In many respects, the Panther tank was viewed as the finest armored fighting vehicle of the Second World War. Based in large part upon the Soviet's highly successful T-34 medium tank, the PzKpfw V Ausfuhrung G was built by several manufacturers including MAN, Daimler-Benz and MNH. Mounting a fearsome 7.5cm KwK42 L/70 cannon and two 7.92mm MG34 machineguns, the Panther Ausf. G represented the third and certainly the most impressive installment in the Panther series.

The weight of the production model was increased to 43 tons from the original plans for a 35 ton tank. Hitler had personally reviewed the final designs and insisted on an increase in the thickness of the frontal armor - the front glacis plate was increased from 60mm to 80mm and the turret front plate was increased from 80mm to 100mm.

Once the problems caused by the vulnerability of the engine and the transmission were solved, it proved to be a very effective fighting vehicle. The crew was made up of five members: driver, radio operator (who also fired the bow machine gun), gunner, loader, and commander.

The 1/72 scale model represents a tank from Panzer Division Muncheberg fighting in Berlin as the Third Reich collapsed in flames. This division had been formed on March 8th, 1945, and despite being an ad hoc formation, it employed modern armored vehicles such as the Panther. Panzer Division Muncheberg was eventually encircled in the German capital and it disintegrated under heavy Soviet attack. The tank is finished in a late-war camouflage scheme that has been beautifully airbrushed by skilled craftsmen. In keeping with this period, there is a paucity of tactical markings on the vehicle. It has also received a judicious amount of weathering to enhance its appearance. This model has been accurately reproduced, and it represents something different thanks to its steel road wheels. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 4-3/4-inches
Width: 2-inches

Release Date: May 2012

Historical Account: "Death Throes" - Panzer-Division Muncheberg was a German panzer division which saw action on the Eastern Front around Berlin during World War II.

Panzer-Division Muncheberg began forming on March 8th, 1945, in Muncheberg, Germany. The majority of the division's staff and panzer troops were drawn from the 103.Panzer-Brigade, which had been dissolved three days prior. Major General of the Reserve ( Generalmajor der Reserve) Werner Mummert, the commander of 103.Panzer-Brigade and a highly decorated veteran, was placed in command of Panzer-Division Muncheberg.

Despite the fact that it was severely understrength and an ad-hoc formation, the Muncheberg division eventually received small amounts of the latest in supplies and equipment, including several Sperber Infrared (IR) system equipped Panther ausf Gs, as well as a company of panzergrenadiers equipped with the Sperber IR system.

In addition, the division received several of the superheavy Jagdtigers, as well as several Tiger II ausf Bs, and the last five Tiger 1 ausf Es to be sent to the front. By March 12th, the division's strength was still only 6,836 men. On March 18th, the men from an infantry battalion of the 1.SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler were used to bolster the division's strength.

As the advancing Soviet forces neared Muncheberg, the partly formed Panzer-Division Muncheberg was ordered to move east as the mobile reserve for Infantry General (General der Infanterie) Theodor Busse's Ninth Army. The Ninth Army represented a significant part of Colonel General (Generaloberst) Gotthard Heinrici's Army Group Vistula (Heeresgruppe Weichsel).

Panzer-Division Muncheberg arrived at the front in Cottbus on March 22nd.