Called the KV “Big Turret” to distinquish it from the KV “Small Turret” before the designations KV-1 and KV-2 came into use, this is still a KV-2 and I’ve always found the KV-2 to be an intersting tank, mainly as I could never fathom out how someone could come up with a plan to stick a turret so big on a tank that it looks like you need a flight of stairs inside, let alone that enough people said “wow, what a good idea” that it then went into production.
This kit of the KV-2 from Trumpeter comes in a large tray and lid style box on nine light grey sprues together with the hull tub, also moulded in light grey, two single length vinyl tracks, a small clear sprue, a length of braided copper wire for making the tow cables, an A4 size colour paint and marking guide and the instruction book in the fold out/roll out style.
I should at this point profer a warning about the box. The lid is such a snug fit to the base that if you are the sort of modeller inclined to place the tray into the upturned lid, then I urge you not to do so unless you enjoy half an hour of expletives while you try to overcome the suction holding the two together so you can put the lid back on right way up.
The mouldings on this are excellent, for an older kit I was truely surprised at the quality of the parts inside. The moulds are clean with no flash, minimal mould seams and although there are quite a few injector pin sinkholes they aren’t in areas that will be seen on the completed model. The detail is also very good, being very sharp, and including a lot of very small and delicate parts. There certainly hasn’t been anything much in the way of oversimplification of parts or oversized parts for easier moulding. One thing to watch for is that to save you having to fill unused locator holes many of these holes need to be opened up to take their respective parts so read the instructions thoroughly.
The chassis on this is very well detailed and uses separate swing arms which allows the roadwheeles to be artuculated if you want. All the suspension parts on each side attach to a separate side panel that then attaches to the hull tub. The roadwheels are made up of two pairs which each have an inner and outer hub, with the sprocket made up of two parts with another two parts for the hub. Unusually the KV2 has the drive sprocket at the rear with the idler at the front.
The tracks on this are a nice surprise as you get the option of both single length “rubber band” style vinyl tracks or link-and-length injection moulded ones, with the main sections of tracks moulded as one part with individual links to build up around the sprockets and idlers. This is a very nice touch as it’s not something you expect to find in a sub thirty dollar kit.
The upper hull on this isn’t so much an upper hull as an upper deck as the hull tub forms the bulk of the tank to which the hull top plate and engine deck are added, with the fenders than added along the sides. The driver’s hatch as well as the rear inspection hatches can all be positioned open if wanted and include a reasonably good level of internal detail on the hatches, but of course nothing inside the tank to be seen.
The engine hatch is also separate and can be positioned open though again with no engine to be seen. The engine deck also includes eight very small and delicate lifting eyes which will need good eyes and good tweezers. The fenders are very nicely done as a single piece per side with six supports for each to attach them to the hull. The large rear stowage boxes are each moulded as a single piece and also look very good.
The turret is made up of two large sides with a separate roof, front plate, and two part rear plate. It includes some very nice bolt detail as well as some very well done weld beads. The roof hatch is also separate with internal detail if you want to position it open, though again there is no interior, and there are some very delicate ladder rungs included for the turret sides. The gun is moulded as two halves with a separate muzzle and fits into a very nice looking welded mantlet that also includes good looking weld beads. There is no breech for the gun and because of the large bore it’s worth the small investment to get a rifled aluminium replacement barrel for this as it really finishes this all off nicely.
Decals and a painting guide are included for just the one vehicle and there isn’t any explanation of what they represent. Being a Russain tank the paint scheme isn’t overly complicated either, being ( you guessed it ) all-over Russian Green.
This is a terrific kit, honestly, I was really surprised because it’s an older kit and it can be picked up for peanuts. The quality is excellent, the detail is excellent, it’s a very simple, easy build with a good set of instructions and all you have to do at the end is to paint it green. Everyone should build at least one.
Click on thumbnails to enlarge images.
