1:35 Engine grill screen KVI/II

Protective screens for the rear of the KV heavy tanks

The Soviet KV heavy tanks had large cut-outs over the radiators covered with wire mesh, which kits usually handle with a thick plastic imitation. Photo-etched metal replaces it so that the grille gains real depth and transparency. The set covers both basic forms of the vehicle, which shared the same hull.

A pair that caught the attacker out

At the start of the war the KV-1 carried armor that anti-tank guns of ordinary caliber could not penetrate, and its appearance in 1941 forced the German units to improvise. The KV-2 came from the same chassis but received a tall square turret with a 152 mm howitzer intended for breaking up fortifications. Both vehicles were powered by a diesel engine, whose cooling was protected by exactly those screens at the rear against drawing in dirt. For a builder it is rewarding that both forms met in the same units and can be displayed side by side.

Building advice

First try the part dry and mark where the plastic has to be thinned. Photo-etched metal will take a bend only once, as repeated straightening cracks it. A dark base under the green paint will bring out the shadow inside the holes and the grille then looks deeper than it really is.

Suitable for

• builders of Soviet equipment of the early period of the war
• vehicles displayed from above, where the rear is clearly visible
• dioramas with an engine inspection in field conditions
• completing older kit moldings without fine detail

The tank itself and the tools for building it are not in the package.