Russian Heavy Tank KV-1 1941

I have built several Tamiya model kits, and was pleased to see their fine detail exhibited in this newer kit. The kit did deviate away from Tamiya's former practice of a molded single-piece upper hull and turret assembly simplicity towards more complexity, however a builder will see that this practice has its advantages in lending towards better detailing. I was quite pleased to find that the upper hull detailing items of bow MG and its protection strip, and front & rear turret race protection strips were all separate add-on items, which lends the ability of the upper hull being able to be utilized towards any other M1939-M1942 project. With a simple swap-out of correct gun mantle and gun tube, the turret would be good for M1939-M1940 projects. Being a fan of the less tedious/messy full-length rubber track systems, I was a bit disappointed that Tamiya had not included such in this kit, at least as an option to the molded sectional link style included in the kit. Overall, I was quite pleased in the kit's detail, and would recommend it to others.