I am currently looking to build a Stalin Heavy tank, but I am unsure on the quality of the two kits I am looking at and if they are the same tank. The first kit is the Trumpeter IS-3M and the second is the Tamiya JS3. They have different names, but look the same. Can someone please tell me which kit is better, or if they are both good, because there is a fairly large price difference and I'm confused on which to get.
Thanks for your help,

they are not the same,the trumpeter kit is the final version of this type of tank.the trumpeter kit is the newest of them.i ordered the trumpeter kit just because the tamiya one is so exspensive so i don't know how nice they are yet.

greetings jeroen,.

This will help your research:
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/trumpeter/tr00316.htm

Both kits are nice. Tamiya's depicts the 1945 production batch (the Aber PE set will allow you to do a 1946 version if you like). Trumpeter's depicts a 1960 rebuild version, used by Soviets as well as by Egypt in the 1967 Middle East War.
Trumpeter's suspension arms should angled higher than the kit indicates, or the suspension will look squashed, and the final drive mounts should be lowered about a millimeter so the drive sprockets aren't too high. The turret texture might be a little too much, but a light sanding will do the trick.
If you want to do a wartime Stalin, you'll need the Zvezda IS-2 kit.

I built the Trumpeter which I liked very much. Check out my photos. I built the Egyptian version which I saw in the Sinai 35 years ago. It was a big awesome tank and my model is very much like I remembered it except for the ceremonial insignia which was usually used only for parades.

Here's the IN-HOUSE review of the Trumpeter kit:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/700

Thanks for the input, I was looking to build a wartime Stalin so I guess I will be ordering the Zvezda kit. I'll try and post the pictures as soon as I'm finished.

The JS3 was never used in WW2, this came about when the Soviets put several in the Victory parade in 1945 to give the 'jitters' to the Allies..Jim

Right you are Jim. A few years later when the Soviets began to supply them to the Egyptians, they caused great anxiety and a whole new arms race in the Middle East!

To C. Simpson: Have fun with your build. It should be a very satisfying model.

Gary

Loudyank:

Ive heard through the grape vine that DML is releasing a Premium kit for the JS2. Just a heads up.

I've got the DML IS-2 kit. It is pretty good looking kit. Haven't built it yet and I've heard there are a few challenges with the track and the fit of top part of hull with fenders. I've been this can be overcome by fixing the track before you put on fender top hull sections.

Both kits are as different as the vehilces themselves...incidently ,the "M" just means "modern" so the only suble things like sideskirts and fenders are the real obvious difference.
the Tumpeter kit needs a bit of tweaking to get it up to looking good..the overall fit is not Tamiya quality!
The Tamiya kit is nice but it's a preproduction model(without side bins) so the aber etch set would be a good start to getting looking good!
also I built both of these kits (and did the tweaks) for the Osprey Book:
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/560
please feel free to get back to me if you have anymore questions..
Nick Cortese

I recently completed a KV-1 using techniques described in Nick Cortese's Osprey book. It is the best model I have built to date. I would strongly recommend the book to anyone building armor especially Soviet.

Thanks Nick for the great book!

irish

Thanks for the kind words!!
I'm sincerely glad you got something useful out of the book!
You made my day!!
Thanks AGAIN,
Nick

Nick - visit more often! I second the recommendation - I regard that book as the best in my collection too.

Gunnie (Jim)

Hi Jim,
....I will try to post more often!....
and sincere thanks for the kind words!!..
speak to you soon!!

Nick

Nick, I agree 150% with Jim, we really don't see enough of you...Jim

The Dragon lower hull is about a quarter inch too shallow, which crowds the track run and makes the completed vehicle look a bit squashed (the wheels are also slightly too small). You can shim the hull up with sheet plastic, though it will take some creative fiddling to adjust the angle of the upper tail plate to meet it.