1/100 KV-1S Conversion Pt.2

I'm very slowly getting back into modelling, but I'm finding it tricky. I am suffering from a bit of anxiety about getting down to it because - I think - after such a long break any modelling I do now may not be up to the standard that I managed to get to three years ago. It's frustrating and is causing me to procrastinate about putting craft knife or file to plastic.

However, today (finally) I took some baby steps towards actually doing something!

Having spent some time trimming the excess flash and support filaments from the turrets I got them in a state where I could look at them properly and decide what they needed doing to them ...

As you can see from the accompanying picture the 3D printed turrets are a little rough with the stepping effect of the 3D printing pretty obvious. I will have to do something about that, but - first of all - I really wanted to tackle the overly thin and fragile main guns.

I managed to find a piece of copper tubing that was approximately the right size for use as a replacement barrel. I checked these dimensions against one of the T-34/76 models I had already done as both the T-34 and the KV-1S were equipped with the same 76.2mm ZIS-5 gun.

I had to do a little bit of sanding and filing of the soft copper to get it close to the right diameter and then I trimmed the 3D printed gun off the turret. The new barrel needed socket to fit into so I drilled a hole in the mantlet to accommodate it...

Excuse the filthy hands but sanding and filing copper is a messy business!

I got a bit of a surprise when I drilled into the turret as I discovered that the 3D printing process produced a hollow part. I didn't know that - This is my first 3D model!

Anyway, I super glued the tube into place and checked it off against my T-34 model. It is still a tiny bit thicker but I reckon at 1/100 and it being a tabletop gaming piece nobody will complain too much!

I'm much happier with a metal barrel as - being game pieces - these models will be handled quite a lot and they will have to be sturdy enough to put up with use.

Next: Now onto smoothing out the turret and cleaning up the fine detail...
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Link to this project series - 1/100 KV-1S Conversion