A Big Cat In A Box

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The Panther is one of the best known and best-documented tanks of World War II. As such, it’s also one of the most popular subjects for military modellers of all scales. Before 2017, modellers in 1/35 scale were well served by good kits from ICM, Tamiya and Zvezda, and a range of excellent kits, covering almost every conceivable variant, from Dragon. Then Takom, Meng Model and Rye Field Model entered the field with state-of-the-art kits, the first and last of those having fully detailed interiors. We examined the Takom kit at the end of the last year and an excellent kit it was, but I was extremely pleased to have the chance to examine the Rye Field kit, not only as I’d heard good things about them but also because it was the first Rye Field kit I’d seen up close.

The trend towards kits with full interiors is one led by Rye Field and MiniArt. While Rye Field released an M1A1/2 with full interior (ref. RM-5007), MiniArt have set the standard with their superb T-60, T-54/55 and SU-122 kits. Rye Field’s Panther Ausf. G Early/Late Versions with Full Interior (ref. RM-5016) is probably the most ambitious 1/35-scale scale ever produced. Full stop. To say this is will not be a weekend project is something of an understatement: it has 1,543 parts in light beige plastic (reminiscent of Tamiya) across 13 sprues, (including 190 individual track pins);190 individual track link parts in dark chocolate plastic; 32 clear plastic parts; 18 black vinyl parts; two frets of photoetched brass (of different thicknesses); two lengths of metal wire; a large metal spring; a decal sheet; and a 52-page colour A4 instruction booklet. The kit also includes a duplicate sprue L with clear parts for the upper hull and turret should you choose not to hide the interior behind opaque plastic. The standard of the moulding is up there with the best of today’s kit, no flash, sink marks to a minimum and crisp details.