KV-1 question

Best I can give you is that I have read that a single KV terrorized some Germans and did much damage. I believe it controlled the road or whatever overnight and finally some 88's immobilized it. Still when the Germans thought she was dead and approached, she moved her turret and let off. Finally after being hit by everything, she died.

PST makes nice KV-1's in 1/72 scale. Get a squadron catalog (or on line) you can get anything you need for a dio like this.
G.L.

i was thinking about one of eastern express' 1/35 KV-1s or KV-1Ss

tigerman:
this happened alot, the 88mm was the only gun that could take it out, and the only 88mm at the time was the towed gun version, so getting it into range without being seen by the KV-1 was hard. when tanks were fitted with 88mm and 75mm (not sure about the 75mm) guns the KV-1 was now less deadly as the amour could now be penitrated.

my idea for a dio is having a KV-1 on a bridge, the tracks have been knocked off, the entire tank is covered in dents from being hit, and it is being resupplied with ammo from a truck and command BT-5 (or 7) and some of the crew fixing the tracks. and maybe some destroyed german vehicles around the bridge.

but if all the KV-1s were advetually taken out by an 88mm, would it be wrong to have them being resupplied?

The Eastern Express kits are not without their faultsl. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the cast iron texture is not everywhere it's supposed to be, so you will need to recreate your own. Check out the last issue of MMIR to see a buildup of the Eastern Express KV-1 (that last issue had a lot of useful stuff)

Watch for Trumpeters expected release of a KV suppossedly the end of the year.

QUOTE: Originally posted by zokissima The Eastern Express kits are not without their faultsl. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the cast iron texture is not everywhere it's supposed to be, so you will need to recreate your own. Check out the last issue of MMIR to see a buildup of the Eastern Express KV-1 (that last issue had a lot of useful stuff)

i have no experience with eastern express. i seen them at military hobbies and thought i would give them a try. i do not know what cast iron texture is or MMIR (i'm guessing a magizine). so please enlighten me do they all have rubber band tracks?

i'm going to get the KV-1 not the KV-1S because the KV-1S had less armour and came out in 1942, bit later than what i wanted. would an ammo carrier be esscorted by a tank? the bt-7 was made until 1939, would any still be around by 1941? would a command bt-7 be out of place in this dio?

MMIR is Military Miniatures in Review. Nice, but spendy AFV mag with reviews and so on. Yah, the BT-7 was around in 41. I always thought the KV-1 went with A, B, C and so on.

I recall reading about the same engagement. I don't recall if it was a KV1 or KV2, I'm thinking KV2 for some reason. Any way while being inspected after being "knocked out" the turret started turning and the inspecting germans pushed grenades into the hole that penetrated the tank. That finally ended any future turret movements.

QUOTE: Originally posted by gjek I recall reading about the same engagement. I don't recall if it was a KV1 or KV2, I'm thinking KV2 for some reason. Any way while being inspected after being "knocked out" the turret started turning and the inspecting germans pushed grenades into the hole that penetrated the tank. That finally ended any future turret movements.

LOL!! i bet the germans had to clean their pants after that one the kv-1 was sure a tough tank. it was pretty advanced for it's day to have raelly good armour and a 76mm. those crews must have been really brave to park on a bridge and wait for the germans knowing that they will adventually get taken out.

i want to build a kv-1 really bad now but i'll probley have to wait until christmas to get one.

I also read about that engagement. That particular tank was a KV II and had been hit over 180+ times by the Germans before it finally died. A platoon of soldiers also snuck up on the tank and placed explosives on the wheels to blow it up. 9 died in that attempt The KV had taken our 5 PAK 38's, 11 PAK 40's, three 88's that got seen and taken out, and 27 PZ III and PZ IV tanks that went in on a frontal assault, and then tried to flank it. I believe the reason it had stood on that road was transmission failure!

I don't believe that it was ever resupplied while the Germans were trying to bypass it, so a BT-7 in the dio might not be applicable, although it would be a nice addition. Also, since much of the action took partt at range, building this Dio in 1/72 scale might be better. That way you could put in a few of the PAKs that tried to flank it, as well as several German tanmks that got kind of close before the Russians took them out.

Just a few of my thoughts.

wow 180+ shots!! that story is by far the most amazing one i have heard. 1/72 would be more interesting with the KO'd tanks and 88s. But i was wanting the detail of 1/35th scale, and it would be hard to represent the KV-1 with many hits in 1/72 scale. with 1/35 the dents will be noticable and i can make diferent sizes.

Well put. I like the idea. I can't wait to see what it will look like. Good luck on that dio.

Here's a couple of good sites for you regarding photos and stories about this engagement. This particular one was a KVII with 152mm gun. The second link has lots of great photo ideas for dioramas.

http://www.wio.ru/tank/ww2tank.htm
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=42446&start=60

thanx Lt.zogg
"Soviet tankers killed 22 German tanks during 30 minutes."
wow just 3 kv-1s.

i started building the diorama base, but still have no kv-1

You're welcome. The KVs were powerful tanks, if they and the T-34s hadn't been squandered piecemeal, the early Russian war may have been much tougher on the Germans. It took the Russians a couple of years to learn the German tactics of armor en masse coordinated with air and artillery to achieve breakthroughs.

As to your second question, from what I've read the KV1S, with lighter armor, were used mostly in the battlesaround the Stalingrad pocket and Kharkov in late 1942 and early 1943, and were mostly gone by summer.

Sounds like you've got a pretty cool diorama idea there, good luck with your build.

heh if it wearn for the kv-1 and t-34 russian probley would have fallen like all the other european countries, then britian would ahve been invaded and would not have been able to stop the entire german miltary, then the atlantic wall in weatern eruope would have been comleted and a amphibious invasion would have been a disaster, even if they could get past the bunkers, there would be alot more german tanks and planes.

That was a cool thread, Lt. Zogg. Thanks for sharing with us.

i was looking around that site that Lt. Zogg gave us (the first one) found some pretty interesting stories;
http://www.wio.ru/tank/kv.htm

About end of July 1941, Lt.General A. Yeremenko sent a reports to D.G.Pavlov, commander of the Western Front:
"In the sector of the 107th Division, we sent a KV to silence an anti-tank eneny battery. It [the KV] crushed the artillery, it went all over upwards and downwards the emplacements of the enemy guns, it was hit more than 200 times, but the armour wasn't penetrated, even when it was hit by guns of every type."

now what other tanks can do that?

hey, who makes the better kv-1 kit? Eastern Express or Tamiya?

US Army Pamphlet 20-269, Small Unit Actions During the German Campaign in Russia, July 1953, page 76-84. (No, it isn't exactly a current book.)

Action took place 23-24 June 1941 vic Rossienee in S. Lithunia. Ger unit was 6th Pzr Div.

Basically tank blocked road. 1st attempt with 50mm AT battery - failed with 50mm AT destroyed; 2nd attempt with 88 Flak - failed with 88 destroyed; 3rd attempt was engineer det blow off tracks - failed; 4th attempt was dive bombers - cancelled; 5th attempt was tanks draw fire while 88 moved in rear -- partial success.

Germans checked tank & only 2 of 7 88 shots penetrated, other 5 just dents. 50mm were just scratches. While checking damage, turret started moving again & they had to shove grenades into a hole made by 88 to blow up crew & finally overcome a single tank.

I just want to say that I've built many PST KV kits. They are fantastic. The KV-1S was used, and with its light turret, I can't imagine that it was as good. It looked a lot like the IS turret, but with much less armor.

Here is a photo of a KV-T. No turret.

http://forum.alanger.us/album_pic.php?pic_id=284

G

just a note about that incredible KV-II:

It was in Rasyeinyia (alternate spelling) in Lithuania, and it was a KV-II model 1940 with the 2nd Tank Division, commanded by General E. N. Solyalyankin that defended the fork in the road.

The first 88mm was from Flak. Abt. 298

The demolition team was from Pz. Pioniere Bn. 57

After blasting the 37mms, the 88mm, and only suffering minor denting and a blown track from the demo charge, the next day it was finally silenced. Here is an excerpt from "SOVIET HEAVY TANKS", by Zaloga/Grandsen:

"Freed of the threat from the north, a platoon of PzKfw 35(t)s was dispatched the next day from the bridgehead and worked its way to a small wood near the lone KV-2 at the crossroads. They kept up a steady stream of fire while another 88mm was brought up from Rasyeinyia. When in position it opened fire, scoring six direct hits. The tank crews dismounted to inspect the KV, which had not even burned. On reaching the tank they were appalled to notice that only two of the six 88mm rounds had penetrated the armor. As a couple of the tankers climbed on board, the gun began moving towards them. An engineer who had accompanied them had the presence of mind to drop a couple of grenades throught the holes in the turret rear, finally putting an end to this troublesome roadblock. This single KV-2 had played a prominent role in delaying the advance of Panzergruppe 4 on Leningrad by forcing the diversion of the 1st Panzer Div. from its rapid drive to help out 6th Panzer, and prevented the destruction of the immobile 2nd Tank Div., if only for a day."

Hello!
The KV's were hard to knock out at the time. t3488g , in a previously unrelated discussion , you said that a 105 gun , on a Leopard Tank , could not destroy a T-72 . I found some AFV recognition stuff at home , and in the '70's these publications indicated that a T-72 , could only be knocked out from the front by a TOW missle , and that a 105 mm gun , could only destroy it from the sides , or rear! At the time it was thought to be a " Super Tank".This was before the T-72 had been engaged by the IDF , and examined by the West. So , I guess I stand corrected! Happy modelling t3488g!
Frank
"PERSEVERANCE"

QUOTE: Originally posted by Strathcona Hello! The KV's were hard to knock out at the time. t3488g , in a previously unrelated discussion , you said that a 105 gun , on a Leopard Tank , could not destroy a T-72 . I found some AFV recognition stuff at home , and in the '70's these publications indicated that a T-72 , could only be knocked out from the front by a TOW missle , and that a 105 mm gun , could only destroy it from the sides , or rear! At the time it was thought to be a " Super Tank".This was before the T-72 had been engaged by the IDF , and examined by the West. So , I guess I stand corrected! Happy modelling t3488g! Frank "PERSEVERANCE"

o, i thought i was wrong. i read on some site that, and they were saying that it was useless to send the leopards to bosnia (or was it kosovo?) because of this. Canada needs better tanks for when the US invades us, o it will happen.

so can no one tell me which kv-1 kit is better?