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Produced in what was then Leningrad, now St. Petersburg again, the simplified KV-1 turret was created in an effort to increase armor and simplify production. The new Tamiya kit No.35372 of the KV-1 is well suited to represent a vehicle produced in Leningrad by LKZ (Leningrad Kirowskyi Zavod No.371). The MR Models turret represents the original version of the simplified KV-1 turret with heavier armor and should not be confused with the simplified turret later built in Chelyabinsk. The protective bars for the turret ring and the additional armor of the driver's front provided in the Tamiya kit are to be used as intended, supplemented by high lateral additional armor plates in the area of the turret ring. Two versions are optionally available for this in MR-35593, as well as a welded-on massive protective beam in front of the driver's hatch, which, however, was not present on all KV-1s with the simplified turret built by LKZ.The LKZ hulls have some differences to the other Mod.1941 hulls. These vehicles had a simplified, flat driver's hatch, a flat engine maintenance cover and were also equipped with rubber-coated support rollers. The MR Models conversion kit contains all the necessary parts such as a new driver's hatch cover with a new hatch ring that has to be fitted into the upper hull of the Tamiya model. In addition, a CNC-milled engine maintenance cover, support rollers with rubber coating, alternative cover covers for the screw ring of the drive wheels, although these covers were not used on all KV-1s with a simplified turret built by LKZ. The MR-35593 conversion kit includes a new turret with correct dimensions and accurate representation of the raw flame-cut structures on the edges of the turret plates. The F-32 cannon is included as a CNC-turned aluminum part, and the P-40 anti-aircraft mount for a DT machine gun on the commander's hatch is also included.
The new tower base is designed to fit the Tamiya kit #35372. When using other Tamiya kits or a Trumpeter KV-1, the base plate of the tower from the corresponding plastic model kit must be fitted into the MR Models tower. The master model was created as a project by Jan-Christian Seebeck and we liked it so much that we made an MR Models article out of it. Jan writes:
KV-1 Mod. 1941 simplified welded turret 90mm Factory No. 371 LKZ
After the increase in armor protection against German 8.8 cm guns on the KV-1 with the "ehkranami" additional armor did not bring the desired success, the development of a new turret with 90 mm armor on the sides and rear and 120mm at the turret front. To simplify production and protect the slewing ring, the rear turret rounding was removed. The tower was a little shorter than the previous 75mm turrets, which is why the rear periscopes bordered the turret rear wall. Since there were not enough front plates with 120mm armor at the start of production in August, additional armor with a thickness of 50mm was welded onto the first turrets. Externally, the thickness of the front cannot be distinguished. It is not known how many turrets were equipped with additional armor. From the end of August 1941, these turrets were mounted on hulls from LKZ (Leningrad Kirov Plant) in Leningrad. Production ended in October due to the siege of Leningrad. Some towers received a small welded plate on both sides to protect the weld between the side of the tower and the lower rear wall. The Wehrmacht captured some of these tanks and used them with the 58th Infantry Division, among others. During the siege of 1943/44 some vehicles were fitted with Zis-5 cannons.
From January 1942 a further development of the tower was produced at ChKZ in Chelyabinsk. However, this is longer and has indentations in the armor on the turret roof and the rear overhang.
Not suitable for children under the age of 14.
