KV-85

Manufacturer: PST

By Augusto Versiani .

When I first heard aboutthe PST kits, I had mixed feelings. First I was very exited tohave injected plastic kits of so long wanted subjects like JS andKV variants. But I was very concerned about the quality of a kitmade by an unknown Belarussian firm. When I opened the box, allmy fears vanished before so nice of a kit. So I started buildingthe KV-85, a stop-gap variation between the old KV series and thenew IS series.

The kit is well done withcrisp details and a lot of nice small parts like hooks, eye ringsfor the tow cables, fuel canisters and stowage bins.

Assembling:

The first thing to knowabout this kit is that the plastic is very soft. I learnt it thehard way as I marred some wheels when I took them off of thesprues. So take care and cut the pieces in points far from thejoining with the sprues and sand them to shape.

The overall fit was O.K.,except for the cupola doors on the turret. The joint between theupper and lower hull was so good that I finished the two partsseparate, which made it easier to work with the tracks, and onlydo the final assembly when all others jobs were done.

I really like the tracks;the details are a little flat, but the final appearance is good.When working with injected tracks it is usual for me to cut thesprocket teeth where it meets the tracks to improve the generalfit. But this time I tried another approach. I slightly enlargedthe track link holes and mounted them on the sprockets. To mysurprise they are the right size to do a perfect contour of thesprocket. But to do this you need to glue the two halves of thesprocket taking care to maintain a perfect alignment of theteeth. The best way is to do this is to cut the alignment pin anddo the job by yourself.]

The kit was made almoststraight from the box; the only corrections that I made were:

• I changed the shape of the rear machinegun mantle, which was protruding too much, and the barrel of the machinegun was replaced with a hypodermic needle.
• I opened the vision ports on the turret cupola. As I forgot to do this before finishing the kit, I had some problems to open them without marring the finish, and they became too large.
• The handholds were made of steel wire, and the tow cables were done with twisted copper wire.
• I hollowed the gun barrel and the exhaust pipes.

Finishing:

This is a rare variant,only about 130 were made, so it was difficult to find anyreliable source of inspiration. I made an option for awhite-washed winter finish that led me to a strange discovery.First I tried to do the paint as the real thing, using first thegreen and then the white. But it simply doesn’t work. Soafter 3 tries I used the reverse process. First paint the kitoverall white, and then added several washes of green until Iachieved the desired effect . I did not make tracks very rusty.Working for more than 20 years with tracked vehicles, I never sawa rusted track on a running condition vehicle. But I must admitthat the tracks are much too bright, and the lights for thephotos enhanced this effect. Looking at photos in my references Isaw that there are many tanks with little or no sag in the tracksso I used none. The decals came from the spares box. I reallyhave no reference to corroborate a black patriotic slogan, but asI had no red or yellow ones I took the risk.

Conclusion:

I really like this kit,easy assembly, nice details and a very impressive kit in thisscale.