Now I have a great start with an ebay auction I just won, can't wait to dig in. The kits are as listed, and suggestions which one I should build first.Maquette T-34 wheels. Tamiya T-34,Tamyia SU-122,Tamiya KV1,Trumpeter KV1 appears to be the German version.

Trumpeter KV-1 is most accurate and best build. Tamiya SU-122 is the only kit of this, and a easy build while not terribly accurate. Maquette T-34 will be a challenge. Other Tamiya kits will build well, not terribly accurate.

If you are just going to enjoy building, any of them but the Maquette kit will be fun. Don't mind the details, just enjoy.

If you like to do more, like accurizing, this will give you a opportunity to delve into the research side of things.

There is no conversion that will make your model 100% historically accurate without any slightest scratch building and extra detailing work. But as Jacques has mentioned already, your best bet from all this bunch is the Trumpeter KV-1, which will require less extra work than any of them (especially those old Tamiya kits, which are 95% inaccurate).

As far as books for the references you may want to look into the original (Russian lang.) publications, especially books by Kolomietz or magazine articles by Pasholok. Those guys actually do research with an access to the original sources, including old Soviet archives. Also you want to make sure that the publication date is as late as possible, as new information is being discovered all the time.

Books by Western writers are based on what was already written before them, websites of questionable origins, old WWII German reports or just plain guessing from looking at the photos found on e-bay.

Sound a lot like a negative feedback, but there is a lot of research goes into building a historically accurate model. Nonetheless it is fun! Good luck with your project!

That's cool. Building Russian tanks is always nice. Tamiya T-34 was nice, but I like my Dragon T-34 better. But for an older kit, it builds up real nice. Built the Tamiya KV-II and it was so so, so the KV-1 will be too? Though the Trumpeter KV-1s are great. I have several different KV variants from them and they are nice and easy to build.

They come with indy links and rubber band tracks. I have that same German KV-1 and from what I've heard the storage arrangement isn't quite "accurate". A bit of plastic rod, and you've got yourself a nice jerry can rack mounted on the rear of the tank. If you've got some extra german accessories, then use them. I did just for fun. Which reminds me, I should finish mine.

Maquette wheels? I think the Tamiya wheels should just be fine for the T-34. Though the actual maquette T-34 kits are okay. I got myself one, though I plan to bring two "paper projects" to life (SU-100M1, T-34-1)now that I've got the Dragon kit versions.

Maquette T-34 WHEELS...ok, I should have read better. Sorry.

For more on accuracy, what do you want to know? Once you pick a kit, say the Tamiya SU-122, then google it. Once you have done that, and if you have any specific questions, ask away.

For example, a good book on the KV series is done by Neil Stokes If you got into KV's, you want this book. You can also see his notes at http://www.4bogreen.com/