1/72 (20mm) German Panther (Ausf G) & Waffen-SS Infantry: Part 3, Building Italeri’s Battle of Berlin Set

 

Welcome to part 3 of Building Italeri’s Battle of Berlin Set.  In post, I have built and painted the German Panther tank and one of the two sprues of Elite German Infantry.

 

 

 

 

 

The Panther is considered one of the best tanks of the Second World War; after the StuG 3 and Panzer IV, the Panther is the third most produced German armoured fighting vehicle in the war (approximately 6,000 Panther tanks were built).  The ‘fast assembly’ Panther included in the box set is a model Ausführung G (Ausf G):  The third and most produced Panther model (around 2,961 Ausf Gs were produced).

 

 

 

‘Fast Assembly’ Panther (Ausf G) sprue: side 1

 

‘Fast Assembly’ Panther (Ausf G) sprue: side 2

 

 

 

I painted the Panther tank in a two colour camouflage pattern, which I based on the illustrations in the assembly instructions.  I applied a selection of the decals provided.  From what I read, German armoured fighting vehicles have 3 numbers painted on them, which indicates the Company (first digit), the Platoon (middle digit) and the vehicle number (last digit).  Thus, the number ‘213’ indicates this Panther is from the 2^nd Company, 1^st Platoon, and is the 3^rd tank in the platoon.

 

 

 

Panther (Ausf G): side 1

 

Panther (Ausf G): side 2

 

 

 

The Battle of Berlin battle set includes 32 German Elite Infantry (2 sprues of figures), with 16 figures per sprue.  Each sprue contains the following miniatures:

• Four soldiers with Karabiner 98k rifles (one soldier has a scoped rifle)
• Four soldiers with MP40 submachine guns (one soldier is wearing a peaked cap and a Fallschirmjager smock)
• Three soldiers with StG 44 assault rifles
• Two soldiers with MG 42 machine guns
• One soldier operating a mortar
• One soldier with a Panzerfaust
• One soldier with a Panzerschreck.

 

I used the Eichenlaubmuster (Oak Leaf A) pattern of camouflage for the German Elite Infantry, which is a camouflage pattern exclusive to the Waffen-SS.  There are two patterns of Eichenlaubmuster (Oak Leaf A) camouflage: The spring pattern and the fall pattern.  I have used both patterns for the miniatures, with some miniatures wearing a combination of the two.

 

 

 

Waffen-SS Infantry (1): front

 

Waffen-SS Infantry (1): back

 

 

Waffen-SS Infantry (2): front

 

Waffen-SS Infantry (2): back

 

 

Waffen-SS Infantry (3): front

 

Waffen-SS Infantry (3): back

 

 

 

The below photos include images of the Soviet T-34/85 tanks I posted in my last post (please see part 2 for more details).  Since this post, I painted popular Soviet tank slogan on the T-34/85s.  The slogans translate into ‘For Stalin’, ‘For the homeland’ and ‘Victory’.