(includes notes and finished photos of Trumpeter KV-85 Heavy Tank)
Full Review with Dai Williams
A note from Geoff C…
I really like what Dai is doing with his armour builds these days and when he had the opportunity to finish one of his ‘shelf-of-doom’ projects, the Trumpeter KV-85 he produced great results…
Over to you Dai for the story of these two…
Trumpeter seems to be on a mission to produce every conceivable version of the Russian KV heavy tank!
There are now numerous kits of the basic KV1 available in its catalogue with a variety of different turrets, as well as different variants of the KV1s which had a different hull. In addition to these Trumpeter has produced two variants of the KV2 and has extended the range to include such one-off prototypes as the KV122 and the subject of this project, the KV220.
The KV220 was a development of the KV1 which had a lengthened hull with seven pairs of road wheels and four sets of return rollers on each side. A new more powerful engine was fitted to deal with the increased weight of the vehicle and a huge turret was developed capable of carrying an 85mm gun, though during its trials a larger calibre weapon was fitted. Testing of the tank showed that there were problems with the engine and transmission and the KV220 was not developed beyond the prototype stage.
The vehicle did not see combat in its intended form though the turret was apparently used as a static pillbox, while the hull saw combat fitted with the turret from a KV1. Neither the turret nor the hull seems to have survived the war.