#35142 KV-1B Russian Tank

Built from the box, this kit represents a KV-1 Model 1940 completed in late June 1941 with the 76.2mm F-32 gun and ehkrany spaced armor.  The designation “KV-1B” was imposed by the Germans.

The hull is molded as a conventional tub including the underside, hull sides and lower front hull. The hull sides include several holes, courtesy of the original motorized KV-1 kit from the 1970s.  These should be filled, as should the holes in the underside of the hull.  The underside is devoid of any detail.  The tail light and exhaust air deflector plate are nicely represented on the lower rear hull, though the deflector plate is rather thick and could be improved by careful sanding.  The nose plate is smooth and lacks the 11 filled bolt holes that should be present on each face.

The suspension swing arms, shock absorbers, idler adjustment mechanism and return roller mounts are molded integrally with the hull tub, and molding limitations adversely affect the definition of these parts.  The return roller mounts are too thick and lack the correct taper, though this is different to see when the return rollers are in place.  The mounts for the suspension swing arms lack the grease fitting but this is a minor error and will go unnoticed by all but the most scrupulous observer.  The swing arms feature three attachment bolts on the torsion bar hub caps, rather than the correct six.

Pressed steel two-part resilient road wheels with lightening holes and six cooling vents on the inners discs are included, and these are the correct pattern for a late June production example.  However, the cooling vents are depicted as narrow holes rather than broad circles that should lie essentially flush with the surface of the disc.  The bolt detail on the hubs is also significantly smaller than it should be.  Fortunately, several aftermarket manufacturers make suitable, accurate replacements.  The return rollers are of the pressed-steel variety and are correct for a June 1941 example.

The tracks are correct in width but the pitch of the track links is too short.  This results in the track links being too closely spaced, and Tamiya has included an additional tooth on each sprocket to compensate for this error.  This means that you cannot simply replace the kit tracks with aftermarket items unless you replace the sprockets too.  Fortunately several aftermarket manufacturers provide sprockets as well as tracks.

The idlers are correct and cleanly molded, but lack the grease fitting on their hubs.

The upper hull is molded in a single piece with integral fenders.  Unfortunately this part is inherited from Tamiya's older KV-1C kit and includes several inaccuracies.  The driver's episcope cover lacks the flange, which is correct for a vehicle completed in early 1942 but not for a June 1941 vehicle.  It is possible to add the flange from styrene sheet if you wish.  The hull top includes a chevron-shaped armor fillet protecting the turret ring, as well as two small bars of armor welded to the engine compartment roof plate.  These did not appear until August 1941 and should be removed.

The forward left-hand fuel filler cap, between the hatch and the turret ring, is missing entirely.  The filler caps behind the turret ring are too tall and should have flat tops, rather than the domed tops as depicted on the kit part.  They should be cut away and replaced with styrene discs, using the forward right-hand filler cap as a guide for the size and details.

The hull hatch is the correct early pattern, but lacks hinge bolt detail on its outer face.  The engine access hatch is the late domed variant with an inspection port and two lifting eyes.  It is quite simple to sand away the inspection port, but the lifting eyes are undersized, incorrect in shape and include an integrally molded cable and hook.  These fittings will be tedious to scratch build.  The flush-fitting transmission maintenance hatches molded to the upper hull are covered by separate parts of the correct early pattern, but these lack bolt detail.

The engine access hatch represents the domed pattern with two lifting eyes and an inspection port in the center of the dome.  This type of hatch was introduced at the end of 1941 when the engine cooling system was revised, and is therefore incorrect for a June 1941 vehicle.  The hatch cover itself is approximately 3mm too wide, and should be cut away and replaced with an after-market item.

The radiator intake screens are the early pattern that was superceded in May 1941, and are therefore not correct for a June production example.  The bolt detail around the screens is correct for a late production Model 1941 hull built in the spring of 1942 (as represented by the KV-1C kit) but not for a June 1941 vehicle.  The screens are also approximately 0.5mm too narrow, which seems a small amount but is noticeable when compared to photographs of the real vehicle.  The screens should be replaced with after-market items of the late pattern, and the bolts altered using drawings as a reference for the correct configuration.

The bolt configuration on the engine compartment and transmission compartment roof plates is also correct for a Model 1941 but not for a Model 1940 hull.  There should be eleven equally spaced bolts across the rear edge of the engine compartment roof plate and across the front and rear edges of the transmission compartment roof plate.  The bolts themselves are flat-headed whereas they should have conical heads.

The kit’s fenders are approximately 2mm too wide.  The fender brackets are all of the solid type, which is more appropriate for a 1942 production example.  The brackets feature four bolts attaching them to the fenders, rather than the correct six (or five for a few vehicles manufactured in mid-July), and lack the flanges and bolts on their vertical edges attaching them to the hull.  I recommend replacing both the fenders and the brackets with aftermarket items.

The upper hull sides feature several curious rectangular blocks that sit on top of the fenders.  These are hidden by the hull ehkrany if these are fitted but if you decide not to fit the hull ehkrany, these blocks are not present on the real vehicle and should be removed.

Applique armor is provided for the hull front and driver's front plate.  Many, though not all, ehkrany-equipped vehicles featured these plates.  You have little choice but to use the plates however, since the lower hull tub features a large hole in the front plate that is only covered by the applique armor, and the front towing eyes are molded onto the applique armor plate.  The applique armor was seldom if ever fitted without the corresponding armor on the driver's front plate.  The kit includes ehkrany spaced armor for both the lower hull sides (between the upper and lower track runs) and the upper hull sides above the fenders.  These are accurate in shape and the securing nuts are positioned correctly.

The driver's front plate includes the driver's visor, machine gun mount, headlamp and siren.  The driver's visor is molded integrally with the applique armor plate.  The power conduit for the headlamp and siren is also molded onto the front face of the applique armor, but the appearance of the model would be enhanced by cuttting this away and replacing it with styrene rod or wire.

The kit includes three revised large rectangular stowage boxes for the fenders, which are correct for this variant.  The instructions provide the correct positions for these boxes.  Two of the smaller stowage boxes are included in the kit, but are not mentioned in the instructions. These are not required for this version and can be consigned to the spares box.  The kit also includes two cylindrical fuel tanks but these can also be sent to the spares box.

Two late pattern towing cables with cast ends are included.  However, each cable and its ends are molded from styrene in a single piece.  Removing the mold seams without damaging the detail on the cables is a tedious process, and they are difficult to curve realistically from the forward towing eyes over the fenders.  In any case, the turnbuckles and attachment brackets are missing from the kit.

The fenders include attachment brackets for two sets of spare track links on the number 9 and 10 positions.  These brackets were not fitted to KV-1 Model 1940s in the summer of 1941 and should be removed.

The kit provides the correct early welded turret.  The separate turret rear plate includes the circular alignment pin marks characteristic of turrets manufactured from May 1941 onward.  The sides lack the weld seams and torch cut marks on the edges of the front and rear plates, but their absence is hidden by the ehkrany spaced armor plates which are included for the turret front and sides.  These are nicely rendered, with the large fixing nuts even being oriented differently from one another.

The turret roof includes flanges around the episcope covers and ventilator cover, which are correct for a June 1941 vehicle.  However, the turret hatch lacks the mounting plate for the P40 anti-aircraft machine gun mount, which was fitted to all KV-1 turrets from early 1941 onward.  Several aftermarket sets include these fittings.

The F-32 gun barrel is molded as a single piece with a separate hollow end cap.  While the seams can be eliminated, I recommend replacing it with an aftermarket barrel.