Scott, I have a built 1/72 Panther that I measured against the MPC MF kit and it's obviously too big.  I scaled the details on the MF kit's engine deck against a "real" Panther and found that a Panther kit would have to be around 1/115 scale to fit the same area "properly."  The 1/144 kit's details should work okay for visual impact, though.  It's not like it has to be exact, y'know   Like on a model of a real subject.