OKB is based in the EU and has been in the business of offering products of high quality since 2003. The website provides some excellent images of the products being offered and also an email address, which is “ info@okbgrigorov.com “. OKB offers kits featuring 1/72 scale armor, a wide variety of submarines, and 1/72nd weaponry that can be displayed with a 1/72nd scale figure. Note that when selecting the “Figures” option on the menu, one will be directed to those weapon sets and not to actual “figures”.

The Panther (Sd. Kfz.171) is one of the more well-known armored fighting vehicles used by the Germans in WWII. The Panther saw service on both the eastern and western fronts in Europe. OKB offers a number of after-market items to replace kit parts for the Panther, in this case, a set of 1/48th scale tracks for the Panther V (Late).

The tracks are contained in a small zip lock baggie with a paper label folded over the “zip track” on the baggie and stapled into position. This item, and three bags of replacement “rollers” for the Panther IV arrived in a sturdy cardboard box. Packed well, with all the items arriving in excellent condition.

There are six “lengths” of track included in this product, each 4 1/8th inches in length, enough to replace the tracks in your 1/48th scale Panther kit (my 1/48th Panther kit is the Tamiya Panther Type G). The tracks are molded in a plastic material which has a bit more “flex” than their counterparts in the Tamiya kit and each length of track is attached to its own part runner.

The track is easy to remove from its part runner, but some caution should be applied when removing the OKB part from its runner. Do not remove it by gripping one end and, in a tearing motion, attempt to separate it from the runner (ask me how I know). Instead, simply bend the track to form a right angle with the part runner. It will quite literally just fall off the runner. The best part about that is that there is virtually no clean-up required to remove the nibs left behind where the runner and the track met.

I wanted to test the flexibility of the newly independent track, so I used a bit of a PVC pipe that is slightly larger in diameter then the drive sprocket from the Tamiya kit that the track will need to be attached to. Without fuss, the OKB track is sufficiently flexible to be wrapped around the sprocket without breakage.

Overall, I found that the detail molded into the OKB track is more defined then that which is offered by the Tamiya kit. On a scale from 1 to 100, 100 being excellent, the Tamiya parts would receive a 90 and the OKB replacements would receive a 95.

This OKB product is highly recommended for its reasonable price, attention to detail, quality of manufacturing, and strength of the parts. Thanks to OKB for the opportunity to review this product for IPMS.