Hi all,

My first thread on the soviet armour forum! I'm going to build the Trumpeter 1/35 KV-1 small turret OOTB:



Progress so far: basic assembly of hull parts:





I'll try to take as much pics as possible of this project. Hope you'll like it!

Martin

Im making one of these trumpeter kv-1 kits but the panels on top dont fit to well.
so im boing a bit af trimming.
Yours looks real clean so far.

Thanks for the comment David. Parts fit well so far...I will add new weld seams though on the armour plates. More about this later (with some pics)

Also looking for a tank crew. Could anyone tell me if this crew would be ok for a 1941 setting?



Martin

Hi Martin

Looks like the Mini Art set has the stand collar and shoulder boards of the 1943 uniform. To see what early war tankists (turnover collars with rank badges on them and NO Tsarist nonsense like shoulder boards) look like, check this page

http://www.rkka.ru/uniform/files/i_btmv.htm

David

Thanks for the info David, I'll look for a more suitable crew then

Time for some more pics! Update #1:

Suspension arm blockers. These parts needed some cleaning (mold seam)


Arms for the return rollers. These parts are very nicely detailed and well molded. Almost no cleaning is needed.


Parts shown above after assembly on the hull:






Towcable hooks/assembly points. These needed some cleaning (pinmark, mold seam):


Assembled on the hull. Note that the rear armour plate needs some work to fit well between the side armour plates. Still need to fix this:




Suspension arms. You can clearly see the mold seams, some sanding is required here!:


The suspension system on the KV is well done by Trumpeter. The suspension arms can be assembled in different angles in the hull. This way you can put your KV on a diorama showing the suspension "in action". I hope to achieve this with my KV as well!

Hull without suspension arms. Note the shape of the openings in the hull where the suspension arms are to be placed. The end of the suspension arms have the same shape, this way you can place your arms in various angles:


Possible angle no.1:


Possible angle no.2:


This way you have 3 possible angles. Very simple but very clever by Trumpeter.

Well that's it for now. I'm going to clean the suspension arms and work on the wheels/sprockets. So far I really like the kit. Easy to assemble, nice details, not a lot of cleaning work. Lot's of fun for less money!

Martin

Does anyone know a good KV-1 walkaround? I'm looking for some reference on things like weld seams etc

its not much but...

http://www.primeportal.net/tanks/adam_vukich/kv-1_walk.htm

Hi,

I found that one as well but's not of much use as reference for weld seams....

Can't find much usefull myself on the www

Ahem
The KV page
Well not exactly KV I but some good dio ideas in it
KVII Pics
And drop me a PM if you are interested cause I have a load of KVI pics as well (all destroyed or somehow not functioning anymore.... like in most pics by the way.

Nice progress so far.

Another couple here (both produced under wartime conditions and probably a little rougher than pre-war standards)

http://svsm.org/gallery/kv-1-family

The only surviving KV with the early welded turret (that I can think of) is at Saumur, and the way it's displayed means finding walkarounds is difficult, though there are a few here

http://www.thetankmaster.com/ENGLISH/AFV/Saumur4.asp

David

Thanks guys! I think I'll have to do without much reference pics then. I wasn't planning on much detailling anyway but I do want to add and replace weld seams as I said before.....

I'll just work on the excisting weld seams on the kit then, more about this soon

edit: this gallery is actually pretty usefull

http://svsm.org/gallery/kv-1

Martin

Update!

Track tighteners
Parts for the track tighteners::


Assembled:


Assembled on the KV...






Hull front
The KV now has lights and the visors/slits for the driver


Parts of the hull MG:


MG mounted on the KV. Also the periscope guard for the driver is added:


Hatches and engine deck grills:

3 small hatches of the KV hull (1x driver and 2x enginedeck[/b]


Hatches on the engine deck. Also grills on the air intakes are added:


The large hatch on the engine deck is added. Also new are the exhaust pipes:


Overall pic. Suspension arms are mounted on the hull now as well:


Wheels!!

Arms for the idler wheels:


Roadwheels on the sprue:


Parts for one roadwheell:


Two road wheels completed:


Parts for the sprockets:


Completed:


Parts for the idler wheels:


Completed


Tracks
I decided to use the tracks from the kit. You've got two options: one-piece rubber tracks or plastic tracks. I picked the last ones. The tracks are each made of two long pieces, two short pieces and 17 single track links. The plastic tracks have a lot of pinmarks and some flash so a lot of cleaning is required. Once mounted on the tank they look good though so it's worth the effort (and much cheaper than buying AM tracks)

Track on the sprue:


Close up:


One of the long track pieces. Count the pinmarks...


Especially the outside of the tracks look good to me. Almost all the cleaning work is on the inside of the tracks:


One side finished!


That's it for now. I hope to finished the other track today...

Martin

The tracks look quite good. Way better than vinyl ones... hope, most of the producers turn over to this possibility

Very nice!
I build the light turret one and it went on quite easily, the only issue I had was with the two halves of the turret where was a big gap on a weld seam on the back... curious to see if you'll find it here as well.

Update!

I finished both tracks now. The tracks are as said quite good but placing them on the tank isn't as easy as you would expect. All together the tracks are a little bit too long. If you remove a link they are too short. If you only had the 2 long pieces and single links there wouldn't be a problem, but the short lengts of track make it a bit difficult. They don't have any sag and make it difficult to make the track look realistic.

Ok, difficult to explain in English but what it comes down to: single track links instead of the short lengts of track would have been better.

I also worked on the turret. Really easy to assemble. Just one thing: the mantle. There is a gap here which I discovered after assembly. With the parts glued now I have to find some way to narrow this gap a bit. See the pictures below.

Tracks done:













Turret in progress:

For the ease of painting...



...tracks and wheels are removable!

Hi Martin

Would it be possible to get a tighter track by leaving the front idler ungued unitl the track was on?

David

Not sure if I follow you. The idler was not glued yet......

Martin

You're quite right, it would have been clearer if I'd suggested leaving the idler axle unglued so the wheel could have been moved either backwards or forwards to fit the track properly. Of course this would mean cutting apart the rod which clips into the axle to either lengthen or shorten it. This wouldn't be a bad thing as the real one is slightly different to Trumpeter's piece



David

Ah so you mean using the track tightener to actually tighten the track....

Couldn't you have said this a bit earlier?



I think this would be possible with some work.....yes!

Well, the track tension is defined permanently on the styrene track runs. The sag is part of the upper track run itself. You could vary the tension if you used the optional vinyl tracks, but it's difficult to get a realistic sag from that medium, so you'd probably want to depict a very taut track. You can always substitute Model Kasten or Friul tracks if you want to change track tension and the amount of visible sag between the return rollers.

Here you go Martin, another bolted/welded turret.

http://legion-afv.narod.ru/KV-1_Kirovsk.html

David

Thanks David, very usefull!

I finished assembly of the kit by now. I have three subassemblies: hull, turret and tracks. Pics will follow soon.

Now on to some detailling (weld seams), some stowage like spare tracks and some casting structure on the side mantle armour (the rounded parts on the sides). Then the KV should be ready for paint

Martin

New pics as promised:

Hull











Turret

Looking good keep it coming!!