Russian KV-85 tank Armor Corrected

Probably there's not many that remember one of the most popular board wargame which dominated the 1970s - PanzerBlitz.  I still have a copy of the Avalon Hill General that evaluated the playing pieces.  The playing pieces were counters that represented tank platoons or companies.  One of the ubiquitous units was the KV-85 tank company.   These seemed to be in the order of battle of at least 25% of the scenarios.  Later when I got into miniatures I wanted to run these tanks but GHQ did not make any.

Eventually, CnC made some but they seemed too small and unimpressive so I passed on them.  What I found is that only 148 were ever built and in only 3 months (7/43-9/43).  These were an intermediate step for a Soviet heavy tank to counter the German heavy tank Tiger I.   KV-85 link link    Photo link   Blue Print link
The next step was the JS tank, the first version was the JS-85 which is also known as the JS-1.  Only 130 of these were built in only 4 months (10/43-1/44).  The development history was pretty complicated and not straight forward.  Here are some links to their histories. JS-85 link link   
There is however a problem with the armor values.  There is the unfortunate photo of a captured KV-85 which armor thickness was analyzed.

As can be seen on the photo to the right where the turret front and side is an impressive 110mm thick.   The gun shield/mantlet is 95mm thick.
(Note that the armor angles are given in the German form as from the horizontal.)
The hull looks like it is exactly like the KV-1S hull but the glacis armor value cannot be seen so that is only assumed.






From the official armor scheme of the KV-85 is as the scheme to the right.  It shows the lower front hull armor is 75mm @ 30° and not as the photo evidence shows 60mm @ 25°.




In comparison is from the official armor scheme of the K-1S where the lower hull is the correct value.

Click images to enlarge

It's possible the KV-85 armor scheme shown is that of a rebuilt KV-1 model 1941 or model 1942.  Apparently a few were made from recovered hulks.  However, the turret armor is still wrong.

Another vehicle based on the KV-1S is the SU-152.  One of these was captured and analyzed by the Germans. We can see in the photos on the right and below that the glacis is indeed 50mm @ 70°.   SU-152 development. link

Thus we now know the complete armor basis of the KV-85.
So a corrected KV-85 armor scheme can be generated as shown to the right.