Frankinstein JS-2

[MichaelC]

Hi all,

Been drooling over the Tamiya JS-2 since it came out but just couldn't pull the trigger on $1,000+ (CAD) full option so decided to take a crack at making one for half the price with some of my existing pieces. Here are the parts department and pictures showing where it is at the moment......

Turret - Junkenburg IS-85 which I have modded into a KV-122 turret. It was sharing a KV-1 lower but now it is used as the early IS-2 turret
Barrel and Muzzle Brake - Frank's 122 mm JS-2 barrel and DKLM's Russian style metal muzzle brake
Upper - Tamiya JS-2 plus most of the dressings from JC-RC
Lower - Heng Long KV-1 but cut length wise to make it fit the slimmer Tamiya JS-2 upper
Wheels/Sprockets - Juckenburg JS-3 kit
Electronics - Clark

Still debating to get more Tamiya parts to finish it off but that will jack the cost up substantially.

MichaelC.

[PainlessWolf]

Michael,
You've certainly got the hybrid build touch! It looks completely authentic as is. You're a fine scratch builder as well so I expect that all of the details for the JS will show up here soon. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[edpanzer]

Thats really good great lateral thinking very inspiring great work

[MichaelC]

Thanks guys....... I actually didn't like the Tamiya JS-2 turret and that's also part of the reason. Will try to scratch build and get cheaper parts to finish it off. Almost half of the money is already spent on Tamiya pieces so can't afford much more.

[blimp]

Thanks guys....... I actually didn't like the Tamiya JS-2 turret and that's also part of the reason. Will try to scratch build and get cheaper parts to finish it off. Almost half of the money is already spent on Tamiya pieces so can't afford much more.

Hello Michael , if you are refering to stuff like the fuel tanks + brackets - you can save a bundle and make your own like I did .

. . . plasticard brackets & disc's , tube from rolled paper ( 22mm dia. x 62mm long , straps from thin strips , 1mm studding / nuts etc .

[Ad Lav]

Great work!

Looking very nice, I think the IS-2 is a bit expensive, compared to the KV1 and KV2 anyway which it shares alot of parts with?

[blimp]

Nope ,Kitwise , very little except for the DMD ( maybe the gearboxes ) The IS was an entirely new design .

[Ad Lav]

The wheels looks similar?

So hull and wheels/suspension differ?

I guessed upper hull was different.

[MichaelC]

MichaelC if possible I hope it is not to much to ask for some close up pics of the turret

Kiaser, here is some of close-up of the Juckenburg turret. As always his resin work is top notch as you can see all the weld lines are faithfully reproduced. The paint and weathering is done by dgsselkirk as part of the sharing of the KV hull so I have to some how either re-paint (!!!) or get him to do the rest of the hull the same way. Also you would notice that it has a narrow mantlet which is true for the KV-85 and the early IS-1s with the 85mm and the 100mm. I comtemplated using the Tamiya wide mantlet but it was too much work. In theory you would never see a "Roman Nose" IS-2 with a narrow mantlet.

blimp, I have some Heng Long T34 oil drums that I am going to use and also stole some parts from that as well. Just found out that the Tamiya A/B spruce only comes in one per pack and it is $35 USD each. In theory I would need 2 x As and 4 x Bs to get the whole thing done so that is definitely not happening. Not at this point anyway. I will have to sleep on it.

MichaelC.