The tank binge continues.

As I’ve mentioned in several previous posts, we’re in the process of packing up to move. And the bench is not exempt. While the paints, airbrushes, decal solutions and all manner of other stuff gets stuffed into boxes to move ten minutes across town, I’ve kept some essential building supplies out. Modeling is my decompression, I need it now more than ever, and building a string of tanks is better than nothing. Though…damn do I miss aircraft!

Anyway, the KV-2.

Coming off Dragon’s Panzer IV Ausf.G, Cyber-Hobby’s Panzer III Ausf.L Vorpanzer, and most recently Tasca’s masterful M4A3(76)W upgunned Sherman, the Trumpeter KV-2 seems like a very simple build. The fussiness factor is kept to a minimum, and the fiddly bits are few and far between.

Overall, fit and detail are very good, but this kit definitely reminds me of the Hobby Boss Wildcats I built around this time last year. For all that the detail is solid and the fit quite good, there are a few areas on this kit that leave something to be desired. I specifically found the fit of the rear deck and the front fenders/hull to be somewhat wanting. Nothing deal-breaking, but a strange lack of precision compared to the rest of the build.

Other than that, construction was rather straightforward and uneventful.

I was afraid going in that mounting the Aber 152mm replacement barrel would be a challenge, as it requires cutting apart the kit piece, but the barrel fits so well into the stump of the kit barrel that it was actually rather painless.

The friuls were the last step. Tedious, but dead simple to build up. Just stick two links together, shove a drill down them, then insert a length of the supplied wire. Easy as pie. My only hiccup came on realizing that these tracks were divided by links with guide horns and links without, versus the left-side/right-side of the Panzer tracks. I got all the way through an entire run before I realized. Doh!

Stay tuned for more tank fun in the coming weeks!