After spending a lot of time and energy on my previous build, I figured I'd recover with something more basic. I'd heard good things about Trumpeter's KV-1 series of kits, so I decided to give #00359 (KV-1 Model 1942 Heavy Cast Turret) a go. It's an ideal topic because it's straightforward construction-wise yet its unencumbered profile provides a good backdrop for practicing weathering. Originally, I intended to build it OOTB, but those chunky tracks were begging for a saggy set of Friuls. I tossed in a Jordi Rubio barrel primarily because it was inexpensive.

To make the kit as accurate as possible, I will follow Neil Stokes' recipe from 4bogreen.com. As he points out, kit #00359 depicts a late production KV-1 Model 1941 as it might have appeared in the spring of 1942. I also have Osprey's KV-1 & 2 Heavy Tanks 1939-45 on order more for finishing suggestions than anything else, since Neil's recipe is probably all that I need build-wise.

In terms of finishing and weathering, I am going to try to follow Mike Rinaldi's excellent KV-1 s Ehkranami build. If you haven't seen it and are interested, you can find the SBS here: http://www.fototime.com/inv/6F576FAC0785528. Mike has been immensely helpful as I have worked to improve my skills, so my thanks to him for allowing me to share the SBS.

One last thing before I getting rolling. My intent here is to give newbie modellers (I count myself among them) a relatively accessible build log that doesn't require scratch building, tons after market accessories, etc. I've chosen to add tracks and a barrel, but the kit-supplied parts would work fine too. For the more experienced modellers among us, this build probably won't seem challenging, but my hope is that you'll chime in with comments and suggestions, especially once I reach the weathering stages.

Here's the kit box and the Friul tracks (barrel hadn't arrived yet):



Here are the instructions and "recipe" from 4bogreen.com:



And here is the full-color painting guide:

Great to see your build-log started. How exciting! I have Trumpeter's KV-2 primed and ready for more paint job, which was a great build OOTB. I'll follow this blog closely. Have fun!

I love these kits and have built a number of them myself. They go together quickly and easily and are a refreshing change from some of the complicated kits that are out there...And as you say Bill, they are a great platform to try different techniques... Look forward to seeing it finished..


Dave

I'm looking forward to this build Bill, I love the Ehkranami. Thanks for posting the links that you did as they will be very helpful to those of us who wish to build a nice KV series tank.

I'll be following with interest! Love those KVs

Here are some comments and progress shots on the KV-1:

Before you begin step 1, the instructions direct you to drill a number of holes in the top of the hull for the applique armor, machine gun, and V-shaped armor plate that protects the turret race. The drill points are precisely marked with arrows, but be aware that the hole (really a small rectangle) needed to fit the applique armor is not marked. The instructions also direct you to cut away the bolted flanges for the fender brackets (visible below). This is correct since by this time the brackets were normally welded to the hull sides.



Step 1 is straightforward, but I found the rear hull parts difficult to position. Their general location is clear enough from the instructions, but there is sufficient play in the slotting holes to make you guess about their correct angle. Lots of flipping forward in the instructions to get additional views.



Step 2 mates the upper hull (two parts) to the lower hull. I could not get the front part to glue seamlessly to the lower hull. We'll see if I can clean it up later with putty, because there is a clear gap where the hull side and top meet. At the rear, I found the hull tub was warped and would not join properly either to the hull top or the hull rear. Ultimately, I put it in a vise and left it there overnight, which seems to have done the trick.

FYI - per 4bogreen.com, the applique armor is accurate for a tank manufactured at UZTM, but 3mm too short for a tank from factory 200. Conveniently, my tank is from UZTM.



Step 2b was a beer, which I needed after the previous bit of irritation. I highly recommend Yuengling lager for those in the New York area.



Step 3 adds the rest the hull shell and the arms for the road wheels. The slotting holes for the arms are hexagonal in shape, which is very nice because it takes the guess work out of positioning them evenly. I give Trumpeter high marks for this and I'm not sure why it isn't standard on all armor kits. Seems like a really simple way to reduce modelling irritation.



That's it for now. Comments welcome!

Here are some comments and progress shots on the KV-1:

Steps 4, 5, 7, and 8, (suspension, road wheels, and hull details) went very quickly. I usually take my time with assembly, but even so this kit has gone together as easy as kiss my hand. I didn't encounter any issues with this part of the build. My only observation is that a fair number of parts have flash that needs to be cleaned up. Not a big deal, but tedious.

Per 4bogreen.com, in step 4 the hatch surround (part F15) should be faired into the hull. Also, the transmission maintenance hatches (part F12) are the raised pattern typically seen on Model 1942 hulls. Model 1941 hulls most likely would have had inset hatches, so these should be replaced. Otherwise, steps 4-8 can be followed verbatim to produce an accurate Model 1941 vehicle.

I skipped step 6 (tracks) because I'll be using Friul tracks. I skipped steps 9-10 (fenders) for now because I haven't decided what I want to do yet.

Step 11 covers the turret and also is trouble-free. You have a choice of gunner's sights - either you can attach the rounded parts shown in the instructions (A20 and F18) or substitute the box-shaped sights (F17 and F20). Since I'm not basing this on a specific vehicle, I was happy to follow the instructions. The socket in the center of the turret hatch (D19) should be filled in, per 4bogreen.com, because only KV-2 turret hatches had this indentation. I will correct this when I putty over the other areas that need to be cleaned up.

Here's the model through step 11 (sans tracks and fenders):





This shot shows the rear engine deck where the rear plate doesn't seem to meet the upper hull cleanly:



And this shot shows the gap where the hull top meets the hull side:



Comments and input welcome!

Looking good Bill. I'll be following this build as I'm probably going to be building one in the near future.

Bill,
Looks great and I can't wait to see more. Love step 2b btw!

Sean

I was reading through Osprey's KV-1 & 2 Heavy Tanks 1939-45 yesterday and it prompted a couple questions:

1) The book says that most KV-1 units were radio-equipped - even at the outset of hostilities. The cut-away of a Model 1941 vehicle shows a prominent antenna on the front left side near the hull machine gun. Does anyone know how common these were? I haven't seen an actual photo of one yet.

2) There is an interesting photo of a tank with geometric kill marks on its turret (stars, circles, and triangles). The caption says the stars represented knocked out German tanks and the notes at the rear give a sense of what the other shapes represent (e.g. guns, mortars, trucks, etc.). Does anyone know in more detail what the circles and triangles represented?

Thanks for any help.

Bill: Some good questions you have there. Regarding the antenna, you have to remember that Russian vehicles suffered largely from supply and demand. I would think that the KV tanks would have been a priority when it came to radios, but I don't know this for certain. Many of the T-34s did not come equipped with radios because they were used highly as disposable weapons (much like the troops..) . However, I DID find several photos of KV-1 tanks WITH the antenna.

Here is a KV-1 gallery with at least 6 different KV-1's with an antenna easily verified. Some of the early photos are too whitewashed which means that even if they have antennas, the high exposure has washed them out.

Here is a KV-1 recovered from the Neva River in Russia . It was pulled from the river WITH an antenna mounted.

These two articles talk a little bit about radios in KV tanks, but nothing really definitive:
KV-1

I'll check on the kill markings later if I get a chance.

Thanks, Jeremy. I guess that squares away the antenna question ... it's clearly visible in multiple photos, although its length is hard to judge. More importantly, the photos don't show the same type of antenna as the Osprey book, which had something I can only describe as floral at the top which would have been difficult to reproduce.

I accidentally left out this link, Soviet Radios, although it's not really relevant atm. Regarding what you described as a floral at the top of the antenna.. my thought would be that it was perhaps some type of prototype or initial antenna. I wouldn't think that such a design would have made it into production as its complexity would have hampered with the incredibly desperate production speed that was necessary to hold up the Soviet Western front against German forces. As for the length you should be just fine eyeballing it, but if you want an exact length then there are several Soviet armor experts here on the forum, and one of them should eventually make it to your build log.

I searched for a bit regarding the meaning of those kill marks, but nothing has come up yet. If nobody drops by your build log with an answer, I may be able to ask a couple people here in town.

I found a good photo that shows the length of the antenna:

That is a good picture there Bill. Oddly enough it looks like there are perhaps two sizes of antenna? A couple of the pictures I saw looked like the antenna was that short, but the other ones had the antenna extending past the top of the turret. Very curious... I'd like to know more about this.

Bill, is it me or is there someting sticking out of the barrel....

Greg, I think it's an illusion. The crew member's hat is in the background behind the barrel and I see what looks like some light discoloration just inside the barrel, but that's it.

On looking at it a second time, I see what you mean....good picture.

A progress shot and a question for the the gray backs (you know who you are):

Here are the Friul tracks I've been working on while I wait for Mr. Surfacer. This is the second set of Friuls I've used, but like the first they went together with no clean-up other than the occasional piece of flash. I used 0.020" brass rod rather than the wire included to connect the links. I don't know if that makes a big difference, but I remember a great SBS where the person recommended brass rod as a a slightly stronger material.



My question is about the drive sprockets that came with the Friul tracks. As you can see from the following photo (kit sprocket on the left, Friul sprocket on the right), the mounting arm on the hull is significantly wider than the hole in the Friul sprocket. Can anyone advise me on how this is supposed to fit the kit? I'm hesitant to cut the mounting arm off entirely only to find the Friul sprocket won't work.

Apologies - forgot to post the second picture. Here it is:

Bill: Quick tip for assembling the Friul links, I found from another modeler that straight pins (the ones found in the fabric department of Wal-Mart) work the best and are the most relistic material to pin these links with.

As for the drive sprocket, the kit's styrene sprocket should work just fine. Just run the track around that sprocket to make sure the spacing of the teeth corresponds with the track links without trouble, which they look like they will.
You don't need a metal drive sprocket to use the Friul tracks on a kit.

Bill, the Friul tracks were originally designed to fix the problems with the Tamiya tracks which have an incorrect (too short) pitch and the sprockets therefore have the wrong number of teeth. The Trumpeter sprockets don't have the same problem so you can use the kit sprockets and consign the Friul ones to the spares box.

Neil

Jeremy - Thanks for the straight pin tip. Maybe I'll give that a try next time around. On the other hand, maybe I'll try following the instructions.

Neil - Thanks for clearing up the drive sprocket question. I hadn't expected sprockets to come with the Friuls in the first place, so no big loss not to use them.

Hi Bill. Nice build so far. I built one of the KV1s a few years ago, and they just the ticket when you´re looking for a basic and quick build. More time for the paint and weathering!!

Frank - I couldn't agree more on the basic and quick build part. The wife and munchkins are away for the month, so I've been able to work on this more than usual. Still, I'm scratching my head wondering how this thing went together so quickly. Take away the time spent assembling the Friuls and this is easily a new land speed record for me.