The initial KV mounted both a 76.2mm and a 45mm gun in the turret, with a single machinegun in the hull. With the outbreak of the Winter War, the KV was sent to the front, but only after the 45mm was replaced with a 7.62mm machinegun, while another machinegun was mounted in the rear of the turret to protect the tank from infantry assaults.
Towards the end of 1940, the 76.2mm L-11 tank gun was replaced with the new 7.62mm F-32 gun, this became the KV-1 obr 1940. In the spring of 1941, in response to intelligence on the Germans, a decision was made to increase the armor of KV-1. Additional armor plates were bolted to the hull and turret. This modified KV became the KV-1e ("e" means "ekranirovaniy" or "with shields"). At the start of the German invasion, the Red Army had 639 KV-1 tanks.
Designed by Evan Allen
Painted by Aaron Mathie