Panther II – History

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I begin this blog posting step by step the work on an already finished tank, because it can be useful for showing some techniques I used on it. The vehicle I will talk about is a Panther II, designed in Germany during the Second World War but never entered production.

Its idea was conceived in 1943 to fix the flaws of earlier Panther. It would have had better armor than its predecessor, while sharing several components with the contemporary Tiger II. Initially the armament would have been the powerful 88 mm (3.46 in) KwK 43 gun, the same of the Tiger II and of other heavy tank destroyers, but later designs retained the same 75 mm (2.95 in) KwK 42 gun of the Panther. There was also a new turret design, named Turm Panther 2 (schmale Blendenausführung) (Panther turret 2 – small mantlet version).

Actually, the project was cancelled before being put into production, thus remaining a paper Panzer. The Allies captured a complete hull that, along with a non‑original turret, is still on display in a museum in the United States (photo below).

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

Panther II on display at the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor in Fort Knox, USA.

Image source: 1