You can’t go wrong, there only $25 retail.
I picked mine up from GM at $18, too good to pass up.While not quite DML standard on some of the moldings, it’s very good quality for the price and an easy enough build as well.
Don’t forget shipping Bill. LOL It’s one of the few that I bought at the LHS.
I never buy kits in singles online…economy of scale is important after all! [:D] I’ve got 8 of the KV-1/2 series sitting in the stash, this one just happened to be the first on deck. Still cheaper than paying full retail at the LHS and getting whacked by additional 8.25% sales tax for the trouble to boot. [B)]
The marathon between the KV and the Elefant is drawing to a close and it’s neck-and-neck! The KV still needs a bit more work than the Elefant but not all that much. Since only one set of markings were supplied in the kit, I did my own little tweaking by not using the cartoon shooting Hitler and just went with the placards. I need to add the spare tracks and tow cables and weather up the tracks and running gear with Mig powders and that will be the end of the road.
Love it Bill.
this kv rocks the house man—i really love the paint job 10 of 10 !!!-i love your elefant also, but for me, this is the show stopper-- great job[tup][tup]-- tread
I agree; extremely well done!
Ron
She is a beauty. Such depth to the color.
-60
I really like the weatherin’ in the recesses and in the weld seams, Great work Bill! [:)]
This is jus’ screamin’ out for some mud and dust, to me! Oh man, i’m gonna’ have to stop myself feelin’ this! [:D]
Thanks guys for the comments.
Fingers,
I’ve never quite understood myself why everyone wants to heavily rust up Russian gear…maybe it’s left over Cold War bias or something else…but they had the best designed and built equipment of WW2 hands down and the KV-1 was no exception to that, especially at the outset of the fighting, the failings were more in leadership and tactics than anything else. Mud and dirt from the Eastern Front theater is one thing, but the heavy rust treatment always seems odd to me. [sigh] Russian tanks were just as well maintained as any other army in the field and rust is not a tanker’s friend under any circumstances. That’s just my personal take on this and do admire the aesthetic look that some achieve, I just can’t bring myself to do it. [:D]
Running gear and suspension will get their turn today, with the appropo Mig Russian Earth and maybe a little African Earth thrown in for good measure.
I’v said it before but I’ll say it again,this really is a great build Bill[:D]
Got to agree with your comments about heavy weathering aswell,I think it detracts from the vehicle itself.I like to see abit of grime and chipping but alot of stuff these days seems to look like all its good for is the nackers yard.I think you got this one spot on.[:)]
I jus’ like to dial in a certain degree of weatherin’ on armour. Especially so around the lower hull and track and wheels, I jus’ cannot leave these areas alone when it comes to weatherin’, at least! It looks odd to do so, to me! [;)]
Your weatherin’ is subtle and still looks great! [^]
Fingers,
The beauty of the hobby is that there’s so much range in terms of finish, technique, subject matter, etc. that there’s room for everything! [:)] I hear you on the need to produce a “massive” feel for some of these steel monsters. Speaking of which…I went a little heavier on this one vs. the Elefant…
The tag-team adventure between this build and the Elefant came to a close today as well although it met it’s end a little different than the Elefant. I had drybrushed some lightened green on the high points and let that set overnight and this morning it was all ready to go for it’s final touches.
Started by applying a mix of Mig Russian Earth and African Earth pigments in regular water and applying liberally over the tracks, wheels, lower hull, suspension, etc. Once that tried, it was also attacked with the stiff bristle brush treatment but not as aggressively as with the Elefant. I wanted the pigments to settle more into the cracks and crevices and came along after the stiff brush with moistened Q-tips and lightly removed the heavier buildups so that only the deep corners would have the heaviest collection.
Final touch was to install the missing detail parts in the form of the tow cables, the spare track links, and the front headlight and rear tailight lenses. Voila! A simplified KV-1 rolls off the workbench. It was a great kit to build even straight OOB and for $18 I definitely got my money’s worth out of this one.
Walkaround shots:
Detail shots of some of the features:
Now that’s what i’m talkin’ about, Bill! It makes all the difference! It looks fantastic, without goin’ overboard. I like the way you’ve applied the dust effects on the fenders, it’s jus’ like what I imagine the dust to be doin’ in this area, it looks great! [:D]
Way to go!!
Marvelous build friend. That’s what I like, weathering without dominating the build.
Absolutely fantastic. As above, the weathering really is done tastefully.
Fingers, Tigerman, Zoran,
It’s a fun kit…first time I’ve done a true OOB in a long time…glad you liked it!
Superb job. You’ve catch the essence of those KV-1. What green did you use?
Yann,
That’s not an easy question to answer…because I used 6 different shades. [:D] Began with Green Drab, Field Drab, Russian Green, and Deep Yellow (all MM enamel colors) and mixed up varying shades/combinations along with Burnt Umber for the washes to produce the color/finish. Some were applied as broad coats, others only in select places depending.