Panther Ausf F around Jan 1945? Did these ever make it to production? They tried a whole new turret with a kwk 36 L/56 88 and IR night equipment. Any more info?
The Ausf F/II with Schmalturm never made it to production beyond prototype, though a couple of turrets were produced (sans 88). One survives at Bovington. (Some dodgy shots from a while back) The IR UHU/Falke gear did see a little play at war's end, though info can be a bit sketchy/speculative.
A 'Panther II' chassis survives at Ft. Knox (wouldn't they like to fit a schmallturm one day...) The trouble with talking about 'F' designation is that work on F & II was blurred. It's possible to describe the F concept as 'standard chassis, 75 Schmalturm', and the II as 'New chassis 88 Schmalturm', but in reality the design/production work done became/was one project.: Notes on work done (Spielberger) : Initiated Feb '43 in an attempt to standardise big cat parts (well that took 'em a while). 2 prototypes built. March that year - decided to go into production at Krupp. estimated to begin production turn of '44/'45. Decided, eventually, that the gun would be 'an 88mm', (top buffer, no muzzle brake), and that the 'F' schmallturm pictured above could be used for that gun. Also some consideration given to gun stabilisation. Some work done on recoilless mountings (woohoo, one of my favourite subjects). Krupp did manage to squeeze in a KWK43 to a 'standard' turret, but the WaPruf declared that measure no longer necessary and that the new turret would go forward. 88 fitting in both turret types required shifting trunnions but was proved as possible. Ironically, the II was to enter production with no pre-series work. (You'd think they'd have learnt with the first disasters). Things cool down when in April '44 a pragmatic request was made to avoid too much change from Panther 'I' mechanicals, and it all just gradually fizzled out from there despite some work time still being wasted on the project. IR gear a whole different story...