Trumpeter's 1/35 KV-1 1942 Simplified Turret.

Build Log can be seen here

Nice Build Bill. My Favorite Russian Tank.

Very nice build

John,

There's something appealing about the sheer massiveness of the KV-1 sereies isn't there? It's basically a big steel rectangle with a turret and super-wide tracks and suspension bolted onto the sides. When put side by side with a Pz III or IV it's definitely a beast!

I've got all the Trumpeter series kits for the KV-1 and this was the first one built, I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to eventually working through the rest in the future.

Barron,

Glad you like it, Russian gear is beginning to gain a foothold as a soft spot...but just a small one in my case so far at least.

Cool model Bill. Nicely built ... very clean (build) .... but the green used is excellent. What is it? I dont get too hung up about the right shade of green, but this looks perfect for Russian armor, IMO.

The green finish isn't one color, it's a blending of several colors, all Model Master enamels. Began with a primer coat of Deep Yellow, followed by an overall coat of Green Drab, then mixed in several intermediate shades as varied mist coats of Green Drab lightened with Field Drab, then lightened with Russian Green, then just normal Russian Green, then Russian Green lightened with Deep Yellow. After all that, I applied a wash of Burnt Umber in varying degrees, then drybrushed in Deep Yellow and some of the previous lightened shades to provide variation in the finish. I had a blast experimenting with the different colors, had almost a "mad scientist" arrangement of pipettes and mixing jars on the work bench at one point in time...got so bad that I had to label the tops of the jars with numbers only to remember what order I wanted to spray them in once I had the shades to my liking. :-)

Bill, honestly, it is one of the best models I've ever seen in my life. It is a beautiful build. You got my vote.

P2G

shes a beaute bill the different shades of green look great and the tracks look perfect, great job all round, good luck in the contest.

Great build, simply marvelous. I loved the layered painting approach you used. Funny you mention working on KV-1 and Elephant at the same time, as it is just what I was about to undertake.

Will use your KV pics as the reference for the build.

Great job !

Appreciate the comments James and Ron, the DAMoM field is always a tough one!

Subjugator,

The irony for me is that the Elefant took 2 months and the KV-1 only 1 to complete, but they both ended up done at the same time! :-)

I really like the finish you achieved on your tracks. What process did you use?

For all-steel tracks like these I do the following (all paints are MM enamels).

1) Basecoat in Flat Black by AB

2) Brush paint (in this case) or AB Non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal (brush painted due to link-and-length arrangement, just easier in this case).

3) Drybrush Steel over all surfaces to lighten the Gunmetal

4) Apply a 90/10 (thinner/paint) wash of Rust over all surfaces

5) Drybrush Steel again on high points

6) Apply Mig weathering powders mixed in regular water (used a 50-50 mix of Russian Earth and African Earth in this case) with a large brush liberally over the tracks and let dry.

7) Use a stiff bristled brush to remove excess and push into corners where desired

8) Follow up with a moistened Q-tip to expose larger areas

I've found that the Mig powders work better when applied wet for this type of weathering vs. dry for the simple fact that their fine pigment granulation allows them to fix without being truly permanent to the applied surface. They dry to a lighter shade when applied this way so some care has to be taken as well as keeping the two colors well mixed for consistency but the neat part is that if you don't like it you just spray it with some water or use the Q-tip to clean up spot areas and voila! back to the beginning to try again.

Thank you for taking the time to explain your process. I really can't get over how they look like real metal in some of your shots!

I agree wit the other folks. The finish is top notch. Nice weathering and paint.

Truth be told it's something cobbled together from things I've seen or picked up from others and then just tried different ways to replicate. Sites like this one and the sharing of methods and techniques has helped me in countless ways just by showing that there so many different ways to do things, just have to find the one you like or works and run with it. :-) Always glad to share if I can.

Tim,

Appreciate the compliment!

Looks great Bill, perfectly weathered and presented. As mentioned above the tracks especially are masterpeices.

Thanks Adolph, appreciate the comments.