Someone here got this kit? What do you think about this one? I saw a little review in this month Fine Scale Modeler and I'm thinking about buying it.... The Egyptian version look very good.

On the other way, I'm not realy in love with Trumpeter.... (I got their Korean K1)


Sylvain

Here is the review by Gino Dykstra on track links homepage. Good page also.
He gave it 3.5 stars oout of 5

I’ve always had something of a soft spot for the JS-3. Ever since I built Aurora’s “Stalin Tank” back when I was ten (Two times, in fact - a record in those days!), I’ve been fascinated by the angles and slopes of this unique design – everything from the mushroom turret to the prow of the hull. Developed in November of 1944, the JS-3 was the most advanced armored vehicle of its time. Using the same gun and automotive parts as the IS-2, the new sloped armor gave it superior survivability and would serve as inspiration for armor development for years to come. Called “Shchuka or “Pike” by crewmen because of the sharp nose, it served in the very last stages of WW2 and went on to a brief service career in the Middle East.


Trumpeter’s JS-3M version of the venerable JS-3 comes about a year after the release of Tamiya’s version of this impressive vehicle. Fortunately, they’re not actually the same mark at all. Tamiya’s has the stowage, lack of side storage doors and engine deck configuration of the WW2 variant, whereas Trumpeter’s version is of the post-war make. Trumpeter is aware of this difference, as the decal sheet offers two choices; a post-war Russian Guards version (you can safely ignore the dramatic but inaccurate box art) and an interesting Egyptian vehicle with a large black Phoenix-like bird on the turret.

Upon opening the box, one is immediately struck by the somewhat late 70’s style of the mouldings. There’s a modest amount of flash on most of the parts, sometimes in rather inconvenient locations. You’ll want to check each part carefully as you assemble, and make sure none of the flash interferes with mating surfaces.


Step 1 involves assembly of the running wheels, and this is where the flash first surfaces. Also, you’ll find that the main road wheels are ever so slightly off round. However, this doesn’t detract from the appearance of the model noticeably.

Steps 2 and 3 involve the torsion bars and other running gear, and this is where I encountered my first real problem. The torsion bars are individually fitted, and as they’re designed, a small dimple on each bar fits over a knob on the hull. I assembled the kit “as is” and discovered, much too late to do anything about it, that this makes the gear slightly too compressed. If I did it over again, I’d cut off the little knobs and set the running gear by eyeball. As it is, this makes the model I’ve got either look “lean and mean” or it looks as if it’s running on flats.

Steps 4 and 5 cover the rear hull and side hull installations, which includes the addition of the rear engine hatch. This was a slightly loose fit on my model, and when I attached the upper to lower hull, found myself with a slight gap at the bottom. You might want to test fit it before making it a permanent addition. The upper hull has separate sections covering the side sponsons, and this was one of the poorer fits on the kit. Care should be exercised on dealing with this. I found that it was easiest to make a good clean fit at the front of the hull and fill in the gaps at the rear with putty. There’s also something a bit odd about parts C-21, which are sort of flanged guards for the turret ring. The supports on these overlap the side tool doors on the sponsons, which doesn’t make much sense to me. I had to cut these off and rearrange them a little bit for a more sensible fit. The lights are also fitted at this stage, and I found it easy to scrape off the anemic molded-on hull wires leading to these and replace them with fine solder. The lights come with separate lenses, so it’s easy to fit them with clear lenses if you so choose.

Step 7 mostly involves the fitting out of the external fuel tanks, which are nicely detailed, with separate mounts. Like the Tamiya fuel tanks, these have no retaining straps, and are each apparently held in position on their brackets with a single toggle bolt. This still strikes me as a bit odd, so I checked my references and found that some show straps, some don’t. I elected to add some straps, and these are easily made with plastic strip. The two small oil cans have nebulous detail on their end caps which is best sanded smooth and replaced with sprue and wire. Incidentally, there are two mystery items on the sprues – parts C-32, which although noted on the readout, match to no material in the plans.

Step 8 is the preparation of the nicely molded “rubber band” style tracks. On mine, I found them too loose until I cut out a link on each side. If the suspension is dealt with as I suggested, you might not find this necessary.

Step 9 is the mounting of the top to bottom hull, and I found this to be a pleasantly good fit. Watch out for that rear engine hatch, though.

Step 10 and 11 involve detailing the turret, and I was very pleased with the moulding on this. The turret is nicely rough and certainly looks cast. The numerous hand-rail locations are delineated by deep dimples, and I found that these didn’t always match with the length of the rails provided. Best to line them up with the top dimples and putty in around the bottom ones where necessary. The hatches come with quite good detail on them, including separate periscopes and handles, although they also have some pin marks that might prove difficult to properly fill. The machine gun is quite detailed, although a fiddly build. The fit of the turret top to the base leaves some substantive gaps that you’ll want to putty in.

I found the gun mantlet a sloppy fit, and super-glued mine into position to obviate any later difficulties. The main gun itself is a nice fit if you cut off the location pins and gently sand the mating surfaces. Not mentioned in the assembly instructions are the tow cables, which are provided for by plastic end loops and a piece of string. Replace the string with some wire, and you’ve got nice tow cables, although I’m not 100% sure where they’re supposed to fit.


All in all, the Trumpeter model certainly captures the feel of the real thing. How does it compare to the Tamiya? The Tamiya kit is inarguably a better overall fit, and is one of their typical “shake and bake” models. However, it is also the little-used WW2 variant and costs roughly twice as much as the Trumpeter model. Frankly, of the two kits I enjoyed the Trumpeter model more. There was just enough challenge to make it fun. And the post-war Egyptian turret markings are undeniably cool.

I've just finished building it and it was an enjoyable kit to make.
It had no realy dificult or ill-fitting bits ( the tracks as supplied are too long, but thats easily dealt with ), and it certainly captures the squat, menacing look of the real thing.
It's great value in Oz dollars as well, $25 as opposed to $70 for the Tamiya offering.

What version have you made? Soviet or Egyptian?

Like you said, I realy like the menacing look of this tank.

What about the 12.7mm antiaircraft machine gun. Is it the same on the Tamiya kit?


Sylvain

I made the Soviet version in the end - I'd spent a while trying to find a decent camoflage scheme to finish it in, but could not find anything so I just finished it in green.
I didn't compare the DShK in this kit with the Tamiya one so I don't know if it's the same, but the rest of the kit is not a copy so I wouldn't think the machinegun would be.

My apology, my question was not clear and my english is far from perfect...

Not a copy but the same kind of machine gun? Someone knows?



Sylvain

The Tamiya has the dreaded open sponsons...I assume the Trumpeter doesn't? Anyways for $20.00 it's probably worth it.
#:-)

Sort of.......... They look like they will be closed off, but once built there is a small gap (a couple of mms) left with everything else lined up properly - on my example at least....

And it is the same kind of machinegun Ytsejack, I wasn't sure what you were getting at