Then the executive manager of “The Memory of Afghan” foundation Alexander Metla managed to get the IS-152 based traction engine. The IS-152 was a Soviet self-propelled gun developed on the base of the heavy IS tank which was a successor to the KV- series. The engine transmission compartments and the running gear of these tanks had a lot in common. Our experts (Alexander Mikalutckij, Vladimir Jakushev and his sons Alexej and Maxim) were to remove both the engine and the transmission from the traction engine, recreate the distinctive KV’s hull, install back the engine and the transmission and finally mount the reconstructed turret.
The tank’s hull was recreated by the middle of July and by the end of the month the engine and the transmission were installed back, so the assembling of other equipment began.
By August, 11 the plate above truck, the machine-gun ball mount and the aerial lead-in on the hull’s front part were already installed, and the tank finally started to look like a KV-1.
After the turret and the tank’s hull were recreated, we started to work on its turret race ring. As there was no original model available, we had to use the turret race ring from a T-34-85 tank which once had been used as a target at our shooting range. Unfortunately its race ring was bigger than the one of the KV’s tank, so our restorers had to cut out and remove several parts of already damaged T-34-85 turret model to make it smaller.
Some modifications also needed to be done to the Degtyaryov machine gun which was being assembled for the tank’s turret. To make blank firing possible our restorers had to make a special duralumin plate for the machine-gun and change the construction of the barrel to prevent live ammunition fire.
When the turret was finally installed on the KV-1 hull on the evening of August, 16 the reconstruction was finished. Two days later the tank successfully completed a series of test runs and took several shots from the gun and the machine gun. After the showcase this completely recreated heavy tank KV-1 became a part of the Historical and Cultural Complex “Stalin Line”.
Партнеры проекта
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