Model Forum / General / Models / February 2010

The Panther D and A models had a problem with the exhaust manifold
overheating. Since the carburetors were notoriously inefficient,
dangerous amounts of unburned fuel would accumulate in the exhaust,
and when the engine was shut off, fresh oxygen would infiltrate up the
exhaust pipe, mix with the fuel vapor, and explode in the overheated
exhaust system. The short term solution on mid and late production A
models was to add two air intake pipes on the left side to cool the
manifold. Later, the exhaust system was  redesigned to run cooler, and
the two pipes were dropped. When modeling a Panther tank, the exhaust
pipe should be shown as rusted by heat, but the two narrow cooling air
pipes flanking it would not be.
Gerald Owens