Beutepanzer KV-2

f2k

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
301
Beute-what-did-he-say?

As the grey tide swept over Europe, the Germans looted a lot of different equipment from the occupied countries. This included the Panzer 35(t) and the superb Panzer 38(t), which would go on to serve the Wehrmacht though the entire war as self-propelled anti-tank and artillery guns, tank destroyers, scout-, and anti-air vehicle, French light and heavy tanks like the Char B1 Bis, a smattering of British and American tanks, and a variety of Russian tanks, mostly T-34's but also several KV-1's.

These were claimed by the advancing Germans as Beutepanzer – price (or looted) tanks.

These tanks were taken back to Germany where they would be upgraded to German standards with extra armour, radios, weapons (a number of French Char B1 Bis, for example, were equipped with flamethrowers), and even extra crew-members.

So, when it comes to modelling Beutepanzers, you’re really spoiled for choice. So why the KV-2?

Well, I’ve always had an interest in the more exotic tanks that were developed throughout the war. I find it interesting to note that while the Russians were experimenting with all manner of strange multi-turreted tanks before the war, only to streamline their tanks designs and producing, towards the end of the war, some excellent tanks and tank destroyers, German design went the other way, from excellent, if slightly under-gunned, tanks to a whole string of weird (though not particular wonderful) designs towards the end of the war.

The KV-2 was one of those strange vehicles that were designed in Russia during the early phase of the war. In an effort to up-gun the early versions of the KV-1, a huge turret with a 152 mm. howitzer installed was mounted on a basic KV-1 chassis. This pushed the weight of the vehicle to a staggering 52 tons – ten tons more than the KV-1, twice the weight of a Panzer IV and only ten tons less than the Tiger. In fact, the turret was so heavy that it could not be traversed when the tank was on a slope as the gear-train would jam – or so the story goes...

At least three of these tanks were captured by the Germans. Two were used by the Überschwere Pz.Kw.Zug 269 and one by the Panzer-Abteilung z.b.V.66 unit. Rumours has it, that KV-2’s might also have been used in the defence of Normandy and that one was encountered near the Krupp factory when it was captured by the Allies. But, as far as I know, this hasn’t been confirmed.

tsm00367.jpg


This is a 1/35 scale model from Trumpeter. Even though neither the box, nor the manual, mentions where this particular tanks is from (this is something I like with the Tamiya kits – they usually include a short description of the vehicle in the box) it can still be identified as it has some peculiar modifications.
The addition of an ammo-rack hanging off the rear of the tank and the Panzer III cupola marks this as the KV-2 used by the Panzer-Abteilung z.b.V.66 unit. How, and when, it was captured is sadly not known, but records show that it was in German service in May 1943. It seems to have been captured before mid 1942 as a KV-2 is mentioned as having been part of Operation Herkules – the aborted invasion of Malta. In any case, it remained in service until August 1943 where it was blown up when it failed to start during a withdrawal.

kv_2_15.jpg

kw2_capt.jpeg


kv_2_03.jpg


I’m planning to build this pretty much straight out of the box. My Jagdpanzer E-100 project is at the stage where I’m green- and brown-stuffing it, so I have a lot of breaks where I’m simply waiting for the putty to harden. A simple build’n’paint project seems like a good thing to keep me occupied in the meantime...
 
This can be a qucik and simple build out of the box. The screens on the rear deck would be better in PE but I just went with the kit ones on my KV-2. I did have to scratch a gun barrel for mine as the kit one was not accurate. These are known as a good straight forward kit with a very attractive price.
 
Looks like an intersting one to follow ;D...nice choice !

Chris.
 
Tonight I got a lot of browstuff on my Jagdpanzer E 100 and I got the basic KV-2 hull glued together. All in all, not bad for a couple of hours work.


I did read some reviews that pointed out that the gun barrel wasn't entirely correct on this kit. But as I understood it, all that was missing was a few millimetres on the length so I figured that I could live with it.
I also looked at some PE for it, but without having the kit in my hands (at that time) I had a bit of a hard time figuring out exactly what was being replaced and if it was really necessary. Having seen the mesh on the rear of the tank now, I must agree with noname that it would probably be better with PE. But PE and an aftermarket gun barrel would cost as much as the tank itself, so I’m honestly not sure if it’s worth it...
 
On my version (m40 turret) the problem was with the grooves along the barrel and the ring at the end of the kit barrel. The M40 just had a straight, smooth barrel. Scratching the barrel allowed me to add the extra few mm as well. I can't remember what the barrel on your version is suppopse to look like.

I would just build it the way you like. I know what you mean about spending as much on aftermarket pieces than the kit. That is one good thing about Dragon, you can often find PE and sometimes aluminum barrels included in the kits.
 
Time for a few pictures, I think...

The hull is now almost completely done and the tracks have been mounted. And what a nightmare it’s been...

It seems to me that the hull has warped slightly, so I simply couldn’t get all the parts to line up smoothly – even when wrapped in several layers of tape. Either that, or there’s a bit of flash somewhere in there. In fact, that might very well be. Seldom have I seen a kit so filled with flash, strange pieces of plastic sticking out, ejector holes, and what not. Took me ages to clean the hull...

And then I got to the tracks. Oh, dear God. It took me ages to get those assembled. In the end it felt as though the total length of the plastic track was a millimetre or two longer that what was needed, making it almost impossible to get the track to sit properly on the wheels. The end result is that the tracks hovers half a millimetre above the drive wheel. Some really heavy weathering is going to be needed to cover that one up, I’m afraid...

But on the bright side, apart from a bit of detailing, all I need now is to complete the turret and then it’s ready for painting.





 
I remember that happening with my Kvs as well. The tracks that is. Just play with them, sand them if you have to and let there be a tad extra in the front or rear.
 
Man, it's been a loooooooooong time since I posted anything on this thread...

Well, The KV-2 has been on the backburner while I tried to figure out what to do about the Jagdpanzer. It very nearly had me entirely burned out and down for the count. But things have begun to move again...

I've now completed the hull and laid down the undrecoat layer.





I tell you, making that cage on the rear of the tank was a serious pain in the behind. It took an awful lot of tape to kee the four sides somewhat square while the glue dried. But I got it on eventually.

What's missing now is the turret as well as the ammo that's to be stored in the cage. But it's going to be much easier to paint that whil eoutside of the cage so I'll paint it and then glue it in place.
 
Eastrock said:
its coming along F2k, its that copper wire on the front hull?


cheers!!

It is indeed. You need to complete the wiring for the headlights in 0.5 mm. and 0.8 mm. copper wire. Strangely, the kit doesn't include the needed wire so I had to go through all my bitz-boxes to find the needed wires. In the end I used 0.4 mm. and 0.8 mm. wire instead as that was what I had. But who cares? I doubt anyone is going to meassure the diameter of the cables...
 

Latest posts

Back
Top