KV 1 - quick mods.

[majordisastor]

Thanks - Ebbey is coming along now at last ....



I thought I would go for this .........after all every Tiger needs its stripes

Andy

[blimp]

Oooh , Nice . The 'ol 510th heavy armoured unit , July '44 scheme eh? Very tasty . She'll look good .

• I havn't decided what i'm doing to mine yet ( june-july series), but i'm leaning towards an Italian job . . . maybe .

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That , folks isn't a Funny lookin' K.V. , but it's antecendant , the german answer to it . Some tin can they called the Tiger or some such thing . never fear , no such decadence for our valiant comrades in the glorious red army , there's nothing wrong with a coat of soviet green paint . . . with a fetching hue of sh*te splattered on for good measure .

[blimp]

Back to the lights , or lack of them actually

The mold for the lenses worked nicely , the resin didn't . It stuck like the proverbial and refused to go off . Hence , i got it out eventually but think i've damaged the mold doing it .

Double bummer .

• Overtime and the Mother-in-laws birthday has stopped playtime ! WAAAAH !

[blimp]

Alrighty , where was i ? - Lights .

The clear resin i've got is no good and yes , the mold was wrecked Time for some 'proper' stuff . It looks like the piggybank is in trouble again .

QUICK MODS !

• Ok ok , How about this little dodge then . . . .

. . . Spot the cuckoo in the nest . . .

. . . A std HL plastic wheel on the Asiatam chassis - using some smoker tubing and a 4mm nail . Quick , easy and without the bum clenching price of a special brass conversion i saw somewhere .

I think i thinks i deserves a drinky poo for that precioussss , oh yessss . - but only because it's the weekend you understand . . . .

[blimp]

And tonight folks , the turret .

• . . . Well , the mantlet anyway .

On the KV , the 'cheeks' should be asymetrical , so after stripping the front off , i cut 3mm from the mantlet and just reglued it onto the undersized half . This means the top cowl needs reworking too . . .

. . A little filler , plasticard strip and some boltheads later .

. . . Then onto the missing details on the mantlet itself , the LED hole was plugged and a 5mm hole was half drilled into it , a flat disc and new bolthead made to suit . above that the oval main gun sight apature was drilled and filed into shape . A hole for the MG (centre left) . Two small bolthead ' eyebrows' , and all done

• OK , i reduced the oversized 'Octopus sucker' rings as well , they are supposed to represent the welded dowel heads that keyed the armour plates together .

. . The radiused corner where the turret joins was cut square , and a scrap of plastic glued and reshaped onto the lower part .

• 

. . and the rivets , made from stretched sprue .

• 

. . . . This leaves the armour plate weld lines to add , from Miliput or whatever , and then , oh my , PAINT ! Yay .

[blimp]

HULL .

• Looking a the top run , the return rollers seem too high , by about 4mm , the track run should be a straight from sprocket to idler , ok , I'll just reposition the rollers then . . .

crikey , what did the HL muppets fit the axles in with ? a club hammer ?

Talk about grief . . . .

• Phew , better though . . .
  .

. . . and now with an extra link . Typical KV baggy tracks . Oh dear , i feel a tensioner mod looming . . . Mmmm .

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. . . But before that , fresh air

. . . Namely the vents , or lack , as the HL bods have made the hull nearly as airtight as a gnats gearbox - even fitting a fan won'y help , it'd only be recycling heated air

• 

Intake louvres , nicely molded , ready to be covered with the SOLID mesh covers . Good one .

• Some brass strip , chain drill some holes , hack , slice etc. etc. . . .

• 

. . . with a bit of el cheapo mesh from po*ndland and plasticard strips .

Not forgetting that the air has to exit as well , the rear got some treatment too .

Not quite so happy here , i've since found a picture on the web that shows this area well , so i'm going to have another go , the lower back plate is now very thin , I'll add another strip of plastic here .

[tankmad]

Looking good keep up the good work.
Stevie

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Cheers TM , I've redone the bustle interior to resemble the real thing , a FLAT plate with a ledge at the top . . . .

• 

. . . and made a heavier guage 'cast' straight barred grille instead .

. . . . That's a LOT of .020" ( .5mm ) plastic strip in there , folks .

. . . And while i had the styrene out , i eliminated HL's strange hull/turret gap with a .080" ( 2mm ) ring

. . . Now . . .

And coming soon , how to get the HL KV 1's exhausts to actually work , how to clock the std suspension ( a vital mod with metal gearboxes , but handy to know anyway ) - and how to invent new swearwords - yup , it's the famous " . . . i'll just lower the return rollers " mod TTFN . B .