The Panther was Germany's answer to the surprise appearance of the Russian T-34 after they finally reacted to the invasion that was Operation Barbarosa. Although the project had been in gestation some time before, they took some design cues from the T-34 in the shape of the sloped armor, resulting in the Panther that was intended to fill the gap between the Panzer.IV and the (then) new Panzer VI Tiger. It was eventually supposed to replace both the Pz.IV and the earlier Pz.III that was really showing its age, but in reality it often fought alongside the Panzer IV. It was planned as a lighter, more maneuverable tank than the Tiger, and was fitted with a high velocity gun from the outset, which gave it enormous penetrating power that was only equaled by the British 17-pounder fitted to the Sherman to make the Firefly. The sloped frontal armor gave it an increased effective armor thickness, but this was not so true of the side armor, which was weaker, and this area became the preferred target area of allied tanks, especially in urban combat where this was a telling issue.
Like most German WWII tanks it was complex to produce, so suffered in terms of volume produced, this led to it being rushed into service with quite a list of problems still to sort out. Later production solved most of these initial gremlins, but loses in the interim were high with many being abandoned after failing during combat. Curiously, the Ausf.D was the first to enter production, with the Ausf.A following later in 1943, replacing attrition of the less reliable Ausf.Ds until they themselves were superseded by the Ausf.G, which became the final major variant with increased ammo storage, simplified design to ease production, and further improvements to reliability, although this was never fully cured with a high rate of attrition due to mechanical issues, some of which resulted in catastrophic fires.
This model has a full interior and to show your work there is an option of using a transparent hull.
The box has been opened to show contents. All contents are factory sealed. Shipping to the continental USA only.