Can anyone tell me anything about 1/35 scale WW2 Soviet armor kits in resin, by a Portuguese company called KMR? Are they any good?

Hi,

Sorry I can't tell you very much - except to confirm the ones that I have seen (on ebay) - so at least that's a confirmation of some of them. I've seen three kits (all 1/35th):

T-26B - looks to be an all resin kit. Standard turret. Instruction sheet shows three marking options - including one from the Spanish Civil War (but can't see any decals in the picture I have).

BT-5U - 'standard' turret and normal dished wheels. Again, looks to be all resin. Instruction sheet shows two marking schemes - one from the SCW plus a Russian one.

Autoblindado BA-6 - looks like a pretty simple affair with simple details (e.g. floorpan has the rear axles and diffs moulded in situ) - maybe 20 pieces in the whole kit. Instrunctions seem to show a SCW version (looks like the green one with sandy yellow stripes outlined in black) - and a Russian WW2 version.

Looks like all these kits come with the same turret - but can't be sure of that.

I dont recall what the price was - a little steep for me - but probably comparable to other specialist resin kits.

Can't make any comments on the quality. Cant see enough in the pics.

PM me if you'd like me to send u the photos I have (1 of each kit). (I'm sure I saved them - but I'll need to check that).

Sorry, can't be more help.

kr
Trevor

Thanks for your help, Trevor. Here's the situation: a few years ago I received a 1/35 Maquette/Zvezda BT-2 as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, it came with instructions for a Valentine! And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to put the thing together without the instructions; nor have I ever been able to find another set of instructions for that kit. It seems the 1/35 BT-2 isn't a very easy kit to find these days. But I threw it up into the top of my closet and forgot about it.
Recently, I saw someone selling the 1/35 KMR BT-5 on eBay, it's missing some wheels, but of course I could care less about that. But I was thinking maybe if I bought it, I could kitbash a completed tank. The BT-2 and BT-5 are pretty similar. Any thoughts?

Hi - no problem.

Sorry if this is a bit of a long-winded reply, but here you go!...

I think it might be easier and probably cheaper for you to buy the Italeri or Zvezda BT-5 kit - which is almost the same as the Maquette kit. The Maquette instructions are not too clear anyway, and it would be useful to you to get the BT-5 ones anyway.

As you probably know already, the Maquette kit consists of the main Zvezda/Italeri BT-5 sprues with a number of additional sprues containing the BT-2 specific parts such as the small cylindrical turret and the early cast wheels. (I believe that these sprues were manufactured, (or at least sourced), by Tom Modellbau. Note the turret sprue is not the same sprue as the RPM one from their T-26/BT-2 conversion set. The turret in this kit is a little different in its detail from the RPM version).

In fact, there are two identical sprues for the turret parts, so you get a spare turret for the ‘bits box’. Also, the kit contains the lighter BT-5 dished wheels too from the host kit (and which were retrofitted to late BT-2’s in order to upgrade them) as well as the earlier cast wheels for the BT-2. So again, some nice additions for the spares box. With the bits you already have, you might even be able to complete 2 kits - a BT-2 and a BT-5!

The new wheels do not include the associated ‘hub caps’ so you will need to scratch build these (this is not too difficult – they’re basically flat discs). If you don’t fancy that idea, you can always fit the BT-5 wheels to your model. As noted, some BT-2’s were ‘upgraded’ with the later BT-5 wheels anyway.

The ‘new’ parts are not of the greatest quality – for example, the rivets are a little unimpressive on the turret, the machine guns are lacking in finesse, and the new rear drive sprockets do not look convincing.

Nevertheless, the new sprues provide the parts to allow any of the main turret variations to be built – that is, they include the 37mm gun and the twin machine gun variants – and well as the parts for the single machine gun carried to the right of the main armament. Be careful with the turret roof. Despite the bend in the roof, I managed to put mine on back-to-front, with the hatch opening over the mantlet and the periscopes facing backwards! I have read that perhaps the turret diameter is a little small – but it looks ok to me. (Perversely, the RPM turret looks too big - go figure!)

In my kit, the plastic for the new parts is moulded in a bright green colour, but rather ‘cheesy’ plastic. With care, these parts allow an interesting and different looking vehicle to be produced.

The top of the main hull is a little Spartan, and I replaced mine with plastic card with some scratch built additions (see references for some of this upper hull detail). Many BT-5 did not have the large engine vent cover – so scratch building the upper hull plate allows you to omit this part, and add the ventilation ‘slats’ (is that the right word?) – they are very similar to the same parts on a T-34. I happened to have a resin BT-5 engine in the stash, which filled the void below the slats nicely.

There is a reinforcing strip down the side of the hull, which is present on the BT-5 – but should not be there on the BT-2 – and which really needs to be removed.

The kit comes with plastic link and length tracks which can either be fitted over the wheels – or stored on the side of the tank allowing the kit to ‘run on its wheels, for fast, on-road action!

The instructions are a little terse and you really need to have some references to hand to be sure you know where every thing goes (the double machine gun assembly is particularly unclear). If possible, get hold of the Italeri BT-5 instructions, which are a lot better, and will help you in building the BT-5 parts of the kit.

I did however, like the part of the Maquette instructions that provided an A4 sized painting and marking guide that shows some of the main variations of armament and wheels. An interesting winter scheme is shown of broad white stripes with blue, cross-hatched areas. I’m not convinced about the blue – I think dark green is probably more like it – but hey, it would make a really interesting model to do it in blue and white! You can see a colour illustration of this scheme here: http://armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/BeforeWWII/BT/BT2/BT2_5.jpg - and a brief discussion on the scheme here: http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1071433244/BT-2

All in all though, I enjoyed this kit very much – and it looks really neat compared to the BT-5’s and BT-7’s.

BTW, you can make a ‘late’ BT-2 by pairing the Italeri BT-5 kit with the RPM BT-2 turret that comes in their conversion set (35029), or their Stalin Line kit (35009).

PS: Take care with some of the on-line references. For instance, the vehicle outside Kubinka is labelled as a BT-2 – but appears to have a BT-7 engine deck and exhaust system. However, you can see the holes in the rear hull plate where the original exhaust pipes popped through – so, I don’t know quite what it really represents - it’s a bit of a Frankenstein!


Finally, if you are really stuffed, I think I have a spare copy of the Maquette instructions which I can send you. I dont have a scanner, but I can post them to you. (I'm in the UK).

phew! - hope that helps a little.


PS - here's a link to a build of the BT-2 including some in progress shots. It's in Japaneses, but the photos are useful. Sorry also to the builder, I can't spot his name. It refers to the Tom Modellbaud kit - but this is the same kit as the Maquette one. You can clearly see the BT-2 bits in the bright green plastic - the other parts are the 'Italeri' parts.


http://members3.jcom.home.ne.jp/redsoldiers/afv/bt2/bt2.htm



Rgds
Trevor

Hi,
Thanks for the link, and for the offer of the instructions; however, I'll probably end up picking up another kit on eBay or something. I was thinking about doing a Spanish Republican one.
This kit will be only the second WW2 vehicle I've ever done.

Hi again,

I'm sorry if you perhaps found my previous reply a little intimidating.

In short, I suggest you get the Italeri/Zvezda BT-5 kit (reasonably priced on ebay). Simple colour scheme and no markings to speak of - if you want to do the SCW version, there's plenty of references around. The instructions wil be a great help with your Maquette kit. (the link I sent should help you too). Personally, I'd leave the resin kit be for the moment, unless its really cheap.

Your call!

Good luck with it all.


Rgds
Trevor

Hi Trevor,
Thanks for getting back to me. I'm not intimidated by hearing from people more knowledgeable than myself; indeed, this is the reason I frequent these forums, to learn as much as I can about the subject. I appreciate your help.
That resin BT-5 was selling on eBay for just $16, including shipping, because it was missing a few wheels. I was going to buy it, but last night I emailed Zvezda's corporate office and asked if they could send me a set of instructions for a BT-5. Would you believe, they scanned the directions and emailed them to me during the night; their email was in my inbox when I woke up this morning. Great service. So I'm working on the kit now. I'd love to put a figure in the turret; maybe I can use a WW2 Soviet tank commander for this, if I can find an early war set.
Anyway, thanks again for your help.