KV-1 Heavy Tank

The KV-1 heavy tank, named after the Soviet Defense Minister Kliment Voroshilov, was developed from 1938 onwards as a replacement for the 50-ton T-35 infantry and breakthrough tank, and was first tested in the Winter War of 1939/40 between the Soviet Union and Finland. The KV-1 was smaller, lighter, faster, and much more heavily armoured than the T-35, but at 45 tons combat weight, it was still too heavy for many bridges in rural areas. Thanks to its strong armour, the KV-1 was virtually immune to the anti-tank guns commonly used by the Finnish armed forces at the start of the war and, from 1941 onwards, also to the much-ridiculed Panzeranklopfgerät (3.7 cm PaK) of the German Wehrmacht. KV tanks that had broken through could often only be destroyed by close assault with infantry anti-tank devices, or by luring them into an ambush by the 8.8 cm FlaK, which had already proven itself against British Matilda and French Char B1.bis heavy tanks during the 1940 campaign in France.

The German Wehrmacht and its allies captured many KV-1 tanks that had broken down due to fuel shortages, engine or transmission failures, and had been abandoned by their crews. These captured tanks continued to operate under the Wehrmacht‘s Balkenkreuz as Panzerkampfwagen 753(r) as long as spare parts and ammunition were available or could be captured during the advance. However, recovering captured KV-1s from the battlefield proved quite difficult, as the Wehrmacht did not operate heavy tanks at that time and consequently lacked suitable recovery vehicles. Captured KV-1s were therefore initially used as recovery vehicles to retrieve other captured heavy tanks from the battlefield.

The KV-1 heavy tank and the T-34 medium tank were initially armed with the 76.2 mm L-11 L/30.5 tank gun, which was quickly replaced in the KV-1 by the 76.2 mm F-32 L/41 tank gun. The T-34 received the superior 76.2 mm F-34 L/42.5 tank gun in 1941, a variant of which, the SiS-5, was also used in the KV-1. While the KV-1 had better armour despite the same armament, it was also more complex to build, more prone to technical problems, more expensive, heavier, slower, and had a shorter range than the T-34, which in the coming years would travel from the Urals to Berlin and Torgau on its own tracks. Production of the KV-1 ceased in 1943, but its chassis served as the basis for further developments such as the KV-1.S, KV-85, and the experimental KV-13, whose further development led to the IS-1 heavy tank in 1943. The SU-152 self-propelled gun, deployed from 1943 onwards and equipped with the 152 mm M.1937 (ML-20S) howitzer, was a turretless casemate tank built on the KV-1.S chassis.

Available Models

• KV-1 Heavy Tank M.39, 1:72 PST 72012
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.40, 1:72 Revell 03085
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.40, 1:72 PST 72013
• Pz.Kpfw. 1/1A 753(r), 1:72 PST 72036
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.40, 1:76 Hinchliffe 20/277
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.1941, 1:76 Fujimi 76018
  • KV-1 1939 Turret with L-11 Gun, 1:76 VUC C-146
  • KV-1 1940 Cast Turret with F-32 Gun, Conv. Kit, 1:76 VUC C-135
  • KV-1 1940 Uparmour Turret with F-32 Gun, Conv. Kit, 1:76 VUC C-137
  • Captured KV-1 1940 w/Pz.IV Cupola & KwK 40 L/48, 1:76 VUC C-144
  • KV-1 1941 Cast Turret Uparm. with ZIS-5 Gun, Conv., 1:76 VUC C-136
  • KV-1 1941 Uparmour Turret with ZIS-5 Gun, Conv., 1:76 VUC C-138
  • Captured KV-1 1941 w/Pz.IV Cupola & ZIS-5 Gun, Conv., 1:76 VUC C-142
  • KV-1.E, Uparmour Kit, 1:76 VUC C-107
  • KV-2 1939 (early Version), Conv. Kit, 1:76 VUC C-111
  • KV-3 1941 Turret w/F-32 Gun, 1:76 VUC C-148
  • KV-3 1942 OBIEKT 220 w/D-5T85 Gun, 1:76 VUC C-141
  • KV-2/KV-3 Test Bed for 107 mm Armed KV Series Tanks, 1:76 VUC C-143
  • KV-8 Flamethrower Turret, 1:76 VUC C-147
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.40, 1:87 KoMo/ROCO 1250
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.1940, 1:100 Roskopf 5
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.40, 1:100 Zvezda Z6141
• KV-1.A Heavy Tank M.40, 1:300 Heroics & Ros S13
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:35 Trumpeter 00357
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:35 Tamiya 35142
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:48 Tamiya 32535
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant) with Applique Armour, 1:48 Tamiya 32545
  • 76,2 mm F-32 Gun, 1:48 RB Model 48B16
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:56 Warlord Games
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:72 PST 72016
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:72 Pegasus 7665
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:72 HOBBY MASTER HG3013
• KV-1.E Heavy Tank M.40 (Kirov Plant), 1:100 Battlefront Miniatures SU082
• KV-1.B Heavy Tank M.41 (Tankograd) small Turret, 1:35 Trumpeter 00356
• KV-1.B Heavy Tank M.41 (Tankograd), 1:72 PST 72014
• KV-1.B Heavy Tank M.41/42 (Tankograd) Applique Armour, 1:72 PST 72014
• KV-1.B Heavy Tank M.41 (Tankograd), 1:87 WTD 28
• KV-1.C Heavy Tank M.42, 1:35 Tamiya 35066
• KV-1.C Heavy Tank M.42, 1:35 Trumpeter 00358
• KV-1.C Heavy Tank M.42 (Cast Turret), 1:72 ESCI 8037
• KV-1.C Heavy Tank M.42 (Cast Turret), 1:72 PST 72035
• KV-1.C Heavy Tank M.42 (Cast Turret), 1:72 Trumpeter 07234
• Pz.Kpfw. 753(r) mit 7,5 cm Gun 40, 1:72 PST 72061
• KV-1.C Heavy Tank M.42 (Cast Turret), 1:76 Red Star Models RS 70
• KV-1.S Heavy Tank M.42, 1:35 Trumpeter 01566
• KV-1.S Heavy Tank M.42, 1:35 Eastern Express
• KV-1.S Heavy Tank M.42, 1:72 Pegasus
• KV-1.S Heavy Tank M.42, 1:72 PST 72025
• KV-1.S Heavy Tank M.42, 1:72 Eaglemoss

Technical Specifications

• KV-1
• Type: Heavy Tank
• Motor: V-12 Diesel Kharkiv W-2 with 450 kW (600 hp)
• Speed: 35 km/h on Roads
• Range: 200–240 km
• Length: 6750 mm
• Width: 3320 mm
• Height: 2710 mm
• Ground Clearance: 520 mm
• Weight: 43,500 kg
• Armament:
  • 76.2 mm Gun L-11 L/30,5 (1939)
  • 76.2 mm Gun F-32 L/41 (1940)
  • 76.2 mm Gun SiS-5 L/42,5 (1941)
  • three or four 7.62 mm DT Machine Guns
• Crew: Commander, Driver, RTO/Machine Gunner, Gunner, Mechanic/Loader
• Production: 1939–1943 at Leningrad Kirov Plant (LKZ) and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ, Tankograd), 3139 Units

Bibliography

• Ford, Roger: Tanks from 1916 until today, p. 62, 63, 65, 66
• Zaloga, Steven J.: Stalin’s Heavy Tanks 1941–1945, The KV and IS Heavy Tanks

Historische Verwendung

• Soviet Red Army, 1940–1945
• Finnish Armed Forces, 1940–1944
• German Wehrmacht, 1941–1945
• Romanian Armed Forces, 1942–1944

The KV-1 heavy tank and the T-34 medium tank presented the invading German Wehrmacht with a nasty surprise during the Russian campaign. One tank was difficult to combat, while the other could be produced with astonishing speed and rolled directly from the Kirov plant in Leningrad onto the battlefield. Thanks to its lower production costs, better mobility, and greater range, the T-34 proved to be the clearly superior of the two tanks; 84,070 units were built by 1958, making it the most produced tank in the world. KV-1 production, on the other hand, ceased in 1943 after only 3,139 vehicles had been manufactured. Wargamers and diorama builders can choose from a vast array of KV-1 variants ranging from 1:300 to 1:100, 1:72, and 1:35 scale.

Soviet Red Army Miniatures of World War Two