Russian KV-1 Mod 1939 Heavy Tank

[Mike]

Russian KV-1 Mod 1939 Heavy Tank

1:35 Trumpeter

The KV-1 Heavy tank was born from the conceptual (if not practical) success of the early multi-turreted T-35 heavy tank, although time and experience resulted in a very different beast from the massive, lumbering T-35. The basic concept for an almost invulnerable breakthrough tank with heavy armour and armament was a sound one though, and prototypes of both the KV-1 and heavier armed KV-2 were used with great success in the Winter War with Finland.

At the time of its first deployment against the advancing Germans at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there was nothing in their armament that could penetrate the armour of the KV-1 except a point-blank shot from the rear, such was the strength of the armour. It must have been a highly popular assignment then, despite the poor crew comforts inside the hull, suffering from poor visibility, difficult controls and a lack of turret basket, which must have made reloading in combat quite a struggle.

It didn't remain in service for long due to the rapid advancements being made in tank technology, and after numerous upgrades including additional armour to cope with the ever improving German artillery, was eventually replaced in 1943/4 by the Josef Stalin heavy tank.

The kit represents the early 1939 version, with none of the upgrades that became necessary as the Germans adapted and improved their armour in order to cope with this monster, which weighed in at 45 tons.

The kit arrives in Trumpeter's typical white top opening box, and is fairly well stuffed with sprues. The contents comprises 9 sprues of parts, 1 hull part, a small sprue of clear parts for the driving lights, and a small fret of Photo-Etched parts for various grilles on the rear deck of the tank. Two of the sprues contain link and length tracks, but for those that prefer the rubberised flexible tracks, there are an extra set, which the instructions assure us will join with the use of ordinary polystyrene cement.

Tucked away inside the hull part is a small bag that contains a turned aluminium barrel, with a decent approximation of rifling cut into the recessed muzzle, and a braided cable, which looks to be made of copper, despite the instructions stating brass. The flexibility of this cable should make for easy and realistic placement on the hull, and the instructions helpfully provide a short section of metric ruler printed next to the cutting and placement instructions. Perfect for the American market when feet and inches are still the dominating measurements.

My first impression is good. I've got a few recent Trumpeter kits in my armour stash, and they seem to be raising their game immensely in recent times. The inclusion of Photo-Etch and a turned barrel should please most modellers, and all but the most hardened aftermarket hounds should be able to build the kit out of the box without compromise.

The detail on the various parts is excellent, from the finesse of the drive and idler sprockets, to the broad tracks, with a similar level of detail being achieved in the link and length set as on the band-tracks. There are quite a lot of ejector pin marks on the inside of the link & length track parts, but these should sand off easily, as they appear to be raised in my kit. In either eventuality, it certainly doesn't need aftermarket tracks adding in my opinion.

The cast texture on the mantlet is excellent if a little glossy, but there is no corresponding casting texture to the turret sides, although on the real thing the texture isn't that prominent, so a stippled coat of liquid Mr Surfacer would bring it up to snuff.

The hull consists of a central "bathtub" onto which are attached surface plates, so that detail is crisply moulded on all relevant faces, which should also make for a sturdy model. The deck consists of front and rear portions onto which lots of smaller parts are placed. The turret is a simple three part construction with 2 halves and a roof, into which the mantlet and other items are added.

It's worth noting that an attempt has been made to thin down any edges that are open to viewing, which is particularly noticeable on the track fenders, having good sharp edges for scale effect. This has however resulted in a shallow sink mark that runs along the length of the fenders, which could prove problematic to fill.

A prominent aspect of the KV-1's track system was a noticeable sag over the return rollers on the top run of track. This will be difficult to portray using the rubberised tracks, but the link & length track parts have the correct degree of sag built in, and as long as you follow instructions when building the track runs, they will look perfect.

The separate suspension arms fit neatly into a hexagonal mounting point to ensure a level run, but simply removing the nut shaped lugs will allow the diorama maker to pose their KV-1 on rough ground without major surgery. Adapting the styrene tracks may prove tricky however, which is when the workable links of aftermarket track sets come into their own.

There are no decals included with the kit, and the painting guide shows a generic Russian Green finish, so you will have to mask your own markings rely on aftermarket decals if you references require it.

Another item that doesn't seem to feature in the sprues is a set of pioneer tools. Whether it was too weighty a task for the crew to attempt track repairs or digging out, or Trumpeter simply didn't include them it is difficult to say. I would suggest checking period photos for ideas on stowage and tool layout ideas.

Conclusion

A well moulded kit, complete with sufficient detail to please most modellers, and a simple construction that allows a recommendation to all but the complete novice modeller. The inclusion of the extras further sweetens the deal, and it should build up into an impressive model once complete.

It would have been nice to have been given more than a generic paint scheme, with decals to match, but that is by no means a deal breaker, as standard Russian markings are available to from aftermarket sources in this scale.

Review sample courtesy of

[smuts]

Hi Mike, all the pics I've got of KV's in the field show no pioneer tools or unit markings/stars although most did carry a nice line in patriotic slogans, nice to see the early beast to go with the others best KV's on the market.

Andy.

[Mike]

Hi Mike, all the pics I've got of KV's in the field show no pioneer tools or unit markings/stars although most did carry a nice line in patriotic slogans, nice to see the early beast to go with the others best KV's on the market.

Andy.

Thanks for that clarification Andy It's calling me to build it you know

[andym]

Have a wee look here for some further details:

http://www.4bogreen.com/recipes/kv-1-model-1939

Though the article deals with converting Trumpeter's kit #00356 KV-1 Model 1942 things such as the rear hull overhang plate shape would be applicable to this latest kit. The whole 4BO site is a mine of information for building KV-1 and KV-2 vehicles

HTH

Andy

Edited April 17, 2010 by andym