Nice work Dmitry, I spent Christmas reworking the old Dragon IS-1 and I see that I will have to get one of these. About the only thing I would replace are the eye bolts on the hull rear and engine cover - Tamiya just give you blobs and I've some spare Dragon ones to use

David

Really nice work so far (excellent photography too).

Can't believe how rough the turret is on that real tank though!

Hi Guys,

Small update, but lots of effort.

Here are a few pics of front fenders dry fitted. I am very impressed with fit and detail, although I will have to tear them off on my model:





Here are the tracks. 82 links now, with 2 additional ready to go. 2 punch out holes to fill on each. I will have to prime them to see how well I really did. I guess the real one had 85, but we'll see how they work once model is closer to completion. This was a lot of work. I just remembered that MiniArm makes a set of resin tracks for IS-2. I do not have them, but I think they are worth looking at to same on time:





ModelKasten tracks come with nice extras on each tree:







Those bolts can have many uses...



As for casting numbers, I've been trying to figure out exactly what they should be and where. I will probably go with MiniArm solution:





There are pics of turrets with letters too as not all had letters or lines. Some hulls have numbers on them as well, but I think you have to not go overboard with this...

Next I will more on to the texture, welds, and seams.

Dmitry

Dimtry,

Very nice blog will also order this kit now..

casting numbers can be readly reproduced, save your spures shave off the numbers on the little sprue tabs or sand the sprue down until the number is just about there you can leave some backing on behind the number.. attach to model with plastic weld either carefully apply the solution under the number or use your brush to pick up the number and solution paint the number down. The thin backing (if any is left) will desolve and the number will be slightly raised or will be quite raised however it will look as if it has been cast in place the spare backing as it desolves forms a series of cast lumps. Reasonably quick and easy. However, for bigger numbers look through your old sprues if you keep them that is.. Like the model name and kit numbers there usually bigger.


Best regards

Blue

PS just bought the cast turreted T34 dragons latest and ordered the CH 112 T34 kit

However am still waiting fro the STZ 42 Kit its been a long time from order. 29 Sept 2007 and its still not here in the uk.

You are doing a great job on this monster. Zaloga just published a brief run down on Missing Link. He messed up the fenders as only he can do and add some other items, His description of the weld seams and rough outer surface details that he applied are impressive. I have mine enroute from HobbyLink Japan. Cannot wait to start it based on your progress. Keep those entries coming. What paint scheme are you going to apply?
thanks
DJ

BTW, you can find that Zaloga article here.

Is it just me, or do the return rollers in the second picture look all wonky?

-YL

Hi Guys,

I saw Steve's model on ML. Very nice and much faster than mine.

The return rollers are very tricky to align. Really a design flaw in a way. You must be very careful.

I got my ArmorScale barrel and MiniArm tracks today.

The barrel looks great. Alum part is clean with riffled inside and has a thread. The muzzle is very nice as well and I think will be easy to put together. The mantle is also well cast, but much smaller than Tamiya part and will never fit on that kit. The funny thing is that the Armorscale metal barrel DOES NOT FIT into the Armorscale mantle. It actually fits better into the Tamiya part, but it still will require filing. In the end I will use the muzzle and the barrel, but the mantle has to go.

















The MiniArm tracks also are not perfect. They are the snap together kind. The casting is nice, but there are more than a few miscast tracks that are missing pins or have bubbles. Each requires minor sending too and this exposes you to the resin dust. They give you extra links so you might have enough after getting rid of the bad ones. The finished run is a little loose at some points, but does fit nicely around the sprocket. Compared to MK, they look practically the same to me and I would go for the MK ones again on the next try. They do have a touch more texture that may be beneficial in weathering...

I must say that I used WWII Productions T-34 tracks long ago and I remember them being slightly better.















Sorry for such insignificant progress. I just have no time...

Dmitry

Thanks for posting the info on the Armorscale barrel & mantle. Wow. Not only is the mantle very undersize, I can't believe that the Amorscale barrel doesn't fit their own mantle! To top it off (pun intended), it looks like the muzzle brake and/or the barrel end will need a little work before everything fits properly.

I've never used any Armorscale products before, but they certainly always looked good. I was contemplating ordering Armorscale's barrel & mantle for the Tamiya JS-3, but now I'm not so sure. If I have to do extra work on the new pieces, I might just save myself some cash and use the kit pieces instead. How hard could it be to add some lift hooks to the mantle and sand down that pesky barrel seam?

BTW, how many sets of tracks do you have for this? Two? Three? I think I see some more IS-2 builds in your future...

-YL

Nice WIP blog Dmitry. Keep it up.

I am also doing the JS2. Its has got to be one of the best and hassle-free model around since i did mine OOB.

Anyway i'm done with the construction and yes, like u said, it takes a weekend to give it a solid construction. I am at the painting stage now. Will be posting pictures up soon.

Hi Dmitry,

I hope everyone here had a good holidays?..

I'm enjoing the progress with your build ... looking good!..

Nick

I'm liking this Demytri...hey, how much did this model cost you?

Charlie

uote]Thanks for the comments. Yes the kit is fast to build OOB. I think one day if you are not too picky. Maybe a weekend for careful construction. But I want to replace many parts, so it will take longer...

Here is the sprocket with MK tracks. Pretty good fit.
04090
Hi
you wanted casting No 7 letters you could get them from Accurate-armour.com
good luck
yours cyril.


The MK tracks are nice but are a bear to make. Each one has 2 sink holes. This will take a few days! In the meantime I will try to come up with a way to add Russian casting numbers/letters. Any ideas how I can make a set at home since I do not think any are made in Cyrillic...

Thanks.

Dmitry[/quote]

quite the detailed build log. Its coming along nicely cant wait to see the final product.

Great post, Dmitry. I keep referring to it as I build mine.

Did you ever get more done on yours?

Cheers

Scott Fraser