I am working on an IS-2 / J.Stalin II Russian tank. This kit is made in Russia by Zvezda, and imported by Italeri.

These in progress pics show the hull almost completed. Sheet plastic was applied to fill the void between the upper and lower hull pieces. Based on numerous actual pics, I tried to replicate some fender and external gas tank damage on this vehicle using a hair dryer, soldering iron, and nippers. Lens still have to be painted, and decals applied. Some additional drybrushing on the suspension is also needed.

The turret still needs the grabs and the external machine gun mount. The kit’s turret weld seam was so bad, (it was huge), that I scraped it off and applied .025 round strip softened and shaped to represent a weld seam. This is the first time I’ve tried this and it still looks too big when compared to actual pics.

This kit is a bit of a disappointment. Some parts, especially the external machine gun, are poorly molded and blobby. Overall part fit is average, and in general, molding is a bit crude. Still, this model reflects a nasty piece of WWII machinery, and captures the overall brute strength and weight of the vehicle.

As always, comments are appreciated. Thanks.
Steve

until now I like it,good work
I want to see the photos of the finished mode
regards

Overall, looks pretty good.
On the shot fuel tank the exit hole should be huge and mangled. If you happened to see the cable program of the "Lost Squadron", the P-38's that were lost in the ice and one was resuced, the group shot one shell from the 20mm into (and through) a 55 gallon drum. The backside was ripped wide open while the entry hole was relatively small.

Al, you make a valid point here.

In retrospect I wish I had not tried to replicate the holing of the fuel tank because of the thickness of the plastic. The hole appears to be going through about 4" of armor, rather than the light sheet metal of a fuel tank. I'll know better next time, and replace the tanks with something thin---and then go from there.

As an aside,---personal target shooting has shown a container full of liquid will "explode" on exit of the projectile, however an empty container will show a small entrance, (and a relatively small exit), hole. That's my story on this damaged fuel tank--it was empty (lol)

Thanks for the comments.

Steve

Lord WWH aka FInished a model each month dude,

This again is awesome demonstration of the OD/Russian Color skill on your part of this model, nothing to criticize, and again a poor demonstation of the lens color, I hope you fix the lens on the hull. It's not OD for cry out loud!

My Pal SteveWWH,

You have done another outstanding kit again.
I am wondering if the turret came from the kit? I can see that it seems to be primed, right?
I am watching the progress of your IS-2.

Howdy WWH: You used a hair dryer to heat up and bend the fenders? How did you get them soft enough to bend and then not leave any imprints in the fenders with whatever tool you used to bend it? ie finger prints or plier marks? I like the beat up look it gives this beast of a tank. Overall it has a nice grimy beat up look to it, very nice! How did you deal with the tracks? I have the same kit and the tracks looked just terrible to me.

another well done model on the way to compleation. Keep up the good work mate

Coming along nicely Wewillhold. It does indeed look heavy! Thats the beauty of russian heavy tanks. Dont worry too much about the weld seems ....... they believed in quantity over quality and I ve seen some weld seems where there seems to be 2 or 3 rows of welds on top of each other!!
The mangled metal looks the part ...... good use of the hair dryer!! You could also knock small dents in the wheels to show they got the same heavy abuse! Check your references again to see if this is the case!
Should be another stunner when finished!! What green have you used. Looks good!

Beermeister!!!!!

Love the battle damage on this one. That weld seam looks big but you could blame it on a heavy-handed welder who had a shot too much vodka the night before

Most impressive! whats the color combination you use to achieve that affect with the OD?

Nice work so far WWH.If it isnt too much work,remove the shot fuel can,sand the outside hole flush,split the top and bottom,and bevel the inside edge of the hole from inside to a scale thickness of sheet metal.
The fender damage is good,too.how about trying the salt technique,to show paint flaking off the metal at the folds where it has bent and flexed?
(++) (++) (++) (++)

Thanks to all for the kind comments and suggestions. I have emailed some of the responders already to answer some questions directly, but I'll provide a quick summary here also.

The turret in the pics comes with the kit and is molded in the light grey plastic as shown.

The hull of the vehicle has been pre sprayed with Badger Model Green Drab, followed with a cloud pattern of Model Master Russian Armor Green.

Badger Model Roof Brown, and Rail Brown provide the dirt/grime look on the suspension and lower hull.

Then a very very light spot coat of the Russian Armor Green is oversprayed on flat areas, followed by steel drybrushing.

The kit tracks are pretty bad. I have based coated them with Roof Brown, and will weather to see how they turn out---if not so good--then I'll go with after market tracks.

Heating the fenders with the hair dryer and gentle shaping with a flat tweezers leaves no marks on the plastic.

The soldering iron provided the dents and shell damage. This is tricky as the plastic melts like butter, and the "damaged" areas have to be sanded and reworked to eliminate the melted/ripplely look.

Karl (tm)---you are right about the holed gas tank---wish I had never done it--but I was experimenting. As it stands now, if I make any change, it will be to completely remove the tank and just leave the brackets.

Thanks again for you kind words, and suggestions.

Steve

WeWillHold,

A very nice vehicle you have made here! I also have a passion for these vehicles and plan to make one eventually. The punctured fuel tank does look a bit odd as it looks like a solid item rather than a puntured tank. Could you not just roll a small rectangle of brass to make a hollow tube and glue on the ends of the fuel tank (so you still get the handles). It wouldnt matter if it was not perfectly round as a shot that big going through it would certainly distort its shape!

Also dont worry about the weld seam. In fact I have always understood that this is not a weld seam but an artifact of the casting process (see kv1 turret below). I do have a reference to how this was done but cant find it at the minute.

Anyway a nice kit you have made here.

Lee