Sci-Fi Wednesdays - The USS Enterprise E

Manufacture: Polar Lights
Scale: 1/1400th
Kit: # 853

Build Series: Sci-Fi Wednesdays - 1/1400 scale Enterprise E (Completed)

Background

Here is a rhetorical question for you, how iconic is the name USS Enterprise? Amongst all of the sci-fi ship names out there, there are few rivals that carry the same level of admiration or nostalgia as the name Enterprise. Whether you are talking about the TOS Enterprise or the latest TNG Enterprise, each one is iconic in their own right and they all hold a special place in my heart. For my second season of Sci-Fi Wednesdays, I opted to finally build one of these awesome ships and decided on the E variant. I have heard that it can be a challenging kit, but my focus was to build it up and try to paint my own version of azteking! Oh boy, was that an adventure. Let's get into it... 

The Kit

First off, let me just say that I had a blast with this kit. Sure, the parts didn't fit together very well, there were gaps and misalignments around the lower hull and the nacelles, I couldn't get the bussard collectors to fit, and the saucer connection was difficult at best, but there was an allure to this kit and I really wanted to build it. It turned out to be a venerable modeling adventure and since it was my very first Star Trek ship to be on my bench, it holds a very special place in my display case. 

I found that this kit required a great deal more patience and focus then my previous Sci-Fi build, the Moebius Viper Mk. 7. The kit demanded a lot more dry fitting and studying for each part and subassembly and major attention needed to be paid to each and every step of assembly. It was a lot of work and for my very basic modeling skills, it was a trail by fire.

My troubles first started with the nacelles, specifically the clear parts for the bussard collectors. I just couldn't get them to fit! I tried to flip parts around, sand and file anything and everything, but I just couldn't get them to work. Since I wasn't going to light this ship, I opted to just blank them off and paint them instead. It would have been nice if I had gotten them to fit, but more than likely, it was user error. I got it sorted eventually, so no biggie.

The fit on the hull was difficult in places. I had to use a lot of styrene strips, at multiple locations, to not only coverup areas that were terrible or inaccurate, but also to fill gaps in the plastic and to stiffen up certain connections. It was a ton of work, but I was eventually able to get everything together, especially with a good deal of Mr. Surfacer putty to fill in some of the smaller gaps.

Once the putty and styrene was sanded and prepared around the secondary hull and rear shuttle bay, it was painted with an off-white paint by Vallejo. I did this to both prime and provide a base color get for my attempt at azteking. 

Painting and finishing this beast was not easy. It required multiple layers of paint, as well as numerous layers of azteking and masking. The azteking process was basically a lot of very small rectangular strips of Tamiya tape, cut by x-acto knife and positioned by hand, in various combinations around the hull. It was not for the faint of heart, but it did work to a certain extent. I then had to alternate layers of paint and azteking masks, so that it gave the ship a general appearance of having armored plates and layered details. Like I said, it wasn't at all accurate to the movie or studio model, but it was an interesting process to work with and it gave a very different look.

After all of that was done, I added more layers of paint, detail painted the different areas of the kit, sealed it with Future, and attempted to add all of the decals. Those went on just fine and didn't have any major issues durring application. I then sealed it all with Future and got ready for weathering.

Weathering was kept at a minimum, mostly because I had no idea how to really weather a star ship. I used a sludge wash to help darken certain areas of the kit, but it didn't really come across as well as I had envisioned.

For the base, I used the kit supplied parts and added in a photograph of a sunrise over a planet, that I found online somewhere. I edited it and cut it to fit inside the Star Trek emblem and called it a day!  

Conclusion

Even with all of it's troubles, I can't say that this kit is entirely without merit. This is a great version of the Enterprise E and it is very capable of being a real showstopper. If a person can get past the fit issues and some of the lesser detailed areas, this kit will please almost any sci-fi modeler out there. If they have the skills to light the interior of a starship, this one would look fantastic! Since I am not at that level yet, I thought I would just build the model as best as I could and try my hand at painting my own versions of the iconic aztek markings. I can't say that it is accurate, but I accomplished what I set out to do and it was a HUGE learning experience for me. I absolutely love the look of the Enterprise E and this version, although not screen accurate, was a joy to build.

Feel free to checkout my completed USS Enterprise E build over on my YouTube channel!

Thanks for joining me today, stay safe, and happy modeling.

Building the Hawker Harrier Gr Mk. 7

 

Manufacture: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/48th
Kit: # PT36
Build Series: Hasegawa Hawker Harrier Gr Mk.7

Background

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love WWII aircraft. In fact, I build almost exclusively Second World War airplanes, with the occasional Cold War subject tossed in for fun. I rarely tackle the more modern jets. I just never feel much pull towards anything post 1970. That's not to say that there aren't some pretty epic looking aircraft out there, I just haven't really been actively collecting in that area. That timeframe doesn't interest me as much.

However, I feel that a modeler should be able to build a little bit of everything and since I am sorely lacking in the jet category, I decided I should try something new. I had been meaning to branch out a bit with more modern subjects, but there were so many choices available, that I couldn't decide on what I should build. It was a conundrum, for sure.

It was then that I happened to read about an upcoming group build called the 50th Anniversary Hawker Harrier Buddy Build. As the name implies, this GB focused entirely on the Hawker Harrier and I immediately took notice. The Harrier has always fascinated me and I thought that that might be a good subject to start off with. Plus, it was being hosted by the International British Modeler and I have always liked his group builds. Usually I would have pushed it aside and said "Nah, I don't build modern airplanes" but not this time. I wanted to give it a shot and I am very glad that I did.

The Kit

For my kit, I selected the 1/48th scale Hasegawa Hawker Harrier Gr Mk.7. I've always enjoyed Hasegawa products, so I thought that this kit would be a safe bet and having built it now, I can say that it did not disappoint! The boxing was very typical Hasegawa, with great looking parts, nicely printed decals, and a good assortment of inserts to build multiple versions. As for the changes in different marks, I couldn't tell you much about those parts. I am not a Harrier aficionado, but there were a few sprues that ended up being leftovers, so I can assume that these were for different versions. If you need more detail on the Harrier and its many iterations, there are way better sites out there will give you a fantastic breakdown on those details. All I can say is that it looked like a Harrier to me, so I was pretty happy to build her up.

Construction was a simple affair, nothing too crazy or challenging. It followed the traditional Hasegawa instruction layout, so if you've build one, you've built them all. I did end up painting the topcolor incorrectly, but that was my own fault. I used an Extra Dark Sea Gray instead of a Dark Sea Gray and that was very wrong. I later fixed the color issue and it was smooth sailing from there on out.

Decals went on without much fuss. As usual, Micro Set and Micro Sol did their jobs well. There were a couple of smaller decals that gave me a tiny but of hassle, but the majority were spot on. Unfortunately, I had one decal that absolutely disintegrated, while trying to apply it. It was the glass breaking design that was supposed to go on the underside of the canopy. It didn't make it out of the water. That is still a sore spot for me, as I just don't think that the canopy looks finished without that cool design. Oh well, what can you do? You can't win 'em all and this kit was still a fun project.

There were a few areas that needed some additional attention. First off, the canopy clear parts had a very annoying seam that went right down the middle of both canopy pieces. I had to sand and polish that out and coat the parts in Future, to bring back the clarity. Also, I have read that the kit seat was incorrect for this version. Not having any background on the Harrier, I wouldn't have even noticed that issue, but I ended up using some reference shots to do a bit of scratch building/detailing, and added some Tamiya masking tape to represent seatbelts. Even though the tape belts aren't as detailed as aftermarket sets, I think it is still better to have something there, than to have nothing there at all. I think it turned out passable, so I'm happy with the results.

I did have some minor fit issues around the intakes and the wing extensions, but some superglue and sanding files took care of that for me. If you wanted to really go all out on this kit, I might recommend a one-piece resin intake trunking. That would bring up the detail quite a bit. I would also recommended a weapons set for RAF aircraft. Hasegawa gives you four pylons that are just empty and I would have loved to have had some additional weapons to hang off of the wings.  

Conclusion

Overall, I have to say that this was a very enjoyable project. Sure, it was a simple build, without any real difficulties or crazy additions to contend with. But just think, normally I wouldn't have even considered a modern jet as a viable build project. Now, I've got a finished Hawker Harrier in my display case and I am even looking at expanding the stash, to include other modern jets! I think that that alone is quite an accomplishment. And to be honest, the group build gave me the perfect excuse to purchase a new kit! I may not have won any real prizes, but then again, I was never expecting to win anything. I joined purely for fun and inspiration. I still consider myself a well practiced amateur, so it was a honor to just build along side such fantastic craftsmen. I had a great time on the bench and I am so proud to have a Harrier in the display case.

Feel free to checkout my completed build over on my YouTube channel. And while you're over there, consider subscribing and maybe dropping a like or two. It lets me know what you guys might want to see in the future and really helps out the channel.

Thanks for joining me today, stay safe, and happy modeling.

Building the Academy P-36A Hawk

Manufacture: Academy
Scale: 1/48th
Kit: # 12238
Build Series: Ben Builds Season Three: The P-36 Hawk (Completed) 

Background

I have always liked the look of the P-36! There was just something "interesting" about the plane, with it's mismatched nose gun calibers and big radial engine. It always peaked my interests and to this day, I have only ever built two P-36s: a 1/72nd scale, Monogram kit from 1989 and this 1/48th scale Academy boxing. So, let's talk a little about this one.

The Kit

I had a blast building this kit. The parts went together very well, with minimal fit issues. The parts were flash free and crisply molded. The decals were clearly printed and went down without any issues. The cockpit looked OK, but it wasn't as busy as I would have liked. I did end up adding some homemade seat belts and closing the canopy. There just isn't a lot of detail to show off, so I figured it would be fine to close everything up.

Since this kit allows you to make a few different versions of the P-36, there are a few areas where you might need to remove some molded in details. If you are building the Hawk 75 version, the kit is pretty much ready to go, but if you want to build the Pearl Harbor version as I did, you have to remove some details. If I remember correctly, you have to sand down some louvers around the fuselage nose, some dive breaks under the wings, the wing guns and a few panels here and there. Not too bad, but a bit tedious.

Even though I did enjoy the build, I did have a few issues with the kit. Nothing that should dissuade you from picking this one up, but first off, the cockpit wasn't as accurate as I was hoping it would have been. I found some issues with the floor and the instrument panel, so I did my best to rectify that by adding basic styrene details.

My other real issue was the wheel bays. The kit parts were molded with a canvas covering detail that did not match any of my references. Now, as I understand it, these covers were sometimes carried, but none of my references showed them installed. And when I did find images of these covers, they did not look anything like the kit parts. So, I decided to take advantage of this, remove them and just try my hand at scratch building the bay interiors.

I tried to represent the interior details with strips of styrene, cut down and shaped to look like internal ribbing. I wanted to get the look close enough to my references, but since this was my first attempt at this sort of thing, I gave myself some leeway. I ended up going for more of an artistic representation, rather than a 100% accurate recreation. It was fun process! The finished product was not exactly perfect, but I am happy with the end results, so if nothing else, it was a good learning experience for me. I really wanted to just try it out and to see if I could actually build those types of details. I did my best and that is all one can hope for. 

Conclusion

Despite the kit's few issues like the cockpit and the wheel wells, I think that overall, this was a very nice project. There is a lot of potential with this model. A more experienced builder could include resin add-ons and updates and have a great basic kit to build off of, or a beginner builder could take their time and practice their modeling skills. Either way, I would recommend that fans of early WWII aircraft check this kit out. Build it and have fun with it. I know I did!

Feel free to checkout my completed P-36A Hawk build over on my YouTube channel!

Thanks for joining me today, stay safe and happy modeling.

Sci-Fi Wednesdays - Moebius Models Viper Mk. VII

Manufacture: Moebius Models
Scale: 1/32nd
Kit: # 916
Build Series: Sci-Fi Wednesdays - Viper Mk.7 (Completed) 

Background

Battlestar Galactica was such an awesome show! Based on the 1970s television series, the 2004 sci-fi show was a masterpiece of storytelling and I binged that entire series in a matter of weeks. Great characters, intriguing plot lines and of course, sweet looking ships.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a big ship guy. That is one of the reasons why I liked Babylon 5 and most of the Star Trek shows. I just love a good ship and BSG had some nice looking ships! 

Watching the show, I immediately fell in love with the designs of the Vipers, the Cylon raiders, the Battlestars and the Bay ships. They looked great on the screen and I couldn't wait to see those epic space combat scenes.

It wasn't until 2014 that I actually found out that Moebius had released some of the ships as model kits. I saw them in a Squadron mail order catalog and I just couldn't resist. I immediately pick up both the Mk. II and the Mk. VII Vipers and couldn't wait to get started. 

To be honest, I actually wanted to build the Mk. II first, since it was my favorite of the Viper designs, but since I hadn't built a sci-fi kit in ages and the Mk. II was going to require some very careful painting with the color white (a difficult color to paint on any day), I decided to start with the Mk. VII. 

The Kit

This was my first experience with a Moebius kit and I have to admit, I was pleased! The parts were nicely molded, flash free and clean. It does have some heavily scribed recessed panel lines, but it didn't bother me as much.

Moebius supplies a very high quality, glossy instruction manual, printed in color, which is a really nice change of pace. Their line drawings were easy to understand and I didn't have any real issues with assembly.

There decal sheet was well printed, nice and glossy, with all the images in registry.  Moebius gives the builder options for either Galactica or Pegasus versions of the Mk. VII and options for a number of different pilots. Nice touch Moebius!

This kit was well engineered, with very nice fit in most areas. I did have a large seam between the upper and lower fuselage, but some filling and sanding minimized it enough for my liking. This kit comes with both landing gears and an in-flight display stand, so depending on how you wish to show the finished product you have two options. I decided to cover the gear bays and use the stand, but the doors were a little finicky to fit. They seemed to be a bit undersized, so I had to take my time installing them.

One of my main complaints for this kit was the cockpit assembly. The detail was extremely sparse and not very accurate to the t.v. show. I ended up doing a ton of scratch building and after it was all done, I was able to get something that looked closer to the actual design. Honestly, I think a resin replacement would have been a better choice, but I got it to work.

I also printed my own gauges and glued them to my scratch built instrument panels. If I ever build another one, I might go with a lighting kit and replace the entire cockpit with a much nicer part.

I also had some issues with the wings. The overall shape were more or less correct, but the details were not as accurate as I would have liked. The guns were not angled correctly, the wing intakes were not molded in the correct shape and the gun housings were very different then what appeared on the show. Even so, the kit still built up into a nice looking bird, even though it isn't as screen accurate as one might think.

I ended up drilling and adding some additional thruster ports around the nose intake. There were several missing and it was a super simple job to add them in. I also deepened the remaining ports, to give them a bit more impact.

I used a mixture of Tamiya and Gunze Aqueous paints for the basic color. It is probably too dark, but I like how it looks. Decals settled nicely into the panel lines, I just used a bit of Micro Set and Micro Sol for good measure. It all worked well.

I ended up tinting the canopy with some Tamiya Smoke, not only to obscure the cockpit's lack of accurate detail, but to help hide my paint work on the pilot figure. I am just not that good at painting figures, so the tint helped to keep that hidden. 

Conclusion

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this build. The fit was good, the decals went on nicely and aside form a bit of seam issues here and there, it was a really enjoyable build. Like I said, I wished Moebius had spent a bit more time on the cockpit, but if it is a deal breaker for you, it can be replaced with a lighting kit or just doctored up with time and better references.

Despite the few misgivings that I had regarding some of the points of accuracy, I still would highly recommend this kit to any sci-fi enthusiasts. It was a great project of a really cool ship.

Feel free to checkout my completed Viper Mk. VII build over on my YouTube channel! This was my first entry into my Sci-Fi Wednesdays build series, so it was a little rough.

Until next we meet, stay safe and happy modeling.

Building the Eduard Hawker Typhoon

Manufacture: Eduard
Scale: 1/48th
Kit: # 1131
Build Series: Ben Builds Season Four: The "Spiffy" Tiffy (Completed) 

Background

I have to be honest, I don't know much about RAF aircraft. Sure, I can usually recognize a Spitfire or a Hurricane, but when it comes to the later war aircraft like the Typhoon or Tempest, I am mostly in the dark. I probably wouldn't have even looked at this kit, if it weren't for a group build called "The Spiffy Tiffy" group build, being hosted by the International British Modeler. This build was focusing on Typhoons in any scale, and by any manufacturer, which intrigued me as I had never build one before. Typhoons were one of those aircraft that looked mean and impressive and I thought that the group build would give me a good reason to try my luck at building one. So, I grabbed the 1/48th scale Eduard kit and boy am I glad I did!

The Kit

First off, this was a great model and I thoroughly enjoyed branching out into RAF aircraft. It really gave me some appreciation for the Tiffy. I enjoyed myself so much, that I ended up building and purchasing several additional British planes and I have plans to pick up a few more in the coming months.

As I mentioned before, the group build only focused on the Typhoon, any make, model or version. Some builders built in 1/72nd, others went with the larger 1/24th scale kits, I stuck with my favorite scale and selected the early "car door" version in 1/48th. For some odd reason, I typically enjoy building the early versions of subjects, so this was a perfect kit to continue on with that trend. 

During the kit selection process, I found out that this Eduard kit is actually a reboxing of the 1/48th scale Hasegawa Typhoon. That means that it has the typical Hasegawa habit of adding inserts into certain areas of the model, in order to give the molds more flexibility. All of these types of kits share typical sprues of common parts, but for each unique version, Hasegawa gives you inserts, so you can make a particular mark. In this Typhoon's case, the canopy and cockpit areas were different, so I had the inserts for those sections. 

On a personal note, I am not really against the idea of inserts and I understand why some manufacturers choose to do this practice, but most of the time, inserts can tend to be a bit fidgety. Hasegawa's line of P-40s come to mind, where you have to replace the entire tail section depending on the version you're building.  This leaves a nasty seam and step to contend with, but that comes with the territory.

For the actual Tiffy build, the kit was a real pleasure to work on. Not only was the box loaded full of extras like decals, resin parts, masks, and photo etched pieces, but the part fit was really solid. The only issues that I had, focused around the P.E. parts and some of the kit's plastic inserts. They gave me a bit of a pause, but that isn't really surprising and I was able to pull it off. 

Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of P.E. parts, mostly because of their size and their innate ability to fly off of the sprue and be swallowed up by the carpet. In the Tiffy's case, most of the PE levers and switches were super tiny and very difficult to work with, and once the cockpit was closed up, almost impossible to see. Due to this fact, I ended up leaving a few of the smaller, hidden parts off the kit. 

Building the kit was relatively painless and most of the steps were a joy to work through. As I had mentioned before, the plastic inserts around the canopy and spine of the aircraft did leave a bit of a seam and step that had to be dealt with, but with some fitting, sanding and filling we got it done.

Paint was typical late war British Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Grey. I used a mixture of Vallejo, Mr. Hobby, and Tamiya paints to get this all squared away. I used a top coat of Future to seal it all together and to get it ready for decals. The decals went on nicely, with just a little bit of Micro Set and Sol to help them along the way. After that we sealed it all up with another gloss coat and tried my hand at weathering. 

Weathering is still a very difficult concept for me and I am sorely lacking in a lot of the necessary techniques, but it is a work in progress and I'll figure it out one of these days....I hope lol. I actually do not have any store-bought washes, so I ended up making my own sludge wash with some pastel chalk and weathering powder by AIM. I used a few drops of dishwashing liquid to breakup the surface tension and then applied it all around the kit. The results were alright, so I added some color pencil chipping and some oil stains and streaks with Testors Rubber. I finished it all off with some semi flat coat and called it a day.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a great project and an awesome kit to work on. Not only do you get Hasegawa molds and Eduard detail parts, you also get resin upgrades pieces, and a beautiful decal sheet. All of those additions really made this build a great time on the bench and I would recommend the kit to anyone, who is a fan of RAF aircraft or Eduard kits. Truth be told, I was a little bit skeptical at first, about the PE and all of the added resin parts, but they weren't too bad and really spiced things up. As I mentioned before, I ended up leaving off a few of the PE levers, as they were absolutely lost in the cockpit detail. I just didn't feel they were all warranted, so I kept them in the spares box. I think the cockpit looked sufficiently detailed, so I was happy with the end result. Feel free to checkout the completed Hawker Typhoon build over on my YouTube channel!

Thanks for joining me today, stay safe and happy modeling.

Building the Hobby Boss F-105D Thunderchief

Manufacture: Hobby Boss
Scale: 1/48th
Kit: # 80332
Build Series: The F-105D Thunderchief (Completed) 

Background

The Thundercheif and I have always had a rough relationship, a sordid history of failures and regrets. In fact, up until this Hobby Boss kit, I had tried on two separate occasions to build a F-105, but each time something would happen and the kit would either end up in the spares box or "crashed" in the backyard.

My first attempt was the venerable 1/48th scale Monogram, F-105D. That one failed. I then tried the Monogram F-105G Wild Weasel in the same scale. I got the kit into a basic airplane shape, but it didn't make it out of my backyard combat zone.

Despite my initial failures, the F-105 has the distinction of not only being one of my favorite aircraft from the Vietnam era, but it was also my very first jet model kit that I ever attempted! Still, a completed 105 eluded me, until now.

The Kit

Upon opening the box, we are reminded of just how big this kit really is. This thing is monstrous, which is awesome for anyone who likes a large plastic canvas. The surface details are nice and crisp with some beautiful rivet work and numerous, fully detailed areas. We have a fully detailed engine, radar, refueling probe, nosecone and Gatling gun bay, which can all be posed open or closed. Of course these areas could all be doctored up with even more details, P.E. parts and scratch building, but they get the job done.

The cockpit isn't anything to get that excited about, but it builds up well enough out-of-the-box. I really think a resin cockpit set would be a great investment, especially if you intend on having the canopy open, but like I said, it isn't too bad for out-of-the-box. If nothing else, a new seat would add a nice level of detail.

Construction was fairly straightforward. Nothing really jumped out at me during the initial construction phase and the fit was very nice. Areas such as the mid-air refueling probe doors and the radar dish nose cone were geared to be displayed open, but since I decided to close them up, I had some minor issues getting them all aligned and installed.

I also had some small gaps that showed around the wing joints and a slight step at the rear tail cone/fuselage joint. They weren't too bad and after a few swipes with my sanding sticks and some putty, they basically disappeared.

Like I mentioned before, this kit had a lot of detailed sections that would get completely covered and lost within the fuselage. I didn't want to waste much time on those sections, so I just closed up areas and left out a lot of the unneeded parts. Instead, I used the open spaces in the nose and gun bay for ballast. I figured that this kit might be a tail sitter, so I took ever opportunity to add weight, forward of the nose wheel.

With regards to the ordinance, I didn't really like the assortment of weapons that came with this kit. I wanted to see a really bomb laden F-105, like you do in a lot of the Vietnam era photos. Unfortunately, the kit came with some rarer load outs, so I opted to purchase a weapons pack from Hasegawa. I wanted that iconic cluster of 750lbs. bombs that you always see on period photos! I did have to scratch build the center pylon, but that wasn't too bad and the weapons pack took care of the center ejector rack. I think that the finished product turned out looking the part and I am happy.

I finished the kit in a mixture of Vallejo and Tamiya acrylic paints, with a Future gloss coat and a Gunze rattle-can flat coat. Decals were kit supplied and Micro Set and Micro Sol were used to get the decals to settle down. They all preformed perfectly and I didn't have any issues with tearing.

Seeing as I have never been very adept at weathering, I kept this finish rather clean. I tried my hand at a dot filter, but I didn't have much luck with that. I also preshaded panel lines and tried to keep the top colors thin so the preshade would show through. I need a lot more practice. Despite my best efforts, I didn't achieve the exact results that I was trying for. If I had been a bit more comfortable with painting, I would have loved to so some additional sun bleaching, chips and color variations. Maybe next time!

Conclusion

Overall this kit was a really fun build. I have always loved the F-105 and I think that this one turned out far better then I had expected. I think that it looks great on my shelf and since I had such a blast with this version, I have even considered picking up the Wild Weasel version!

Yes, the kit was a bit over engineered, but the fit was excellent and I think that any detail fanatic would have a field day with this setup. Well done Hobby Boss!

One of the biggest areas of concern for this kit, were the landing gears. They are very delicate and flimsy, so I would recommend that you invest in a set of white metal replacements. I think that they would hold up better under the kits heavier weight.

Feel free to checkout my complete F-105 build over on YouTube!

Until next time, stay safe and happy modeling.

Building the Trumpeter KV-1 Model 1939

Manufacture: Trumpeter
Scale: 1/35th
Kit: # 01561
Build Series: The KV-1 mod. 1939 (Completed) 

Background

First off, I’ve always loved the KV series of Russian tanks. There is just something awesome about their aesthetics. Maybe it’s their hard edged, jagged lines, maybe it’s their imposing size or maybe it’s just the fact that they were virtually unstoppable in the opening days of the WWII. Whatever the case may be, the KV-1 is one of my favorite tanks of all time and I celebrate the entire history of this Russian behemoth. 

When Trumpeter first announced that they would be releasing different versions of the KV family, in 1/35th scale, I was very excited! At that time our options for KVs were limited, relying on Eastern Express, which always had a ton of flash on their parts and the old Tamiya kits, which were produced in the 1970s. We definitely needed more options.

Generally speaking, I've always liked Trumpeter kits and most of my experiences with their releases, have been very pleasant. As you can imagine, as soon as the KVs became available, I purchased one the next day and dug into it immediately.

The plastic was a thing of beauty, the kit was easy to assemble, it had a very intuitive part break-downs and the kit include some extras like brass wire tow cables and your choice of either vinyl or link-by-link hard plastic tracks. It built up extremely well and looked fantastic when completed, so I was so very happy. Of course, little did I realize, Trumpeter had made a few miscalculations, which had resulted in more than a few inaccuracies and variant issues. Some were less egregious then others, but regardless they were there. Enter our KV-1 model 1939.

The Kit

I picked this kit up in April of 2013, along with a few other KVs that were on sale at the time. I had really wanted to build an early KV and this kit contained what I assumed were the parts to do so. It had the early rounded turret, the older L-11 gun, no bow machine gun and an unarmored rear turret machine gun mount. Perfect, right? Well, not really.

As I started to do my research, I quickly realized that this kit was in fact not exactly an early 1939 KV at all. It was actually a 'hybrid' KV-1, combining elements from both the 1940 and 1941 production runs. This means that the kit actually represented a rebuilt vehicle with a spring 1941 hull and a spring/summer 1940 turret. Not exactly what I assumed I was getting.

As we know Russian armor often went through extensive rebuilding programs, so combinations like this certainly existed, but this unfortunately meant that I could not build as accurate of a kit as I had hoped. Regardless, I soldiered on and tried to make a few minor adjustments to help with some of the inaccuracies. I think I was successful enough, but to truly build an authentic and accurate early KV-1, I would have had to kit bash several different Trumpeter KVs and I just did not want to invest that much money or time. Instead, I just did my best with what I had.

I did end up making a few alterations to the basic plastic. Since it would have taken a very large effort to correct everything, I just settled for smaller changes here and there. I ended up modifying the curved rear hull overhang by sanding a flat spot in the upper portion of that part. I also modified the turret roof plate and lowered the entire turret by removing the turret lip.

Aside from a few other cosmetic fixes here and there, I left the hull, road wheels, storage boxes, fenders and tracks all the same. If I had been trying to make all of the necessary fixes, then all of those areas would have needed to be changed.

For a really detailed look at the inaccuracies of this kit and the other KVs, go checkout www.4bogreen.com. That site has a wealth of information that is very helpful to anyone building or reading up on the KV family of Russian heavy tanks.

As it is with most tanks, the real challenge wasn’t building the model, it was applying the finishes and weathering. Since I’m still new to this process, I proceeded cautiously and tried a variety of different techniques like preshading and oil washes. Tamiya paints like NATO Black and JA Green were used in the build. Pastels, powders from AIM and some oil paints were used in the weathering process, along with some homemade dirt mix for a bit of mud.

I tried to keep the mud and dirt to a minimum, even though it's probably not very realistic. I would have liked to add a bit more, but it seems like most beginners make the mistake of overdoing it on the weathering and I didn't want a vehicle that looked like it had been dunked in mud.

Conclusion

Overall this kit was a pleasure to build. Aside from my lack of weathering experience, I think that it turned out far better then I had expected. The fit was fantastic, the plastic was free of flash and distortions, plus I absolutely loved the subject and it even gave me an excuses to pickup a few additional references.

If 100% accuracy isn't your game and you are alright with minor variant discrepancies, I say pick one of these up and have fun. If you want to create the most accurate early KV-1, then make sure to head over to www.4bogreen.com and read up on the subject. It is possible, just a bit too advanced for me right now.

Feel free to checkout my complete KV-1 build over on YouTube! It was my very first attempt at YouTube modeling, so it is rough, but we all have to start somewhere.

Anyway, until next time, stay safe and happy modeling.