The heavy tank IS-2 "Joseph Stalin" traces its lineage to the KV-1 tank. Developed at the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant (ChKZ) at the end of 1943.
Any attempts to present the IS-2 as an “all-destroying and impenetrable” tank or “a steel box of no particular value” based on individual combat episodes are nothing more than unreasonable extrapolation without taking into account the specific conditions of the battle, the training of the crews and the actions of the command of both fighting sides. However, it must be admitted that such claims are fairly common in the popular literature.

I. ABOUT THE PROTOTYPE:

Really the most powerful tank 2nd World War. With a mass like that of an average German tank Pz-V"Panther" (46 tons for the IS-2 versus 44 tons for the "Panther"), had more powerful weapons than the heavy ones German tanks Pz-VI "Tiger" (122mm D-25T cannon for the IS-2 versus 88mm for the "Tiger"), armor like heavy tanks (100-120mm frontal armor for the IS-2 versus 100mm for the "Tiger" and 80mm for the "Panther" ").
The production of these tanks was launched only in the second half of 1944. Their main combat use had to be released of Eastern Europe. IS-2 was actively used for assault actions fortified cities such as Budapest, Breslau, Berlin.
To vulnerabilities The tank should be attributed to the placement of fuel tanks in the inhabited areas of the vehicle, which often led to the ignition of the vehicle when it hit the lower front inclined armor plate.

II. ABOUT MODEL:

The assembly of the model is quite simple. When assembling, I used an article about this particular model of the Zvezda issue of the Bench Modeling magazine No. 02.2005 (10). The difficulty was only in order to ensure that the mask of the gun protruded from the tower like a real tank. It turned out that for this you need to pull hard on the barrel ...

When painting, I used Tamiya putty and primer, and paint only from Zvezda.

Before painting, I sealed the landing sites of the rollers with Tamiya masking tape and sealed the inside of the headlight with faber-castel plasticine. First, I painted everything with silver (Star No. 6 - aluminum), then rust on top (Star No. 10 - rust), then in green(Star No. 55 - protective). Everything dried up well, then what happened, I rubbed it with sandpaper, it turned out an interesting effect - where stronger ter- metal showed through, where not very much - rust. Then artistic painting with rust and black paint in places of the exhaust pipes (there should be a lot of soot, because the engine was diesel). And some Tamiya X-19 "Smoke" to simulate fuel and oil streaks.
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At the end, I made a headlight: I glued food foil inside, and on top I made an imitation of glass from a plastic OEM CD packaging (they have just the right bulge in the center). I tried to pull the antenna out of the "stars" sprues, as it is written in the instructions - it did not work. But it turned out well from the "Tamiy" plastic.

It turned out, firstly, it seems to me, too dark and a little of the wrong color, but this is only because the recommended paint for Zvezda does not really match the original, not to mention the scale of the color. I don't like rubber tracks, and to be honest, I haven't yet learned how to make them hang believably on the rollers.

Since on real tanks the front and rear "wings", covering the tracks, quickly broke against the obstacles overcome by the tank, it was recommended in the above article to break them off. But I did not dare to such cruelty - I had to come up with a “legend” for the tank. In the same magazine there were additional decals for the IS-2, I chose the version of the tank of the commander of the 62nd OGTPP, Lieutenant Colonel E.F. Ivanovsky. Let there be a not very worn out car, because the commander's

I bring to your attention a prefabricated wooden model of the IS-2 tank (Object 240) - a Soviet heavy tank of the times of the Great Patriotic War. IS marking means "Joseph Stalin" - the official name of serial Soviet heavy tanks release 1943-1953. The number 2 in the title corresponds to the second serial model of the tank of this family. IS-2 was the most powerful and most heavily armored of the Soviet and allied production tanks during the war, and one of the strongest tanks at that time in the world. Tanks of this type played a big role in the battles of 1944-1945.

Tank IS 2 (Object 240)

Work of medium difficulty. The model of the IS 2 tank consists of 187 elements, while the main parts have straight cut lines, which will simplify the task of cutting out. The tank model will take its rightful place in your collection.

In order to assemble such a tank model with your own hands, you will need the following tools and accessories:

Workplace preparation

As usual, the first thing you need to do is equip your workplace on which you will be working. The rules are not complicated: there should be no extra things on the table, all the tools should be in their places and be at hand. Not everyone has their own desktop, and for sure you have already thought about creating it. Making a table is not difficult - it is more difficult to choose a place for it in the house. A good option- this is a warmed balcony on which you can start working on crafts at any time. If you have a specially equipped room with a workbench, then you can be said to be lucky. You can read about table preparation in separate article, where I tried to describe in as much detail as possible the whole process of its creation. After you have completed the process of creating a workplace, you can proceed directly to your future craft.

Choice of plywood

Estimated dimensions of the IS 2 tank model made of plywood (35 cm x 12 cm x 10 cm), since the drawing is designed for printing on A3 and A4 paper, the details can fit on four plywood sheets for A3 and seven A4 sheets. The thickness of plywood should be from 2.5 to 3 mm. Before transferring the drawing to plywood, sand the workpiece with a sandpaper with a large grain, and finish with a fine one. It is more convenient to grind with a wooden block wrapped in sandpaper. Sand the harvested plywood along the layers, not across. A well-sanded surface should be smooth, perfectly smooth, glossy-matt in the light and silky to the touch. Pay attention to the location of the fibers, knots, dents and other defects. Quality and color.

Transferring the pattern to plywood

You need to translate the drawing accurately and accurately: fix the drawing with the buttons or simply hold it with your left hand. Check if the drawing fits the dimensions. Arrange the individual parts so that the plywood sheet is used as economically as possible. You should not rush, because your future craft depends on the drawing. To speed up the translation process, you can use the technique of quick translation of the picture, for this I suggest that you read the article: You can see the drawing of the IS 2 tank at the end of the article after payment.

Sawing with a jigsaw

There are many rules for sawing, but you need to be based on the most common ones. First, you should cut out the internal elements, then proceed to sawing out the contour. There is no need to rush when cutting. The main thing is to always keep the jigsaw straight at an angle of 90 degrees when cutting. Saw pieces along precisely marked lines. The movements of the jigsaw should always be smooth up and down. Also, don't forget to watch your posture. Try to avoid bevels and bumps. If you get off the line while cutting, do not worry. Such bevels, irregularities can later be removed with a flat file or “Coarse-grained” skin.


With a plywood thickness of 2.5mm. some elements can be cut stationery knife but be very careful this way traumatic because, with a long voltage, the knife can come off or break off, causing injury.

Rest

When sawing, we often get tired. Often fingers get tired as well as eyes, which are always in suspense. At work, of course, everyone gets tired. In order to reduce the load, you need to do a couple of exercises. Exercises you can see. Do the exercises several times during the work.

Assembly diagram

The assembly of craft parts in this work is not very difficult, detailed instructions You will find along with the drawing file. Below are the main assembly steps.
Caterpillar base.

Volume: 5 sheets A4 format.

We dress trucks.


Platform assembly.

After the parts are assembled into one common craft without any problems, then proceed to gluing them.

To give more similarity, you can add a few strokes in the form of lines using an electric burner. It can be very difficult to burn out a pattern beautifully, but here there are not many lines and making them is quite simple. First you need to draw lines with a pencil, then slowly go along these lines with an electric burner. You can read how to work with an electric burner and add patterns in a separate article.

Finishing crafts

The model of the IS 2 tank can be varnished or painted if desired, it is not necessary to do this, but this will add more individuality to your craft. Try to choose a good and high-quality varnish. Lacquering with a special brush, do not rush. Try not to leave visible streaks of bubbles and lint from the brush.

Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the painting process itself. Therefore, I bring to your judgment only the final result of the assembly and painting of the IS-2 model from Zvezda in the 72nd scale. The model decided not to get dirty with pigments. I don't intend to make a vignette or use it in a diorama. It seems to me that "for the shelf" it will be better.

Painting the IS-2 tank model in basic colors and subsequent processing

When painting, I set myself the task of minimizing the number of layers of paint applied, so as not to “blur” the details. I read about it in the technology articles on ost-front.ru.

The sequence of applying layers when painting the model was as follows:

• Gunze soil Mr.surfacer 1000, diluted 1:1
• Paint preshading XF-1
• base color 4BO, (dark version)
• Highlighting the second option 4BO protruding parts
• Machine guns and rope XF-84 Dark Iron, on the upper machine gun walked with a dry brush X-10 Gun Metal.
• The handle of a shovel and a saw handle - mixing tempera paints (I think it didn’t quite match the color)
• With a brush and tempera paint he made white stripes on the tower.
• Tamiya X-35 semi-matte varnish
• Emblem and number decals
• Put a layer of varnish on the places where the decals were applied X-35
• Applied a "warm" filter made from oil paints based on light ocher
• For oil dots I used green, ocher and white paints.
• I made a “brown” wash (I also mixed it with oil paints)
• Covered the model with XF-86 matte varnish
• Slightly stained the muzzle brake and exhaust points with pigment Old Crease and walked along the seams and protruding parts with pigment steel bright from Wilder

Thus, the number of "thick" layers was actually reduced to 3. Base color, semi-gloss lacquer, matt lacquer.

The filters and washes on the semi-gloss worked well. The decals also lay down without any problems, no silvering was noticed. For welding, I used a solution of vinegar.

Coloring of the tracks of the IS-2 tank model from Zvezda

Base color for painting tracks: Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron. For rust, I used Wilder Burn Rust, Light Rust, Red Rust pigments in various proportions, after which I went over the teeth and protruding surfaces with a dry brush with X-10 Gun Metal paint to give the tracks worn down to metal.

small historical background, performance characteristics, photo walkaround and video of the tank can be viewed in the article.

Until recently, there were several models of this tank in 1:72 scale, for example, from Italeri and PST. Their shortcomings have been written about more than once, of course, one could repeat, but there is neither one nor the other set at hand. And finally, the long-awaited novelty came out, from the Russian company Zvezda, IS-2 in 1:72 scale. Although it was announced a long time ago and the modellers were looking forward to it by different dates, including the Victory Day, nevertheless it came out only now. Let's see how our expectations were met.

The part number is 5011. It is packaged in a small cardboard box with a side flap. The front side shows a drawing of a tank, and the back side shows an assembled and unpainted tank.

I still can’t understand why it’s drawn on the back, it would be better if they put color options for coloring. Model IS-2 is made on modern level, using 3D technologies. She, like the previous tanks of the company "Zvezda" on a scale of 1:72, is included in the "Assembly without" series. The box contains instructions, a decal, a hull bath, three sprues, two of which contain parts, and one contains track tapes.

The casting quality is very good, there are no offsets, flash or sinkholes, the details are made clearly without blurring. At the first examination of the castings, I was pleased with a very decent level of surface elaboration and detailing.

The decal is small for one option, which is included in the instructions. But there is a set of numbers white color from which you can dial any number.

The instruction is informative and detailed, the quality of its printing on good level. Assembly steps are shown large and clear.

I don't think there should be any problem with assembly. According to the first estimates, the assembly of several parts, they fit very well. Let's try to see how much of a copy the model turned out to be. To do this, we will use the measurements made by me during the walkaround survey of this tank.

It can be seen from the data in the table that the model corresponds very well to the scale of 1:72. There are slight deviations, but in my opinion, they are within the normal range. There is a question about the muzzle brake, in plastic, it turned out to be a little shorter, which can be seen from a more detailed sketch in the article "IS-2 measurements". The price of the novelty is 220 rubles.

In conclusion, we can say that the Zvezda turned out to be a very good IS-2. At a low price, the model is made at a decent level and quite well conveys the look of the famous Soviet tank. I think, as calculated by the manufacturer, even a novice modeler can assemble it. I would like to wish Zvezda to continue to produce the same good models. And we are looking forward to the announced for this year missile system"Poplar".