Trumpeter 1/35 KV-2 Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The KV-2 was a follow-on development of the KV-1 heavy tank. Developed before WW2 (the Great Patriotic War), the KV-2 was a dreadnought on the battlefield. It was armed with the M10 152mm howitzer inside the MT-1 turret, but the gun was limited to de-rated propellant which could fire a round up to 432 meters/second. The recoil from any charge more powerful than that would jam the turret.

Much to the German's horror, these heavy tanks were nearly indestructible. None of their tank rounds could knock out the tank. 88mm, 105mm and 150mm rounds just bounced off the armor. In one engagement only the sustained fire from a group of Panzer IVs were able to knock out or disable the KV-2s that were holding off their assault.

In the end, while the KV-2 was a formidable weapon, its greatest weakness was its transmission. The KV-1 and KV-2 both suffered transmission failures in the field. For example, the 41st Tank Division lost 22 KV-2s out of its assigned 33, but of these, only five were destroyed by enemy action, the remainder were abandoned due to mechanical failure or fuel exhaustion. Production of the KV-2 was terminated in October 1941 after 334 were produced.

The Trumpeter 1/35 KV-2 is an impressive looking model! It is molded in light gray styrene and presented on 10 parts trees, plus separate lower hull and huge turret, and a set of optional black vinyl track.

Right out of the blocks, you are presented with a choice in the instructions. You can build the standard rolling pillbox or you can add use different styled storage boxes and engine deck details. The first step requires the drilling out of certain flashed-over holes to use these optional parts.

The exterior of the KV-2 receives some very nice detailing, right down to the fender brackets. The huge gun is also very nicely represented.

There is no interior detail, hence the very reasonable retail price. It might have been nice to have the interior provided, but you'd see significantly more plastic and a much higher retail price!

The hull and huge turret receive a significant number of details, including styrene grab-irons for the crews to mount that turret. The turret even included the rear machine gun port to stave off sneak attacks by enemy engineers.

One of the nicest features of this particular kit is the track. You have your standard vinyl track, or you can use the styrene link and section track. What is especially nice about the styrene track is that Trumpeter has molded in the sag between return rollers in the upper track length. The lower track length is flat to pose the tank on a level surface. The individual track links come together to round the drive sprocket and front roller.

Even a pair of tow cables are provided with a pre-molded sag to drape over the front hull.

In all, the kit is comprised of 233 parts to provide the level of detail you've come to expect out of Trumpeter armor kits.

Markings are provided for generic Red Army vehicles with two styles of red star. A set of patriotic "Za Stalina" (For Stalin) slogans are included for the huge billboard-sized turret sides..

This is a beautiful and nicely detailed kit, and the construction steps and styrene-only construction mean that this kit can be tackled by modelers of all skill levels except for young modelers without parental supervision.

My sincere thanks to Stevens International for this review sample!