Trumpeter KV-II

[DCG]

So imagine my surprise when I spotted this at Imperial Hobbies today... I wasn't even aware it was out yet.

http://www.fototime.com/{4F30B5A6-E0E5-4F49-A4FB-DAA029924D1A}/picture.JPG

The box is sturdy, corrugated cardboard, and is also packed with a separate compartment for the hull tub, turret, and vinyl tracks (vinyl... ecccch...) I find it a little ironic that you get a full-colour marking and painting guide considering green is pretty much the only colour the tank came in. ;)

http://www.fototime.com/{5D76A06D-F7B1-4E4B-BB20-F06294511E44}/picture.JPG

Now as incredible as this sounds, trumpeter have gone and made the armoured vehicle world's equivalent of a Costco store (i.e., a big stupid box) look sexy. Dig the turret:

http://www.fototime.com/{DD78D2B9-89D3-4CDE-A9D5-836CCD013217}/picture.JPG

The hull sides are separate parts you glue to the hull tub. I expect anyone who's ever tried to work with the old Tamiya kit and replace the fenders will find this of interest:

http://www.fototime.com/{99DA88D7-79C1-4472-88BC-07F63A9B8F20}/picture.JPG

The sprue with the hull details features louvre detail underneath the air intakes. The fenders are very nicely detailed and while there has been some comment as to whether they're the correct width, they are 1mm narrower than the old Tamiya fenders:

http://www.fototime.com/{C598D84F-5631-4805-AC3F-634BE9F46142}/picture.JPG

A closeup of the two different types of screens you get:

http://www.fototime.com/{DCF4B1C7-8C52-4BCE-BE7E-BB3B78B1DB88}/picture.JPG

In addition to the vinyl tracks (vinyl... ecccch...) you get styrene link & length tracks, with pre-moulded sag for the top run (although I'll probably still use aftermarket tracks anyway):

http://www.fototime.com/{3A42031A-2772-48B2-AE53-0C53958D93A9}/picture.JPG

The turret details sprue - I tried getting some better closeups but they didn't quite work out. There is an attempt to capture the slight depressions in the sides of the trunnion covers, and the cutaways in the recuperator housing for the bolts are present. The recuperator housing is also way more accurate in shape than the old Tamiya part, and it also features weld seam detail on all sides.

http://www.fototime.com/{45BF284C-9725-42E4-B879-BD76D1421AC4}/picture.JPG

I've already started glueing together some of the larger assemblies and the kit's a real pleasure to work with. Some gaps in places, yes. Detail-wise this kit in every way compares favourably to anything Dragon/DML have produced recently, and if it were not for some minor engineering letdowns Trumpeter might even have lapped their Hong Kong counterparts with this kit.

[panamadan]

Darren, any knock-out marks on the tracks? I've read that WWII Production's tracks fir perfectly. Dan :lol:

[DCG]

Hi Dan,

Well, the bad news is that the tracks are full of knockout pin marks... the good news, though, is that they're the raised kind.

Darren

[Stuke Sowle]

Hmmm, looks like the ol' Tamiya kit is going to my little brother as a bday present. :)

[DOJO]

About the turret; yeah turret is a box. But man I seen this tank in life, F it's big!!!!

[panamadan]

Guys-there are quite a few photos of KV-I's and II's in "Armor Battles on the Eastern Front", published by Concord. ;)

[DCG]

Just a quick update - been doing some glueing over the past couple days. I'll have some more photos on the weekend.

Darren

[panamadan]

Just got the KV-I "Simplified Turret" yesterday. Parts in it to make a KV-8 if desired. :lol:

[DCG]

Ok, actually I didn't do a whole lot of work on the kit this weekend, it being August bank holiday and all... but I did replace the solid exhaust screen provided in the kit with some PE and add some PE bolts to the bottom of the curved plate (the kit part does have them moulded on, but the detail is pretty indistinct - the black lines are locating marks).

http://www.fototime.com/%7BBC7999CC-17B8-42A9-8E0D-A6638478F0A2%7D/picture.JPG

Plus, I picked up the Aber barrel (which has some nice rifling) and a set of Friul tracks.

Darren

[panamadan]

Darren, what size square mesh did you use? Dan

[DCG]

Unfortunately I didn't save the packaging for the mesh, Dan, so other than the mesh being less than 1mm square and having an Aber item number of "S02" I can't really say what gauge mesh it is. I think the part number should help you find it, though.

While the turret is just a giant box, it still exceeds Tamiya's old kit in terms of quality in just about every conceivable way (well, except that that it doesn't come with rolled plate texturing like the Tamiya kit did). I mean, on the rear plate there's dowel weld detail and rough-cut plate edges for the escape hatch. The dowside here is that the sprue gates are moulded right onto the weld detail for the hinges, so I'll be re-texturing these later:

http://www.fototime.com/%7B8022F09F-F250-4ECF-BF45-2D6FB32FB477%7D/picture.JPG

Again - the turret roof; separate covers for the periscopes, and check out the detail on the vent covers:

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB8444B9F-F819-4CDC-93FD-64974A9728A9%7D/picture.JPG

the biggest "wow" factor here is the turret front - the strips of steel on either side of the trunnion housings are depicted as separate pieces with weld detail, there are the correct cutaways in the recuperator housing for tightening/loosening the bolts, weld seam detail galore... the only thing missing would be some kind of cast texture, but from what I've seen in photos the castings for these beasts were very clean by just about any standards I could name:

http://www.fototime.com/%7BAA76A2A7-9787-454A-BAF2-5CBCC072EDA5%7D/picture.JPG

That's all for now...

Darren

[panamadan]

Darren, thanks for the parts number of the mesh. Was one piece enough for the whole kit? Dan :)

[Stuke Sowle]

Lookin' good Darren. I think Trumpeter has shaken off the Hotchkiss blues and got back on the right track.

Anyone checked to see how many Tamiya KV-II's are up for sale on Ebay lately? :)

[Stuke Sowle]

Check out this Voyager set:

Voyager PE (http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=56691&page=1)

[DCG]

Ah yes, I saw that on PMMS - I want to make this as OOB as possible, but I also am going to have to spring for the vent screens on the engine deck, no doubt about that. Plus the hatch detailing will come in handy too. I think I can live without replacing the stowage bins, though.

Take it from me, however, I like the fenders so much the way they are I woun't be replacing them. You won't believe it's the same Trumpeter we've known since their Escit T-55 knockoff days when you see them.

Darren

[Andrew Hall]

Darren,

Funnily enough that Aber SO2 mesh is what I picked up today for my KV! Great minds eh?

Should be fairly easy to scratch the engine deck air intakes. IIRC Kunihito built a KV-1 ages ago and he has a photo showing you how to do it on his site

http://homepage3.nifty.com/AFV_model/

One thing I noticed about the KV and missing from the Trumpeter kit is the torch cut edges especially to the hull side armour.

Andrew

[DCG]

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about Kunihito's KV-IS - it's just that there comes a point where one wishes to take the easy way out, though. ;)

Darren

[Stuke Sowle]

Any progress on this one Darren?

[DCG]

Oh yes, I'm basically finished the turret, save for some hatch interior detailing. I'm not going to bother with photos of it right now - working on something for Euromilitaire and I'm not sayin' what it is. ;)

Darren