The Panther was the best all-round German tank of the war and although conceived as a medium tank, at 45 tons and with frontal armour over 100mm thick, it could easily be rated more highly. The Panther's thick, sloping front armour was copied from the Russian T-34 but the main gun was a weapon that far excelled anything the Russians possessed, the high velocity KwK 42 L70, which was capable of penetrating any Allied tank in service when it was first introduced. This is the second version of the tank, built from mid 1943 onwards, it saw action on both Eastern and Western fronts. Bizarrely the marques did not follow alphabetical order. Changes on the original Panther include a redesigned hull machine gun and a commanders cupola. This Panther has been coated with Zimmerit, a paste applied to the vehicle after production to add protection from magnetic mines. Ironically the Germans were the largest users of magnetic anti-tank mines and rarely fought against them. It has no antimagnetic properties of its own but covers the metal of the tank and so doesn't allow magnetic mines to gain purchase.