Having completed Armortek’s Panther AusG I needed an Allied tank to interact with it. The tank had to be the equal of the Panther which in my mind ruled out the basic Sherman, Churchill & T34. Yes, the Sherman & T34 were up gunned in order to destroy the Panther & Tiger, but the basic tank was still the same vulnerable machine. In fact the German tank crews in a one on one situation held them in contempt.

The Pershing.

Research revealed the Americans introduced it in February 1945 as a response to their losses incurred during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 / January 1945. The Pershing was a contemporary of the Panther.

The model represents number 26, registration number 30119836, a T26E3 from Company E, 32nd Armoured Regiment, 3rd Armoured Division. This was part of Task Force X.

Why this one?

Well it took part in an action outside Cologne Cathederal where it destroyed a Panther which had just ambushed and destroyed a Sherman. It so happened that a US Film Unit was there and recorded the action:

The Pershing’s gunner was Clarence Smoyer and he has written an interesting account of this action and his other experiences in WW2.

The build took 4 months. It is quite a different design concept to the Panther, the Americans incorporated a lot of castings which are faithfully reproduced, making for a heavier model. The Panther had Panniers giving more room in hull to install the elctronics & batteries. The Pershing has return wheels which preclude Panniers making a narrower hull. To fit the same amount of equipment neatly into this model required some careful planning. On the other hand, there is no Zimmerit to add to the hull & the colour scheme is a simple Olive Drab.

The construction process:

This is the basic model completed. The next step has been to add all the ‘gubbins’ that the Americans hung on the outside of their tanks, otherwise it looks too ‘factory fresh’!