1/35 Modified German Pattern 75mm-gun Type 5 Tank Kuroi-hyō - FINISHED

[Weaver]

"Which side of the road do you drive your tank on?"

"MY SIDE...."


Nice project! 

I've never thought about which side of a tank the driver sits.  Now i'm going to have to look at making sure all PDRV armour is RH drive.  Which side do Russians drive on?

Probably a significant factor in why the FV432 never sold: driver and commander on the right.

[Old Wombat]

Thanks, Weaver!

[zenrat]

"Which side of the road do you drive your tank on?"

"MY SIDE...."


Nice project! 

I've never thought about which side of a tank the driver sits.  Now i'm going to have to look at making sure all PDRV armour is RH drive.  Which side do Russians drive on?

Probably a significant factor in why the FV432 never sold: driver and commander on the right.

Who needs roads where we're going...

[nighthunter]

"Which side of the road do you drive your tank on?"

"MY SIDE...."


Nice project! 

I've never thought about which side of a tank the driver sits.  Now i'm going to have to look at making sure all PDRV armour is RH drive.  Which side do Russians drive on?

Probably a significant factor in why the FV432 never sold: driver and commander on the right.

Who needs roads where we're going...

"Where we're going, we don't need roads." -Doc Brown and every TC and Driver since 1989

[Old Wombat]

A few snippets of back story as posted on BtS:

- Construction is going to have been undertaken by several shipyards which, as far as the Allies could tell from reconnaissance, had been forced to shut down.

- As it was only four units were sent to China for battle testing against the Soviets, where they performed better than German experience had led the IJA High Command to expect. All were damaged to some extent during the testing but none incapacitated & they proved to be more than a match for the Soviet T-34-85's they came up against. Those same four tanks were returned to Japan & were part of the forty Kuroi-hyō tank force that helped smash the poorly prepared Soviet invasion of Hokkaido in August 1945.

- Another two Kuroi-hyō were tested during the Battle of Saipan, where the tanks again exceeded expectations. One vehicle was disabled & destroyed in place using a US 500lb bomb which had failed to detonate when dropped on the Japanese forces. The other was driven off the cliffs, into the ocean at an undisclosed location prior to the Japanese surrender & not discovered until 1978 by tourists scuba-diving off the island.

[Rick Lowe]

Cool! Sounds interesting.

[Old Wombat]

She's been on the painting table this evening & has a coat of Tamiya XF-13 J. A. Green over almost everything (hopefully with the exception of my wife's white Nissan Qashqai).

So, here I sit with nothing to do on her until tomorrow, when I'll check to see if she needs another coat (in which case I'll have to go & buy some more paint - the surface area of the Panther is HUGE!).

Then it's on to the camo; a 50/50 mix of XF-10 Flat Brown & XF-64 Red Brown, followed by a mix of XF-49 Khaki, XF-55 Deck Tan & XF-60 Dark Yellow to make an approximation of the Japanese tan colour (apparently called "Parched Grass").

Followed by chucking all the final bits on & taking a few photo's. May take a few photo's before that, though.

[Old Wombat]

OK. The base camouflage is down.

Not overly happy with my rendition of a Japanese camo scheme but I'm leaving it as is. However, I am going to have to do something about the Nisshōki (a.k.a. the Hinomaru), which I'll have to fix by hand.

Anyway, here are some pic's for you to peruse:










Cheers!

[rickshaw]

Lookin' good!   

[zenrat]

Looking good Womby.

[Old Wombat]

Thank you, gentlemen!

[NARSES2]

Looking good Womby.

Tis indeed.

My brain is struggling to see a "Panther" without a muzzle brake but that's all part of Wiffery (and old age) 

[Dizzyfugu]

You could also add some yellow stripes to the camouflage as an extra Japanese touch? Looking good, even though I have my doubts about the huge and heavy Panther entereing Japanese army service? But I like the concept. 

[nighthunter]

Produced by Toyota for the expected American invasion...

[Old Wombat]

Thank you, gents!

Produced by Toyota for the expected American invasion...

Only if Toyota built battleships.

You could also add some yellow stripes to the camouflage as an extra Japanese touch? Looking good, even though I have my doubts about the huge and heavy Panther entereing Japanese army service? But I like the concept. 

Not sure about the yellow stripes - I never understood them. Maybe lots of little pink spots? After all, doesn't every battle in Japan occur in Spring with the cherry blossoms dropping their petals to be blown in the wind?

My theory is that the Japanese, realising their lack of a suitably resilient & powerful tank, ask for assistance from Germany, after their observers see the first Panthers in production. With their fleet all but annihilated & their shipyards under utilised but still a target for bombing, the Japanese "close" several of the yards down (creative camouflage) which gives relief from the raids & allows the heavy sheet metal expertise to be used building better tanks. However, by the time they're in production & enough have been built to be an effective fighting force, Japan is on the eve of invasion.