for a set period of time to "cool off", but the UN "Blue Berets" were detested and considered useless by both the Israelis and Syrians, and both sides used the lull to prepare their next move. When the cooling-off period ended, the Syrians moved Panzer IVs and now some Panthers, too, back into position. However, the IDF had now Centurion tanks waiting for them, with their fire arcs pre-planned out. The Cold War-era Centurion had heavy armor, a high-velocity 105mm gun, and modern British-made optics. It outclassed the WWII panzers in any imaginable way and almost immediately, two Syrian Panzer IVs and a Panther were destroyed. Others were abandoned by their crews and that was the end of the situation.

Syria's participation in the Six Say War that soon followed in 1967 war was sloppy and ultimately disastrous. Israel initially intended the conflict to be limited to a preemptive strike against Egypt to forestall an imminent attack by that country, with the possibility of having to fight Syria and Jordan defensively if they responded to the operations against Egypt. The war against Egypt started on 5 June 1967. Because of the poor organization of the Syrian army, news passed down from Damascus on the fighting in the Sinai was scarce and usually outdated by the time it reached the brigade level. Many Syrian units (including the GHQ) were using civilian shortwave radios to monitor Radio Cairo which was spouting off outlandish claims of imaginary Egyptian victories, even as Israeli divisions were steamrolling towards the Suez Canal.

Syrian vehicles of German origin during the Six Day War were either painted overall in beige or in a dark olive drab green. Almost all had, instead of tactical number codes, the name of a Syrian soldier killed in a previous war painted on the turret in white. During the Six Day War, no national roundel was typically carried, even though the Syrian flag was sometimes painted to the turret flanks. However just as the conflict was starting, white circles were often painted onto the top sides of tanks as quick ID markings for aircraft, and some tanks had red recognition triangles added to the side areas: Syrian soldiers were notoriously trigger-happy, and the decreased camouflage effect was likely cancelled out by the reduced odds of being blasted by a comrade!

During the evening of 5 June, Syrian generals in Damascus urged the government to take advantage of the situation and mount an immediate invasion of Israel. Planning and preparation were literally limited to a few hours after midnight, and shortly after daybreak on 6 June, Syrian commanders woke up with orders to invade Israel. The three infantry brigades in the Golan, backed up by several independent battalions, were to spearhead the attack as the rest of the Syrian army mobilized.
There was no cohesion at all: Separate battalions began their advance whenever they happened to be ready to go, and brigades went forward, missing subunits that lagged behind. A platoon attempting a southern outflank maneuver tried to ford the Jordan River in the wrong spot and was washed away. According to a KGB report, at least one Syrian unit "exhibited cowardice" and ignored its orders altogether.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


On 7 June, 24 hours into their attack, Syrian forces had only advanced 2 miles into Israel. On 8 June, the IDF pushed the Syrians back to the prewar border and that afternoon, Israeli units eliminated the last Egyptian forces in the Sinai and began a fast redeployment of units back into Israel. Now the Syrians were facing serious problems.
On 9 June, Israeli forces crossed into the Golan Heights. They came by the route the Syrians least expected, an arc hugging the Lebanese border. Now for the first time, Syria's panzers (considered too slow and fragile for the attack) were encountered. The next day, 10 June 1967, was an absolute rout as the Syrians were being attacked from behind by IDF units arcing southwards from the initial advance, plus Israel's second wave coming from the west. It was later estimated that Syria lost between 20-25% of its total military vehicle inventory in a 15-hour span on 10 June, including eight Panthers. A ceasefire was announced at midnight, ending Syria's misadventure. Syria permanently lost the Golan Heights to Israel.

By best estimate, Syria had just five Panthers and twenty-five Panzer IVs fully operational on 6 June 1967, with maybe another ten or so tanks partially operational or at least functional enough to take into combat. Most – if not all – of the ex-French tanks were probably already out of service by 1967, conversely the entire ex-Spanish lot was in use, along with some of the ex-Czechoslovak vehicles. The conflict's last kill was on 10 June 1967 when a Panzer IV was destroyed by an Israeli M50 Super Sherman (an M4 Sherman hull fitted with a new American engine, and a modified turret housing Israeli electronics and a high-velocity French-made 75mm gun firing HEAT rounds). Like the Centurion, the Super Sherman outclassed the Panzer IV, and the Panther only fared marginally better.

Between 1964-1973 the USSR rebuilt the entire Syrian military from the ground up, reorganizing it along Warsaw Pact lines and equipping it with gear strictly of Soviet origin. There was no place for ex-Wehrmacht tanks and in any case, Czechoslovakia had ended spares & ammo support for the Panzer IV and the Panthers, so the types had no future. The surviving tanks were scrapped in Syria, except for a single Panzer IV survivor sold to a collector in Jordan.


Specifications:
    Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio operator)
    Weight: 50 tonnes (55.1 long tons; 45.5 short tons)
    Length: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in) hull only
                  7.52 m (24 ft 7¾  in) overall with gun facing forward
    Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in) hull only
                 3,70 m (12 ft 1¾ in) with retrofitted side skirts
    Height: 2.99 m (9 ft 10 in)'
    Ground clearance: 56 cm (22 in)
    Suspension: Double torsion bar, interleaved road wheels
    Fuel capacity: 720 liters (160 imp gal; 190 US gal),
                              some Syrian Panthers carried two additional external 200 l fuel drums

Armor:
    15–80 mm (0.6 – 3.93 in)

Performance:
    Maximum road speed: 56 km/h (35 mph)
    Operational range: 250 km (160 mi) on roads; 450 km (280 mi)with auxiliary fuel tanks
                                       100 km (62 mi) cross-country
    Power/weight: 14 PS (10.1 kW)/tonne (12.7 hp/ton)

Engine & transmission:
    Maybach HL230 V-12 gasoline engine with 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)
    ZF AK 7-200 gearbox with 7 forward 1 reverse gear

Armament:
    1× 7,5 cm KwK 40 (L/48) with 87 rounds
    2× 7.92 mm MG 34 or 42, or similar machine guns;
         one co-axial with the main gun, another in the front glacis plate
         with a total of 5.100 rounds (not always mounted)
         Provision for a 12.7 mm DShK or Breda anti-aircraft machine gun on the commander cupola


The kit and its assembly:
A rather exotic what-if model, even though it's almost built OOB. Inspiration came when I stumbled upon the weird Syrian Panzer IVs that were operated against Israel during the Six Day War – vehicles you would not expect there, and after more than 20 years after WWII:



But when I did some more research, I was surprised about the numbers and the variety of former German tanks that Syria had gathered from various European countries, and it made me wonder if the Panther could not have been among this shaggy fleet, too?

I had a surplus Dragon Panther Spähpanzer in The Stash™, to be correct a "PzBeobWg V Ausf. G", an observation and artillery fire guidance conversion that actually existed in small numbers, and I decided to use it as basis for this odd project. The Dragon kit has some peculiarities, though: its hull is made from primed white metal and consists of an upper and lower half that are held together by small screws! An ambiguous design, because the parts do not fit as good as IP parts, so that the model has a slightly die-cast-ish aura. PSR is necessary at the seams, but due to the metal it's not easy to do. Furthermore, you have to use superglue everywhere, just as on a resin kit. On the other side, surface details are finely molded and crisp, even though many bits have to be added manually. However, the molded metal pins that hold the wheels are very robust and relatively thin – a feature I exploited for a modified running gear (see below).

For the modified Panther in my mind I had to retrograde the turret back to a late standard turret with mantlet parts left over from a Hasegawa kit – they fitted perfectly! The PzBeobWg V only comes with a stubby gun barrel dummy. But I changed the armament, anyway, and implanted an aftermarket white metal and brass KwK 40 L48, the weapon carried by all Syrian Panzer IVs, the Jagdpanzer IVs as well as the StuG IIIs. This standardization would IMHO make sense, even if it meant a performance downgrade from the original, longer KwK 42 L70.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


For a Syrian touch, inspired by installations on the Panzer IVs, I added a mount for a heavy DShK machine gun on the commander's cupola, which is a resin aftermarket kit from Armory Models Group (a kit that consists of no less than five fiddly parts for just a tiny machine gun!).
To change and modernize the Panther's look further, I gave it side skirts, leftover from a ModelCollect T-72 kit, which had to be modified only slightly to fit onto the molded side skirt consoles on the Panther's metal hull. A further late addition were the fuel barrels from a Trumpeter T-54 kit that I stumbled upon when I looked for the skirts among my pile of tank donor parts. Even though they look like foreign matter on the Panther's tail, their high position is plausible and similar to the original arrangement on many Soviet post-WWII tanks. The whip antennae on turret and hull were created with heated black sprue material.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

 
As a modern feature and to change the Panther's overall look even more, I replaced its original solid "dish" road wheels with T-54/55 "starfish" wheels, which were frequently retrofitted to T-34-85s during the Fifties. These very fine aftermarket resin parts (all real-world openings are actually open, and there's only little flash!) came from OKB Grigorovich from Bulgaria. The selling point behind this idea is/was that the Panther and T-54/55 wheels have almost the same diameter: in real life it's 860 vs. 830 mm, so that the difference in 1:72 is negligible. Beneficially, the aftermarket wheels came in two halves, and these were thin enough to replace the Panther's interleaved wheels without major depth problems.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Adapting the parts to the totally different wheel arrangement was tricky, though, especially due to the Dragon kit's one-piece white metal chassis that makes any mods difficult. My solution: I retained the inner solid wheels from the Panther (since they are hardly visible in the "3rd row"), plus four pairs of T-54/55 wheels for the outer, more rows of interleaved wheels. The "inner" T-54/55 wheel halves were turned around, received holes to fit onto the metal suspension pins and scratched hub covers. The "outside" halves were taken as is but received 2 mm spacer sleeves on their back sides (styrene tube) for proper depth and simply to improve their hold on the small and rounded metal pin tips. This stunt worked better than expected and looks really good, too!



1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Painting and markings:
Basically very simple, and I used pictures of real Syrian Panzer IVs as benchmark. I settled for the common green livery variant, and though simple and uniform, I tried to add some "excitement" to it and attempted to make old paint shine through. The hull's lower surface areas were first primed with RAL 7008 (Khakigrau, a rather brownish tone), then the upper surfaces were sprayed with a lighter sand brown tone, both applied from rattle cans.
 
On top of that, a streaky mix of Revell 45 and 46 – a guesstimate for the typical Syrian greyish, rather pale olive drab tone - was thinly applied with a soft, flat brush, so that the brownish tones underneath would shine through occasionally. Once dry, the layered/weathered effect was further emphasized through careful vertical wet-sanding and rubbing on all surfaces with a soft cotton cloth.
The rubber side skirts were painted in anthracite and the dry-brushed with light grey and beige acrylics.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The model then received an overall washing with a highly thinned mix of grey and dark brown acrylic artist paint. The vinyl tracks (as well as the IP spare track links on the hull) were painted, too, with a mix of grey, red brown and iron, all acrylic paints, too, that do not interact chemically with the soft vinyl.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The decals/markings are minimal; the Arabian scribble on the turret (must be a name?), using the picture of a Syrian Panzer IV as benchmark, was painted in white by hand, as well as the white circle on the turret roof. The orange ID triangles are a nice contrast, even though I was not able to come up with real-life visual evidence for them. I just found a color picture of a burned T-34-85 wreck with them, suggesting that the color was a dull orange red and not florescent orange, as claimed in some sources. I also found illustrations of the triangles as part of 1:35 decal sets for contemporary Syrian T-34-85s from FC Model Trend and Star Models, where they appear light red. For the model, they were eventually cut out from decal sheet material (TL-Modellbau, in a shade called "Rotorange", what appears to be a good compromise).

Dry-brushing with light grey and beige to further emphasize edges and details followed. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic vanish overall, and some additional very light extra dry-brushing with silver was done to simulate flaked paint. Dirt and rust residues were added here and there with watercolors. After final assembly, the lower areas of the model were furthermore powdered with mineral pigments to simulate dust.


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Sd.Kfz. 171 Panzerkampfwagen V ,Panther'; Syrian Army's 11th Infantry Brigade; Tel-Dan (Golan Heights), during the Six Day War, mid-1967 (Whif/modified Dragon kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The idea of a modernized WWII Panther: a simple idea that turned into a major conversion. With the resin DShK machine gun and T-54/55 wheel set the costs of this project escalated a little, but in hindsight I find that the different look and the mix of vintage German and modern Soviet elements provide this Panther with that odd touch that sets it apart from a simple paint/marking variation? I really like the outcome, and I think that the effort was worthwhile - this fictional Panther shoehorns well into its intended historical framework. 

[NARSES2]

I like that Dizzy 

I read about the Syrian Panzer IV's, but not seen a photo before and that one you've posted is fascinating

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you. I think it's from an Israeli tank museum - but here's a picture of a Syrian Panzer IV from the late Sixties, next to a T-34-85... Reality can be stranger than fiction!

[NARSES2]

Thank you. I think it's from an Israeli tank museum - but here's a picture of a Syrian Panzer IV from the late Sixties, next to a T-34-85... Reality can be stranger than fiction!

Thanks Dizzy. If memory serves I read about them just after the Six Day War when quite a few books came out, and I was very impressionable, and the text purely talked about them as being dug in on the Golan Heights, almost as pillboxes.

[scooter]

The WT nerds are going to have fits when this gets posted to their forums   

[rickshaw]

Thank you. I think it's from an Israeli tank museum - but here's a picture of a Syrian Panzer IV from the late Sixties, next to a T-34-85... Reality can be stranger than fiction!

Most of the Syrian vehicles originated in Bulgaria and Spain IIRC.  Their use by 1967 was extremely limited, most being used as immobile pillboxes on the Golan.  Their engines were basically shot and they couldn't move much.

[Old Wombat]

The photo is fairly old but it would be from the Latrun Museum in Israel.

The Israelis have a very large & eclectic collection of AFVs there.

[Wardukw]

Love it Dizzy 
I would call this a slight wiff ..it's all totally feasible..the Sryians did have the Panzer IVs and Stug IVs and I'm pretty damn sure I have seen a pic of a Hummel in Syrian markings yet after that I haven't a idea what happened to those.