02.26.08 » Source, Concepts & Initial Scratchbuilding

I've wanted to do a walker version of the KV-2 for some time now. When I bought my last KV-2, I did so with the intention of making it into a walker, but decided instead to built it as is and get some armor experience.

This time I have a group-build at the Mig Productions forum to inspire me to give it another go. Thanks to Nick Cortese, who sent me a spare turret, I can get started on this. First up is my initial sketches and some sillouetted concept art for the build.

As you can see, I did a bunch of little rough sketches, but through them all something was missing. Finally I figured out what it needed which was a larger tilted rear powerplant and a smaller turret under the midsection that supports the legs. Doing the sillouetts helped finalize the overall feel and look.

Once I got the turret and finished my last project I immediately got started on this. So far I have roughed up the shapes for the powerplant and midsection. These will be cleaned-up and detailed using scratchbuilt and various armor kit leftover bits.

The powerplant so far is a large box made from styrene sheet and square tubing for inner support. It'll be detailed more as the project progresses. To keep the powerplant from being a big boring box, the underside will have some exposed engine detail. Practical? No. Visually interesting? YES!

The midsection is made from styrene tubing for the 4 leg attachment sections and the bulk of the midsection is a plastic wire-spool which had it's middle shortened. This happened to be just the right size and shape for my needs. I layered the outside of it with bent sheet styrene. Here's some pics:

02.27.08 » Powerplant Detailing

Since the last update I've worked on detailing up the rear powerplant portion. I used sheet and strip styrene and various armor detail extras from an Academy M-10 kit such as hinges, latches, and bolts. Not to mention a nice big screen piece from that same kit which I use for various detail bits. I also made an external long-range fuel tank and the exhaust stack similar to that on my Dune Hopper. ( both to be duplicated by casting for the other side)

The midsection had its hollow center filled with resin and I started capping off the hollow leg attachment tubes with sheet styrene. Later those jutting pieces will be cut and sanded down to the same curve as the cylinder.

Here in spot "A" I'm debating on adding torch-cut lines like was done for my other KV-2. I like the look but am deciding on whether to do it or to let the end-modeler do it themselves. That space could also have weld-beads too/instead.

02.29.08 » She's Got Leg...

Now for the fun part, the legs! Well, 'leg' actually since I only need to make one then have the other 3 replicated when this is casted. I thought for a bit on how a leg like this would function and what would be simple and "look" right for the 1940's time period. Leave it to road construction to provide the answer... BACKHOES! The armature for the hoe would lend itself well for leg design so that's what this leg is based upon. This leg has four points of articulation. The swivel joint at the connection to the midsection, two points for leg extention, and one for the foot.

Pistons will be added next and I plan to make them "movable" so that the legs can be positioned freely later. The tubes at the articulation points are temporary and better designed joint caps are coming. I also am working on two armor sections for the leg. One for the front of the foot which contains "tread" to help in muddy areas and the larger one to be attached to the front of the leg. Below you can see the eventual piston placement to control leg movement. And I'll of course be adding more detail to these legs to match the rest of the design.

03.01.08 » She's Got Leg...

Today I did the leg armors and a few of the pistons. The reason for the split leg armor is to give a little extra protection to the ankle joint, but to also make another "foot" for the leg. This second foot used tread from the KV-2 to dig into the ground for extra support on soft ground. The pokey foot would make for less contact with the ground leving far less of a trail... and looks cooler and more bug-like. The pistons are made from styrene tubing.

03.05.08 » That's All... for now... (Caster Needed)

Here's the last shots of the build. Now I just need to find a caster to do the casting for this project. I have a couple leads so hopefully I'll find one soon. I have 12 interested modelers (including me) and am only going to have 20 or so made in the initial run so let me know if you're interested!

First up are the main body parts. One of everything will be caseted for the kit except for the fuel tank and smoke stack of which there will be 2 of each. The blue you see is magic marker that seaps through the primer.

And below are the leg parts. Each kit will need 4 of each part seen here.

Attachment sides of leg-armor plates.

Underside of hull.

Underside of hull with fuel box and stack attached.

Upper hull. You can see the 3 plugs on each leg connection point for the piston hydraulic lines.

Side vuew with leg attached. Note white pin/plug/pegs to hold pistons and joints in place. These were made from styrene rod which I'll include in the kit with these instructions I created on how to make them.

Front view of assembled KV-X2. Note smooth flat upper midsection to place any turret assembly on. Or use it as a mount for weapons such as flak cannons.

Assembled mech with my old KV-2 turret temporarily on top for show.