The long 8.8cm gun armed Panther tank came out of two parallel design programs. One to produce a redesigned turret for the Panther and another to up-arm the Panther with a more powerful weapon. 

The new turret was designed to eliminate the shot traps of the original Panther turret and improve ease of manufacture. This was called the Schmalturm or Narrow Turret due to its narrower front profile. 

During the development of the Schmalturm turret it was proposed that the Panther be up-gunned to the same powerful long 8.8cm gun found in the Tiger II and Jagdpanther. Both Krupp and Daimler Benz designed modified Schmalturm turrets to fit the 8.8cm gun, eventually combining their efforts to produce a final design.

Accurate
The combination of high-quality German optics, the stereoscopic rangefinder on the new Schmalturm turret, and very high muzzle velocity resulted in a gun that was exceptionally accurate.

Combining Old And New
The Panther 8.8cm combined the chassis of the Panther tank, the 8.8cm KwK 43 gun that had already seen use as an anti-tank gun and then as the main armament on the Jagdpanther and Hornisse, and a refined turret design that created something better than the sum of its parts.

THIS BOX CONTAINS:

• 5x Highly Detailed Plastic Panther (8.8cm) or Panther (7.5cm) or Jagdpanther Tanks

These miniatures require assembly and are supplied unpainted.