Comrade Iosif

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MichaelC
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Comrade Iosif

Post by MichaelC »

My latest build.........Would love to do the Tamiya IS-2 but this one will have to do for now since it is half the cost. Modded HL KV lower hull with low profile gears and metal tracks, Juckenburg upper resin hull and turret, Clark Tk-22 KV board and servo recoil with a custom brass barrel and the DshK from ZTZ-99. Enjoy !
DSCN0580.JPG
I used part of the resin barrel as a sleeve for the brass barrel recoil, but all the pictures I have seen with IS-3 it has a monobloc barrel, but all the blue prints I have are 3 piece barrel ?!?
DSCN0578.JPG
Christian J as always has excellent cast texture weld beads on the resin mold. Most pieces are well cast and if not he puts lots of extra in so you can pick and choose.
DSCN0579.JPG
The kit came with oil drum mounts but most historical pictures showed very small brackets that are completely hidden behind the drums.
DSCN0581.JPG
Suspension mod was brilliant. Covers supplied by Christian and it uses the same HL T34 mod to reduce the travel/height. Relocated all the return rollers and can't really tell it is KV based.

MichaelC
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palepainter
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by palepainter »

What a conversion Michael. Tell me more about the kit. Is it sold here in North America? Fantastic job!!!
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PainlessWolf
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by PainlessWolf »

Michael,
That is fantastic work! I agree with Pale, tell us more about the kit. You will find that a lot of us would love to build Tamiyas here but instead, we get innovative and turn out amazing stuff like this from HL components and stuff made for them by guys like Christian and that fellow who does all the resin Sherman variants that fit Tamiya, Mato and HL hulls. Seriously, there are a lot of great IS-2's running around but how many guys are cranking up a 'Pike' every day? ;o)
regards,
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
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tankmad
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by tankmad »

Looking the part I fancy doing one of these sometime you have done a fantastic job.
Stevie
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MichaelC
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by MichaelC »

Painless, pale, this is the newest kit from Juckenburg and it is brilliant as always. This is also my fourth "large" kit from him so kinda knew what to expect, but they are getting better. It took me a while to decide on this one as you know the IS-3 chassis is quite different than the IS-2/KV, and the overall dimension is also quite different (Much flatter and lower). After my KV-122 project which I used a Taigen metal chassis I liked it so much I decided to convert my old HL based SU-152 (Also Juckenburg kit) to the Taigen metal lower hull as well which leaves me with an old HL plastic lower so I decided to go for the JS-3. I was working on the lower hull while the kit is in transit, trying to figure how to lower it and tried all kinds of methods and then decided on the HL T34 solution (inserting a piece to reduce the travel) and lo and behold, when the kit showed up, the instruction from Christian to lower the hull was exactly the same !

The kit comes with all the uppers including the turret, plus the wheel covers for the road wheels and the sprocket, and a complete replacement for the idler. You used the HL KV road wheels inside half with the new cover, and you replace the hub for the sprocket. The idlers on the IS series is just another road wheel which is different than the KV. The kit has complete replacement for the return rollers and you have to relocate them to provide the lower suspension look. I actually think that the lower hull is the most realistic looking part of the whole kit. I kept the tracks the same length as it is so that there is the famous slack track look the Russian loves. Here is the picture of it during the build:
DSCN0571a.jpg
The upper hull snaps on top of the lower KV hull but it is longer and lower than the KV so I have to switch to low profile gears for it to fit which I didn't expect. I managed to find an old plastic set from the Tiger I while I wait for the new gears to show up. Christian always give you the HL size turret ring so I just need to add a rotation unit and a cog ring to the turret. The turret is absolutely massive in diameter (7 1/2") but it is very low profile. No way to put elevation and even the recoil servo has to be very efficient and simple. It is working right now but I need to fix the linearity at some point:
DSCN0575.JPG
I also replaced the resin barrel with a 3/8" brass tube for the recoiling. The kit didn't come with headlight and I will have to decide if I want to put one in. I added an LED MG to the turret MG position, and used the ZTZ-99's DshK as a substitute. DshK really hasn't change all that much over the years fortunately. All and all I am very pleased with this build and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the kit (Best so far) and the overall look. Like you said Painless, not everyday that you see a Pike running around. For a Late War Russian armour nut like myself this is heaven.

MichaelC
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PainlessWolf
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by PainlessWolf »

Michael,
Thank you very much for the inside look at the kit! That is a massive turret! Any way that you can see to run a bar or slat back from the gun trunnion into the turret so you can suspend a micro servo from the inside roof to get some elevation going? The Kit's detail is absolutely beautiful and that he foresaw using a KV hull as running gear and supplied all the wheel mods with it is amazing. You really should add the headlight (I have turned into a lighting junky after figuring out how to light the spot on my Sherman) and tail lights. I have been looking at views of the real tank and there are a host of details you can add should you choose. Enjoy, my friend, you really have something rare and extra cool there. ;o)
regards,
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
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MichaelC
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by MichaelC »

Thanks Painless.......Maybe you can help me out on the lighting. I had ordered a HL KV replacement but then realized that the IS-3 actually uses a very plain looking driving light (Like the ones Rally Car mounts on top of the roll bars). Do you know of any scaled ones that I can get ? Even with the HL stock one I will have to find a lens cover for it. I had gotten some from Impact but they are sold out now. Anyway I will search the web to see if I can find some replacement parts for 1 12th/16th/24th RC cars perhaps.

I never care much for elevation but the pinion mount is actually much further forward, near the thickest part of the turret and is very difficult to work on. Even if I put in a pivot the travel would be very limited. As is now I can't even rotate the turret the full 320 degree because of the oil drums. It looks like it is at most 270. I will have to check out the reading materials and blue prints again as that doesn't seem right.

MichaelC
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[ICE]monkey
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by [ICE]monkey »

very nice conversion
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PainlessWolf
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by PainlessWolf »

Michael,
On his KV-2 build, Alpha built a scale working headlight using metal tape (I believe?) and Pale Painter did an excellent job modding the existing headlight on his KV-1 build. As far as lens covers go, I found that ordering the clear parts sprues from Tamiya kits gives a wide range of usable lenses. That is where I found the cover for the spotlight on the Sherman. It is a headlight lens for the Tamiya Sherman. The parts sprue that contained the headlights themselves provided the ring to finish the spotlight with. I would encourage you to look at the parts sprues for the Russian kits to see what might be found. Let us know what you find out about the turret rotation. As cool as this kit is, I am sure that others will now follow the path you have opened up. ;o)
regards,
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
ALPHA
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Re: Comrade Iosif

Post by ALPHA »

Hello MichealC...this is one cool build...now you have me thinking about doing one as well :crazy: ...Juckenburg ??? is that the maker?? or the seller??? Is it still available ?

The light bezel I used on my Kv is stock... I just extended it using the tube of a krazy glue cover then covered the entire assembly with aluminum tape to insulate the beam,,, after I paint it I will be fabricating an aluminum reflector ... and use blister pack plastic to create the lens

ALPHA
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