Work in Progress

Trumpeter 1/72 KV1 M1942 Cast Turret

Posted by huib on 03 Jan 2022, 20:23

KV-1
The Soviet operational concept of 'Deep Battle', developed in the 1930's by, among others, Marshall Tuchachevsky, demanded for a heavy breakthrough tank. Such a tank should be heavily armed to withstand machinegun and artillery fire, had to be able to return heavy fire and had to posess excellent cross-country ability. The huge five turreted T35 tank, specially designed for this task, turned out not to be a succes. Armour and cross-country capabilty were seriously insufficient.

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T35. Landschip

Experiences from the Spanish Civil War pointed to the importance of heavy armour. Based on these experiences, three new prototypes were developed, which were tested in the Finnish Winter War (1939-1940). The only single turreted type came out best and was further elaborated and taken into production. During 1940 it became operational under the name Kliment Viroshilov, abbreviated to KV.

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KV model 1940, the first operational version.

The KV was a giant monster for its time, comparable in size and weight to the later German Panther and Tiger tanks. Its heavy armour was immune to all operational anti-tank guns, its 76mm gun could defeat all existing tanks on normal combat distances, and with its wide tracks this heavy tank could easily operate in deep snow, thick mud or marshy grounds. The firts German encounters with the KV were disconcerting. The German standard 37mm tank and anti-tank guns hardly scratched the KV tank. Only the 88mm anti-aircraft gun and daring infantrymen with magnetic hollow charges could destroy a KV tank.

Luckily for the Germans the early KV tanks were mechanically unreliable, difficult to operate and badly led. More tanks failed through mechanical trouble than by enemy fire. The Germans urgently started to re-equip their tanks with 50mm guns and replace their anti-tank guns by 50mm ones. The Soviets simply countered this by adding extra armour to the KV.

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KV model 1941 with bolted on extra armour.

During 1942 it became clear to the Soviet high command that the KV tank had not much more to offer than the much cheaper and faster T34 tank. So after a last upgrade production of the KV was stopped in 1943 while development of a much heavier tank was started, resulting in the Josif Stalin series of heavy tanks.

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KV model 1942, the last production model, hit in the turret, probably by an 88mm gun. This example has a cast turret. Other variants had welded turrets.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by huib on 03 Jan 2022, 20:33

Trumpeter KV-1 M1942 Heavy Cast Turret

Different brands released model kits of the KV tank in scale 1/76 and 1/72. including Fujimi, Esci/Italeri, PST and Trumpeter. Both PST and Trumpeter produced a whole series of variants of the KV tank. I will work on a late variant, model 1942, from Trumpeter:

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The box.

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A few sprues with well detailed parts.

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The lower hull is one piece.

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A nice set of well detailed rubber band tracks. And a small decal sheet for two versions.

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A quick dryfit. Quite a bit bigger than a T34!

Let's start!
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by huib on 03 Jan 2022, 20:43

Building the tank
This kit is well engineered and has good fit. What a pity! Not so much to improve. ;-)
So, the build was fast.

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The two hull parts glued together. I replaced the fender supports to add a bit of extra detail.

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All small parts glued. I added an Esci tarp from the sparebox. Headlight was hollowed , as were the exhausts and the horn.

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The seam between the two main turret parts needed a bit of filler.

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I roughed the turret surface to imitate the cast iron, using liquid glue. The vision slits and periscopes were opened using a hot micro screwdriver. Look how detailed the inside of the hatches is made by Trumpeter.

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A welding seam was added to the back of the turret, using a piece of stretched sprue.

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And now ready for a bit of paint!
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by MABO on 03 Jan 2022, 21:37

The next year, the next project. I will follow again!
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MABO  Europe
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Posted by Peter on 04 Jan 2022, 14:19

Huib is like a cannonball, fast! :mrgreen:

Happy New Year my friend and I wish you a lot of models to built so we can enjoy your work the whole year! ;-) :occasion:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by huib on 05 Jan 2022, 14:17

Thank you, Mabo and Peter!

Paintjob
A wild winterwash, this one will get. That's always a nice option with Soviet tanks.

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The baselayer is a cheap spraycan with white primer.

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Then a disruptive camo with green.

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For the turretnumber I used 50 years old Esci decals. They were past their conservation date clearly as the carrier film broke up. With some effort I managed to get it right.

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After the decals I started chipping the whitewash using a piece of sponge and a fine brush.

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Then some details were painted.
And now for more weathering.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Peter on 05 Jan 2022, 15:26

First paintjob done and this tank looks allready as it had lots of battles! ;-)

Great work so far Huib! :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by huib on 08 Jan 2022, 15:19

Thanks, Peter!

Weathering

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After a gloss coat, I continued weathering the tank by adding a wash of diluted dark brown oil paint.

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As I found the effext to be too leittle I added a second layer of brown wash. Then some drybrushes using light green and white. The muzzle opening, vision slits and periscope apertures were emphasized using black paint.

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Some caked snow on the bottom.

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And finished with a matt varnish.
Now on with the wheels and tracks.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Konrad on 08 Jan 2022, 17:09

Tanks aren't really my thing.
But I am always impressed by your attention to detail.
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Konrad  Germany
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Posted by Peter on 08 Jan 2022, 18:26

Konrad wrote:Tanks aren't really my thing.
But I am always impressed by your attention to detail.

He makes them really realistic Konrad. A real master in this kind of things! And he's going fast with this one! Almost finished! Isn't it Huib? :-D :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by Wiking on 08 Jan 2022, 20:03

More tanks from plant huib.
And they are bigger now ! :mad:

The decal "repair" is not new to me.
Nice to see other people get sometimes the same trouble with older decals.
Sometime the old decal sheets get what you need. In the water they need a bit longer as usual to split from the paper .Everything is fine till .. Oh, sh**.

And good to see that you solve the trouble, too.
:yeah:

Btw nice weathered tank with the green cammo spots.
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Wiking  Germany
 
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Posted by Kekso on 10 Jan 2022, 07:31

Nice weathering
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Kekso  Croatia

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Posted by huib on 11 Jan 2022, 19:24

Thank you for your kind remarks, gentlemen!!

Wheels and tracks

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All wheels constructed, painted and weathered.

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Wheels glued in position.

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Tracks painted and weathered.

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The tracks are elastic and had an easy fit. The connection between the track ends is not very nice however, so I´ll have to camouflage that with a bit of snow later. But for now I add some iron wire through the hull to create some track sag.

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Track sag realised.

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On to the last steps!
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Peter on 11 Jan 2022, 21:23

Looks fantastic Huib! :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by steve_pickstock on 11 Jan 2022, 21:28

I love your work.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by huib on 16 Jan 2022, 17:12

Thanks, Peter and Steve!!

The last additions
Almost finished. Only a few things left.

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A figure. Always nice. This Soviet tank commander is from Hät. I only cut part of his legs to make him fit the turret hatch nicely.

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After painting.

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Figure in position, hatches placed and towing cables added. These soft vinyl cables were part of the track sprue. They are easy to work with, but to my taste they are less realistic than my homemade ones from copper fuse wire.

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Exhaust stains added to the rear deck. With a soft graphite pencil a metal shine was added to all kind of edges and on the tracks.

And now for a wintery base.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by despertaferro on 16 Jan 2022, 18:47

I really read that it's a pity that the pieces fit well with each other ...!!! :shock: :-D

When I start a model where the pieces do not fit, it goes to the trashcan without a second of hesitation. The last one, a BAI model made by Zebrano. I understand not everyone can be Zvezda and their snapfit models enginnering, but if I pay 14 euros for a model I hope to buy something more than a piece of plastic rubbish.

I couldn't do what you do, far too nervous, far too impatient ... :xd:

Regards

Joan
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Posted by Peter on 16 Jan 2022, 20:58

Nice one again Huib! Looking for forward to see it based. ;-) :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by huib on 21 Jan 2022, 15:20

Thanks, Peter and Joan!

despertaferro wrote:I really read that it's a pity that the pieces fit well with each other ...!!! :shock: :-D
When I start a model where the pieces do not fit, it goes to the trashcan without a second of hesitation.


:-D Yes, everyone has his/her own approach to the hobby. I like the craftsmanship element of the hobby very much: making additions and improvements to these simple kits in such a way that the original kit is hardly recognisable anymore. So a cheap old kit is more value for the buck for me. That's my style of modelling in a nutshell.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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Posted by huib on 21 Jan 2022, 15:27

Making a base
Working acoording to my traditional approach:

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A yoghurt container.

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I cut off the rim and glued in a circle of plywood.

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Using clay I modelled a layer of fresh snow.

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Covered the clay with plaster and sanded smooth.

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A wintery bush, cut from my own garden.

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Simulated a snowstorm using an aircan of cheap matt white primer.

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Woodgrain on the base using oilpaint.

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Tank in position, and finished!

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Final pictures soon.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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