Pegasus 1/72 KV-1 & 2 quick build set review - Part 1

Fans of German WW2 AFV modeling enjoy a huge variety of vehicles to choose from, and even the Western Allied inventory is quite diverse. But modelers who want to immerse themselves in Red Army fighting vehicles might be forgiven for thinking that the only real choice you have is which variant of T-34 to build.

Luckily Pegasus Hobbies have come to the rescue of the quick build modeler with a selection of Soviet armored vehicles that represent both the early war years and the latter. In this case the KV series of heavy tanks were a nasty surprise for the Nazis during Operation Barbarossa that eventually provoked a German response in the form of the Tiger and the Panther tanks...

Armourfast T-34/85 build - Part 5

Moving on to the basic work on the turret it's worth mentioning the problems with the Armourfast T-34/85 turret:-

1. It's slightly too wide (by a few millimetres), this is most noticeable at the rear of the turret...
2. The flattened triangular area on each side of the turret is exaggerated...
3. The front profile is too acute, coming too sharply down from the roof to the gun mantlet...
4. The gun mantlet is the wrong shape, and the gun overly off-set.

ACCURACY?
There were several types of T-34/85 turret made by different Soviet factories during WW2, each had it's own distinctive production technique which produced a specific finished turret design. The Armourfast turret appears to be one of the 'flattened style' turret types, this refers to the triangular area on either side of the turret.

The Armourfast turret could be modeled after either the Zavod Factory Spring 1944 turret, or the Summer 1944 turret, or the final prodution 1945 production turret (which confusingly appeared in late 1944). Each of these three turrets displays the flattened triangular facet. However, the rest of the Armourfast turret's features are simplified  to a point that it makes zeroing in on exactly which of these turrets it is really supposed to be nearly impossible.

Above: Top is a drawing of the Armourfast T-34/85 turret profile showing the 'thin nose' and flattend area. Below this is what I did to the turret...

I DID IT MY WAY...
...As it happens I decided to completely ignore the above and go my own way!

As the Armourfast turret is too wide and the flattened area exaggerated I began by sanding some of the width off. This smoothed off the profile and as a result my turret was now closer in shape to one of the other variants of turrets that were made without the flattened area - specifically the Summer 1944 'Angle-Joined' version...

Aside from this rounding out of the sides I built up the nose of the turret so that the drop from the roof to the gun wasn't so acute. Using Milliput putty I rounded off the nose and added a replacement resin mantlet made by CZECH MASTER (which comes with a nice turned aluminium gun). As you can see from the above photo this means I had to make a new mantlet cover from a rectangle of brass sheet.

I also, used Milliput to create the 'Angle-Joined' weld marks around the bottom of the turret and some weld marks around the bottom of the commander's cupola.

Finally, I trimmed off the bearly discernible Armourfast turret periscopes and replaced them with some neat Czech Master resin ones.

NEXT: Finishing off the turret and adding the commander.


By the way, if you want to look a bit more into the differences between the T-34/85 turret types try out this link at Missing-lynx.com: The T-34-85 in WWII: A Closer Look by Ray Peterson

Featured work - A Gentleman's relish of Soviet tanks

As I'm deep into my Armourfast T-34/85 build I am currently surfing around looking for reference information and inspiration. I came across this thread in the excellent Society of Gentleman Gamers forum and it just blew me away, this is a level of quality in finish I aspire to...

I love the deep rich paint job (a darker green than I would have thought of using for my Soviet WW2 models) and the exquisite work on the weld and casting marks.  There has also obviously been a good deal of detailing work going on as well as the addition of stowage.

This is the work of a SoGG forum member called panzerfaust200 and was apparently a commission he took on to produce a small armoured fleet for a client. He did a range of Soviet armour including some tank destroyers and the heavy IS-2s and they are all absolutely gorgeous.

You can see the full thread here: The Society of Gentleman Gamers forum - russki tankski....

Armourfast T-34/85 build - Part 4

Some small progress on this build - I've just put the finishing touches to my T-34/85 hull. The principal 'improvements' (minus those already mentioned) include:

> Addition of infantry grab rails
> Extra additional external fuel tank (the T-34/85 carried 3 and not 2 as included in the stock kit)
> added detail to the external fuel tanks including new retaining straps, fuel caps and side handles
> 'Improved' head lap (drilled out) and lamp wiring
> Slightly improved tool box
> Addition of PSC spare T-34 track on front and Pegasus saw on side
> Modification of front fenders from early rounded to later angled ones

I did the angled fenders to represent a later model T-34/85, but I also wanted to include these parts as brass components so I could dent them up to show some wear and tear. I will bend the edges with some pliers later to show damage.

I could have gone further but I want to move on with this model and I think there is sufficient detail now to satisfy me. besides, some of teh remailing detailing I could have done would tax my eyesight too much!  ;)

NEXT: On to the turret!

Featured work - Fantastic fantasy

My blog is ostensibly about factual military subjects, but I couldn't resist featuring this bit of fantasy modelling by a good friend of mine and his son. This Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 personell carrier is fantastic. What struck me was the level of detailing on the inside of the vehicle, particularly the tactical map drawn on the 'chalk board'!

More fantasy work by the father and son duo can be seen here: JoeJoeBinks Set

Cheers Mike!

Featured work - Sabre rattling!

One of my Flickr photo gallery contacts who I subscribe to is S. Bathy. He produces beautifully turned out display models, usually in themed series. This bevy of North American F-86 Sabres is absolutely lovely to look at and typifies his very clean and precise style of modelling. He embraces all manner of models - aircraft, vehicles and ships - which are well worth checking out on his photostream: The Flickr album of S. Bathy

T-34 track mod - Part 5

Well, I have reached a conclusion to this project and at the same time completed the work I was doing on my SU-85 weathering experiment. The two items seem to complement each other nicely (the SU-85 was a specially designed hull based on the T-34).

I finished off this very enjoyable build with a photo session and here are the results...