The SMK heavy tank was the last Soviet multi-turret tank design developed prior to the start of World War II. A single prototype was used in action during the Russo-Finnish War of 1939. Though no further development was attempted, many of its design features were later incorporated in the KV-1 heavy tank.
This kit has an impressive molding variation. The hull is a reverse bathtub design, as the top and sides are molded as one piece; a full bottom hull plate completes the assembly.
The individual-link tracks are sharply molded with good detail, and they are easy to remove from the sprues and attach to one another. A minor ejector-pin mars the inside surface of each link but is difficult to see on the finished model.
The road wheel pairs assemble from inner parts with good detail, and simply attach to the suspension arms. The arms themselves lock positively into position but, with a little work, could be altered to articulate the tracks.
The turrets are well engineered and assembled without problems. Only the commander’s hatch on the large turret is separate and posable. I liked the inclusion of the external machine gun and mount as well as clear parts for periscopes.
Extra features in the kit are limited to a wire for a tow cable and a small photo-etched fret for the engine intake screen.
I painted the kit with a combination of Tamiya and Ammo by Mig Jimenez Soviet tank colors.
Decals provided are limited to some fictional markings along with a generic red star. I used the star on my build and it went on nicely with some decal solution.
Information on the SMK is a bit limited. I used as my primary reference the first issue of
Armor in Profile 1 (Pelta, 1997).
I completed my SMK in 30 hours. My experience in building this kit was most enjoyable. The engineering and molding were top-notch.
If you are interested in Soviet armor this is a great kit to add to your collection.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the March 2019 issue.