JS-3
Comments
James CThe IS-3 (also known as the JS-3 or "Object 703") was designed and developed during the closing stages of WW2 in late 1944. The first production models off the assembly line arrived too late to take part in the conflict, but Joseph Stalin (ever the opportunist) chose to display and show off his new main battle tank to the western allies during the Russian victory parade held in Berlin in 1945.
It's unique pike-nosed hull design would be replicated on other tanks in the IS series, includeing the IS-7 and T-10. Its low sillouette and semi-hemispherical cast turret, resembling an upturned soup bowl would become a hallmark of all post-war era Soviet main battle tank designs, but would only remain in production between 1945 - 1947.
The Kit
First released back in 1996, this Tamiya kit was a straight forward build and also features single length rubber tracks that can be secured together with ordinary plastic cement rather than having to resort to stronger CA based glues. It goes together flawlessly, as you'd expect being a Tamiya Kit, but does have one design flaw.
The sponsons are open meaning if you look from below, you can see right up inside of the hull. This is mitigated somewhat with the tracks supplied in the kit, as they sit unnaturally high and with no sag between the upper guide rollers at all.
I chose to close the sponsons off with some 0.5mm evergreen plastic sheeting, braced with an "L" bracket secured to the inside of the lower hull tub to create a "lip" for the cover to attach to. With the sponsons now closed off properly, I was then able to wedge the tracks with offcut lengths of plastic sprue in an attempt to acheive a little bit of sag.
The only other (minor) issue I encountered was that the instructions indicate the length of string for the tow cables should be 10cm long. this turned out to be far too long. I'd recommend using lengths of approx. 5 - 7 cm (max) instead.
All up, a basic kit that was quite an enjoyable build and I'd recommend it if your on a budget.
Youtube Video
Cheers! 👍
NeulingPaintwork and appropriate moderate weathering make this one a top model. And thanks for the infos!
Album info
The IS-3 (also known as the JS-3 or "Object 703") was designed and developed during the closing stages of WW2 in late 1944.
The first production models off the assembly line arrived too late to take part in the conflict, but Joseph Stalin (ever the opportunist) chose to display and show off his new main battle tank to the western allies during the allied victory parade held in Berlin on September 7th 1945.
It's unique pike-nosed hull design would be replicated on other tanks in the IS series, including the IS-7 and T-10. Its low silhouette and semi-hemispherical cast turret, resembling an upturned soup bowl would become a hallmark of all post-war era Soviet main battle tank designs, but the JS-3 itself would only remain in production between 1945 - 1947.
The Kit
First released back in 1996, this Tamiya kit was a straight forward build and also features single length rubber tracks that can be secured together with ordinary plastic cement rather than having to resort to stronger CA based glues. It goes together flawlessly, as you'd expect being a Tamiya Kit, but does have one design issue.
The sponsons are open, meaning that if you look from below, you can see right up inside of the hull, but this is mitigated somewhat with the tracks supplied in the kit, as they sit unnaturally high and with no sag between the upper guide rollers at all.
To remedy this, I chose to close the sponsons off with some 0.5mm evergreen plastic sheeting, braced with an "L" bracket secured to the inside of the lower hull tub to create a "lip" for the cover to attach to. With the sponsons now closed off properly, I was then able to wedge the tracks with offcut lengths of plastic sprue in an attempt to achieve a little bit of sag.
The only other (minor) issue I encountered was that the instructions indicate the length of string for the tow cables should be 10cm long.
This turned out to be far too long, and I'd recommend using lengths of approx. 5 - 7 cm (max) instead.
Completed September 7th 2022
