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K(uick)V-2 *finished 2/09/17*


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Today I got some pretty bad news and to take my mind off things I just wanted to start building something, I still have other stuff to work on including my T-34/85 for the groupbuild as well but those require paint or weathering or other difficulties while I just want to build something for now. So I started looking through my small stash and my eye fell upon trumpeter's KV-2 which I had bought a month or two ago and since the KV-2 is most definitely Russian I figured I might as well enter it for the group build alongside my T-34/85. I decided to build this kit since I've already built Trumpeter's KV-1 mod 1939 and from that kit I know that these kits are relatively easy to build. Now a short introduction for those who are unfamiliar with the KV-2:

The KV-2 (Kliment Voroshilov-2) was a heavy assault tank armed with a 152.4 M-10 howitser for direct fire mounted in a large boxy turret. The KV-2 was designed as a response to the fortifications found on the Mannerheim line in Finland during the winter war for which the Soviets did not have a suitable counter measure. The KV-2 with its massive 152 mm main gun mounted on a well armored chassis allowed the Soviets to come close to the enemy defenses and then smash them with brute force. Also any armored vehicles of the day which were hit by a KV-2 were unlikely to survive the encounter because of the powerfull gun, there are reports of a sole KV-2 stopping an entire german battalion until it ran out of ammunition. However this awesome firepower did not come without cost. For starters the large turret and gun significantly increased the weight of the vehicle putting more strain on an already slightly overloaded drivetrain. Also the turret's traverse mechanism could not really cope with the weight of the massive turret so it could only rotate its turret on flat ground. Because of the high costs associated with it's production and the low mobility of the tank, production of the KV-2 was ceased after 300 tanks were built when all tank factories were moved to the Urals making the KV-2 on of the rarest Soviet vehicle of the second world war. Long after the war digital versions of the KV-2 became infamous in games like World of Tanks and Warthunder for blasting the bejeesus out of everything that entered their sights with 152mm HE shells. This combined with the shape of the turret gained the KV-2 the nickname 'Stalin's Doom Fridge' and its presence on the battlefield has been the cause of many brown pants moments for the recipients of its shells.

Now on to the kit:

The kit is part of Trumpeter's KV series which was released around 2005. The kit offers excellent value at a price point of around €20 and comes with both link and length tracks and rubber band tracks, it's always nice when companies give us options regarding tracks (*cough* dragon *cough*) The kit represents the second type of KV-2 manufactured with the vertical front turret as opposed  to the slightly sloped turret of the earlier variant (this variant is represented in Trumpeter's KV big turret kit).

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From what I've read this kit represents a KV-2 fairly well bar one detail which is the length of the main gun which is in the kit about 3mm too short because of that I bought an Aber metal barrel which is really nice and comes with rifling detail which on such a large gun is quite visible.

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Also while Trumpeter's newer KV reboxes come with a small fret of photo etch for the grills and stuff this kit does not have them and since I quite like the look of the photo etched grills on my KV-1 mod 1939 I decided to add some eduard photo etch for the engine grills (and some other parts because they're on the fret anyway)

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Trumpeter also has their own description of the KV-2 which is rather.... creative

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This should be a relatively quick build since there are no complicated workable suspension or interior parts to deal with so should be a lot of fun. I might get a first update out later tonight depending on how much work I can get done and How tired I'll be by then

 

Edited by reteip9
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8 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

A quick build? This sounds fairly comprehensive.   I'll watch with interest.

Well I already got the turret and suspension done :P

BlGLx0k.jpg

Considering my lack of experience with folding photo etch parts I'm rather pleased how the rain guard thingy on the turret turned out.

I also like how the etched deflection thingy looks a little bit beat up rather than perfectly straight plastic, of course this was my intention all along and not in any way caused by me manhandling the piece into position.

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Also here's a close up of the metal barrel showing the nice rifling detail inside

WDxf4dN.jpg

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Sorry about the bad news - yes, making models can be very therapeutic and you certainly got right into it :clap2:

 

Congratulations for your PE work which does enhance the model greatly and the barrel brings the detail to another level.

 

Cheers, Peter

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  • 4 weeks later...

Update time!

 

I've finished construction on the tank with the exception of the tracks.

diOkBUw.jpg

 

Primed it with black

AJkhFXo.jpg

 

Then did some highlighting with white

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Followed by a couple of coats of 4B0 russian green and I painted the tow cables as well

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Next I added two Russian star decals from the kit's decal sheet

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And I started with the winter camouflage by first putting down two coats of AMMO's heavy chipping fluid followed by a coat of white on the turret.

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And lastly I chipped the white wash using some damp brushes

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I've still got to do the winter camouflage on the hull and I have to build and paint the tracks when that's done I also plan to build a little winter base with the tank crushing some barbed wire.

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On 26-8-2017 at 08:09, SimonT said:

Great work on the preshading, it really added a "patchy" appearance to the 4B0.

Thanks although I'm afraid a lot of the preshading will get lost underneath the winter camo but it's always good practice :)

On 27-8-2017 at 12:01, Basilisk said:

Wow, what an update! Great progress and a terrific looking model in the making :clap2:

 

Cheers, Peter

Thanks, that means a lot coming from such a skilled modeller such as yourself :shocked:

 

Small update, I mentioned in the last post that I was going to make a little winter base and here it is (The KV-1 is an earlier build and is acting as a temporary stand in for the KV-2).

a7SQfmk.jpg 

It's my first base/diorama/thingy and I quite enjoyed doing it, might have to do some more for future builds.

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Aaaand done :D

I kept the weathering to mostly clumped up snow and dirt on the running gear and some ice and snow washes on the upper parts of the tank, I didn't use a pin wash as I was worried that it would be to stark on the winter camouflage. Overall I really enjoyed this build, this is my second trumpeter KV and just like the first one it went together well with only some minor filling needed which is more than reasonable since I paid around €20 for this kit, the only major flaw this kit has is that the gun barrel is apparently around 3 mm to short but a nice metal barrel from Aber fixed that up real nice. This was my first time doing a base of some sorts which was quite a lot of fun to do, it was also my first time using chipping fluid to create the winter camouflage which shows especially on the left hand side of the turret where a lot of big flakes came off of the vehicle which was not necessarily my intention but I think it looks okay. Enjoy the pictures :)

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  • reteip9 changed the title to K(uick)V-2 *finished 2/09/17*

I think it was a good choice not using a pin wash as the contrasts you achieved with the chipped white wash looks perfect.

 

Great to see that you could finish your model. Looks stunning and the base with the wire fens ads greatly to the whole package - Love it :clap2:

 

Cheers, Peter

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