PMMS
Mig Productions
KV1 1939 L11
1:35 #MP 35-123

Review by Terry Ashley
TamiyaTamiyaTamiya

This conversion set is designed for any of the Tamiya KV-1, KV-2 kits (#35063, #35066 or #35142) and represents the initial 1939 version of the KV-1 with a rounded turret and armed with the L11 76.2cm gun and was first used in the disastrous Soviet attack on Finland in 1939.

The set contains 30 resin pieces in light cream resin which are well cast without any blemishes and just the usual casting blocks to be removed before assembly.

A few of the smaller parts require care when removing the casting blocks such as the hatch opening latches, horn and the fuel tanks which have very fine mounting brackets which are right next to the casting block and are very easy to damage unless extreme care is taken when cleaning up the tanks.

The Tamiya kits have huge holes in the hull bottom and sides for motorization and there are resin parts to plug these holes and you don’t have to worry about removing the casting blocks for these parts as they fit precisely in the hull openings but will require some filler to fully blend into the hull, the final drive plug has part of the bolted ring included to add the missing detail due to the holes.

Other hull parts are the bolted armoured fairing on the hull front and the two hull front towing shackles as well as the horn and headlight for the right side of the front plate. You have to remove the moulded on fairing under the hull machine gun which wasn’t on the 1939 version, only a pistol port with plug on some vehicles and you will have to add this yourself if used. There are also two locating holes on the right of the driver’s plate that will need filling and the three new early style fuel tanks that simply replace the kit tanks. The barrel cleaning rod container has excellent detail including two very fine wing nuts cast at different angles and take care when handling the part to not damage these.

The front driver's hatch and two engine deck hatches are replaced with early style hatches with interior details and a latch for the driver’s hatch so it can be shown open if required and there are a couple of dozen small bolt heads to be added around the hull that can be made using a punch and die set with the instructions showing the location.

The turret is a large hollow casting with separate roof and large front casting with separate gun mantlet and L11 gun. The details on these parts are very good with fine weld seam and bolt head details while the turret roof has separate gun sight covers and hatch again with latch to show open if required. The periscope, front ventilator and bolt head details are again very well done with the roof fitting nicely to the lower turret casting after trimming the excess resin from the pouring points.

The fit of the front gun casting leaves a fairly sizable gap either side but this could probably be filler with thick cyanoacrylate rather than normal filler while the mantlet and top cover fit well with the L11 gun tube fitting into the hole in the mantlet.

The turret is designed to fit the Tamiya kit hull the same way as the kit turret and the fit is very snug after removing the lower casting block.

The instructions are in the form of colour pictures of the parts layout and model during assembly and are quite adequate as there aren’t really any problems during construction.

Conclusion:
Another simple but well detailed conversion set with very nice details on the turret and good fit of the parts both resin to resin and resin to plastic to make a version of the KV-1 not usually seen.

Highly recommended.

Resin Parts
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Mig Productions Mig Productions
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Thanks to Mig from MIG Productions for the review samples.
MiG Productions are available in Australia from the local distributor SouthEast Hobbies



Page created 2 January 2005

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