Panther/Pz. IV Hybrid

Manufacturer: Revell kit-bash

By Marko Mäkinen

This time I send you a couple of pictures displaying my Panther D/Panzer IV H hybrid, of which Achtungpanzer.com tells the following:

"Interesting conversion was Ausf D1 (some sources state that it was an early model Bergepanther^** ) fitted with bolted on PzKpfw IV Ausf H's turret (that could not be traversed), which served as a command tank of schwere Heeres Panzerjager Abteilung 653 on the Eastern Front in early/mid of 1944. The same unit used other early model Bergepanther that was mounted with 20mm Flakvierling anti-aircraft gun and Flakpanzer T-34(r)."
^** Photographs of this vehicle can be found in the book: The Combat History of German Heavy Anti-Tank Unit 653 in World War II, by Karlheinz Münch. According to Münch a Bergpanther chassis was used.

I don´t have much more information on this particular vehicle, except some pictures of Björn Backlunds model, so mine is very much a "could have been" approach to the subject. The model is a Revell Panther D (#03107) with a Revell Panzer IV H turret (03119), and that's pretty much it - I didn't even replace the side skirts with ones made of copper plate as I usually do. I just had to build this one...