Dragon Military 1/35 SdKfz 171 Panther G Tank w/Zimmerit Kit

Germany was stunned when highly effective T-34 tanks were first encountered on the Eastern Front, and its own Panzer III and IV tanks were simply outclassed. The Third Reich’s response was to design and produce the Pz.Kpfw.V, more commonly known as the Panther. Some regard the Panther as being the best tank of WWII, with an ideal balance of mobility, firepower and armor protection. Weighing 44.8 tonnes and operated by a crew of five, the Panther was armed with a long-barreled 7.5cm KwK 42 L/70 cannon. Various modifications were made to the Panther design throughout WWII, with the final and most numerous variant being the Ausf.G, of which 2953 were produced from March 1944 till the end of the war. New features on the Ausf.G included redesigned hull hatches, removal of the driver’s visor on the glacis, tapered one-piece upper hull side plates, and some later vehicles also had a new mantlet chin to eliminate the shot trap.

Dragon has launched a much-anticipated 1/35 scale kit of a Panther Ausf.G, with the unique aspect of this kit being the molded-on coating of zimmerit. Zimmerit was an antimagnetic paste applied to German armored vehicles between August 1943 and September 1944 to prevent enemy combatants from attaching magnetic mines. The zimmerit on this model is highly crafted with an authentic pattern and true-to-scale appearance. The inclusion of zimmerit required a completely new tooling of the turret, mantlet, upper hull and lower hull in order to replicate its characteristic pattern. The molded-on zimmerit means modelers are saved the ponderous and time-consuming chore of having to create this feature from scratch. Normally such a texture is only available in resin at a high cost…but zimmerit on this Panther comes at no extra charge! The rear stowage boxes made from DS are another exciting innovation on this kit, with these items showing realistic battle damage. This Panther offers modelers a vehicle that can immediately fit into a diorama, and it’s even more desirable after appearing in its completely new coat!