Operation Herkules Pzkpfw KV2-754(r)

Having recently been playing Rommel on Vassal with my pal Dave as well as some sessions of Conflict of Heroes with the rest of the gang my interest in WW2 Afv's has been piqued. So I recently got myself a haul of 1/72 and 1/35 scale models, chucked them in my war chest and started off by building what I saw as the easiest of the lot - a captured Russian KV-2 tank in 1/72 scale from Trumpeter. 

Part of my catch of AFV models with a B-17 thrown in for good measure!

 While researching the tank prior to the build I came across an interesting article that immediately caught my eye. In early 1942 the Axis situation in North Africa warranted the invasion of Malta. The operation - code named Herkules - was scheduled for July of that year and was supposed to involve a paradrop to secure the south eastern harbour of Marsaxlokk (that's Marsa-shlock for you guys) so that German and Italian armour and heavy equipment could be beached the following day. Among the German armour were a group of ten KV-1 and KV-2 tanks captured from the Russians during the invasion of Russia in 1941 and given Panzer designations.  So the KV-2's became Pzpkfw KV-2 754(r)'s and were physically modified by the addition of a commander's cupola and extra ammo rounds on the rear hull. They were given a fresh camouflage scheme of dark yellow and reddish brown (no green) to better blend into Malta's arid environment at the height of its hot summers. These freshly painted KV's were put on standby in Sicily awaiting the invasion plans to be given the green light.

As it were, Operation Herkules never materialised. Knowing full well the high number of casualties suffered during the 1941 paradrops in Crete, Hitler was never so enthusiastic for a second airborne invasion.  Furthermore, in North Africa, Rommel's troops broke out and rushed eastwards towards Tobruk, making the occupation of Malta largely irrelevant at that point in time since the front lines had moved hundreds of miles to the east. So it came to pass that the invasion never took place even though in July 1942 the defenders of Malta were on their last legs and would probably have been easily overrun by a well trained and supplied force. Not taking the islands there and then would eventually come back to haunt the Axis further down the line.

So it was the most logical thing for me to build and paint the KV-2 in Herkules colours.  As these tanks were freshly painted and never saw action in those colours (they were repainted and sent north once the invasion was cancelled), I chose not to do any weathering - just a bit of mud and rust on the tracks and inferior structures.  The kit itself is very good and highly detailed for a 1:72 model although I cut out and replaced the turret handholds with 0.4mm copper wire (with hindsight I think a thinner gauge would have been better) as well as carefully shape out the hooks on the sides of the turrets with my craft knife. The painted model was varnished in gloss, decals applied and panels lined with Tamiya black panel liner. Once complete it was given a finishing coat of matt varnish.

Overall the build was ok but the instructions were not always very clear. Especially annoying were the steel cables attached to the front of the hull - there was simply no indication how they were to be secured at the other end so I ended up fitting one to a hook which was on the sprue but for which no assembly indication was given and the other was just left resting on one of the toolboxes. This is the one that can be seen resting on the left side of the hull in the top down pic above. I also had to resort to Youtube video builds of the same model in 1/35 scale to get hints and tips.

All in all it was a fun build - next up is an Sdkfz 231 from Dragon Models also in 1:72 scale.