#72013 KV-1A Heavy Tank

This kit shares many components with kit #72012, and in fact there are many common components across PST’s entire range of KV subjects.  Built out of the box, this kit represents a KV-1 Model 1940 manufactured between late July and October 1941, but also includes optional parts allowing you to build a KV s malenkiy bashniy, KV-1 Model 1939 or an early production Model 1941 with ZIS-5 gun.  The turret included in the kit however, is a hybrid of the early 75mm-armored welded turret and the later 90mm-armored turret as described below.  Fortunately it is relatively easy to modify the turret to represent the later variant.

The kit includes cast two-part resilient road wheels as fitted from mid-July 1941 onward.  These wheels were common on ehkrany-equipped vehicles, late production Model 1940s or early production Model 1941s.  Pressed steel two-part resilient wheels were fitted to all Model 1940s manufactured before the end of June 1941.

The kit includes the same upper hull molding as kit #72012, and the comments regarding the engine access hatch, radiator intake screens and hull hatches are equally appropriate to this kit.  Note that the regular curved rear hull overhang provided in the kit is correct for this production variant but again, the armor fillets between the turret ring and the engine hatch should be removed unless you plan to model a vehicle from September or October 1941.

The turret sprue is identical to that provided in kit #72012, but the butt-welded front and rear faces and the rectangular reinforcing strips alongside the trunnion bulges are appropriate for this variant.  The kit includes the repositioned rear-facing episcopes introduced with the 90mm-armored turret, but lacks the chamfered upper edges on the turret sides immediately below the side-facing episcopes, and the small armor fillet below each chamfer.  Fortunately these can be easily added with a file and some styrene strip to create an accurate uparmored turret.

The decal sheet is common to this kit and kit #72012.  It includes markings for three different vehicles including unit markings, turret numbers and patriotic slogans.  As always however, check your references because while a few photographs exist of KV-1 Model 1940s from the late summer and fall of 1941 with slogans on the turret sides, most vehicles at that time carried no markings at all.