Tag Archives: cast turret

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1S (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 01566 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1S’.

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1S

History

KV-1S – A lighter variant of late 1942 with higher speed, but thinner armour. A new, smaller, cast turret and redesigned rear hull were used. 1370 were built.

In response to criticisms, the lighter KV-1S (Russian language: КВ-1С) was released, with thinner armour and a smaller, lower turret in order to reclaim some speed. Importantly, the KV-1S also had a commander’s cupola with all-around vision blocks, a first for a Soviet heavy tank.

However, the thinning-out of the armor called into question why the tank was being produced at all, when the T-34 could seemingly do everything the KV could do and much more cheaply. The Soviet heavy tank program was close to cancellation in mid-1943.

Source: Trumpeter website

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Russian Heavy Tank, JS-3 (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 211-3900 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank, JS-3 (Tamiya)’.

Russian Heavy Tank, JS-3 (Tamiya)

History

On September 7th 1945, the allied nations were staggered by Russia’s disclosure of their JS-3 heavy tank at a victory parade in Berlin. Although coded a “JS” (Josef Stalin) tank, it had a totally different appearance from its preceding models. The one-piece cast turret had a simple flattened hemispherical shape. The maximum thickness of the turret armor reached 250mm. The front hull was constructed by welding three 120mm thick armor plates, forming a shape like a ship’s bow. The main armament used the same L/43 122mm gun as the JS-2.

The 520 horsepower diesel engine provided 40km/h of maximum speed. With the concerted effort of the talented Russian tank engineers such as N.L Jukhov and Z.A Kotin, the prototype was completed in October 1944 and the mass production began in the following year.

There have been a lot of controversy concerning whether or not the JS-3 saw any fighting during the Berlin campaign. At least one regiment was equipped with the JS-3 by then, but it’s still uncertain if they were committed to the actual fighting. Other sources claim that it was first deployed in combat against the Japanese in Manchuria in August 1945.

Incorporating several modifications, its production was continued until 1951 and about 1,800 JS-3’s were produced. Its simple and effective turret and hull configuration deeply influenced not only the following Russian tanks, but also fighting vehicles of the western nations.

Source: Tamiya website

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Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 Type C (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 066-1600 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 Type C’.

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 Type C

History

The name KV, were the initials of Klim Voroshilov. Klim was a Soviet hero who did a great job back in the Russian Civil War (at least that is what Soviet propagandists sell). Between the wars he spent his time pointing the big finger at his comrades so that Stalin had plenty of cannon fodder for his purges. His value as a Marshal during WW2 was less than spectacular. He was quickly replaced on the front line and spent the remainder of the war reviewing parade troops. This rather dim witted Marshal was probably under qualified to even do that.

When first introduced in late 1930’s, the KVI was no doubt one of the most powerful tanks in the world, and a complete secret. It was built to be completely “bulletproof”, and was shot proof against the 37mm Anti-Tank Gun with it’s thick 100mm armor.

In the B-model, armor was increased an additional 25-35mm. The C-model used a cast turret, replacing the old plated one to increase protection.

This heavy tank, weighing around 45 tons with crew of five, was armed with 76.2mm main gun and two MGs. The armament was considered heavy for 1940, but by 1943 the main gun lacked punching power against new Panthers and Tigers. Its weight caused constant trouble with the transmission. As weight increased due to additional armor, the engine power was not increased. This caused successive models to become slower.

Source: Tamiya website

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Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 model 1942, Lightweight Cast Turret (Trumpeter)

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This is the Trumpeter 00360 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 model 1942, Lightweight Cast Turret’.

Russian Heavy Tank, KV-1 model 1942, Lightweight Cast Tank

History

The superior armor protection of the heavy cast turret on the KV-1 model 1942 tank has its cost! The weight of the tank now reaches 47 tones and this weight are consider heavy even for a modern tank standard!

The KV series utilize the same engine without major changes and the more and more added heavy weight drops the maximum speed from 35 Kilometers/hours to 28 kilometers/hour.

Off road performances are even worst and hard to operate. To solve the problem, a lightweight cast turret was born. One feature helps to identify turret of this type – A large cast ring around rear machine gun mount.

Source: Trumpeter website

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