Introduction

Another of my personal 'hate objects' in Trumpeter's otherwise excellent KV series, are the plastic barrels provided in the kit. In the last year or so, I've reviewed a number of alternatives and this is definitely up there with the best on the market.

The upgrade

35L49 - Soviet 76,2 mm ZiS-5/F-34 tank barrel for KV-1 (early model , model 1941-42) is yet another addition for the KV from the Polish manufacturer, Aber who seem determined to fill my spare time with review items.

In detail

This set consists of only the barrel. The kit mantlet is, in general, very good, the barrel, not so good. This is simply a turned metal barrel which reproduces very correctly the dimensions and the rifling on the original. Having checked the barrel against scale drawings I have from the Tankograd books on the KV, there are no anomalies in dimensions, diameter or profile. It's good. Once again, a simple but nice addition to the basic kit.

Conclusions

The keyword here is effective. This will allow the modeller to improve their basic kit significantly. Aber are doing an excellent job in keeping the things 'approachable' - the esoteric is nice, but at the end of the day, it's the simple add-ons which are more useful.