You think HL/Taigen will ever do a JS-2?

[tao]

The lower/hull would be the KV 1 right?

[billpe]

The IS2 is a bit longer I think.

[MichaelC]

tao, I did a conversion using various parts (Tamiya, Juckenburg and Heng Long) a while ago. The Heng Long lower is too wide and also a little short for the JS-2 upper so it is unlikely they they will do one since it will be all new molding. I have to cut the HL hull to make it fit the Tamiya upper.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17968

[tao]

That is awesome Michael!! The KV 1 hull was the basis for the JS series right?

[MichaelC]

I don''t think so, but they are similar in that the return rollers, bogies and sprockets are identical in numbers and placement (somewhat). The JS series is a narrower hull. I think the exterior similarity is more because they don't want to re-cast too many parts. Russians in WWII was interested in not disrupting productions so any new design tend to re-use if possible.

Heng Long can't just use the KV lower as it will look funny and that's why I don't think you will see one anytime soon. They tend to go for low hanging fruits, like spinning off the identical lowers for new tanks.

[Roboticus_Prime]

According to Erik, Taigen/Imex is working on some new stuff. He's being very secretive though.

[MichaelC]

Actually does Erik/IMEX actually carry any Heng Long stuff ? I know they are probably from the same factory, but I am not seeing any HL products on IMEX website, especially with the new releases (M1A2, Challenger etc). I know Taigen has their own releases like the Panther F which is shipped already but they always seems to be a PRO version of a HL products, but not all of them.

[Roboticus_Prime]

Actually does Erik/IMEX actually carry any Heng Long stuff ? I know they are probably from the same factory, but I am not seeing any HL products on IMEX website, especially with the new releases (M1A2, Challenger etc). I know Taigen has their own releases like the Panther F which is shipped already but they always seems to be a PRO version of a HL products, but not all of them.

They have their own molds I believe. They started out just making heng longs with the upgrades, now they have several all there own. The big thing is, that their parts usually fit on a heng long with little to no issue.

[Max-U52]

Imex has a variety of different brands, some of their tanks are pretty much spruced up Heng Longs, like the M26 and M41, and tanks like the T-34 and the Sherman are all new tanks, and the Jagdtiger is all new in conjunction with Torro. I think that's both good and bad, as we're getting tanks with new tooling (good), but it makes them less interchangeable (bad, especially for guys that like to try building different variants).

But as for the question at hand, given Erik's influence and preference for Russian armor, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Imex come out with a couple of new Russian tanks, in conjunction with Taigen or Torro or both. Especially anything that can go on a T-34 lower, like an SU-100.

[tao]

Hey Gary put in the word to Erik for JS-2 It makes sense in that the JS-2 is the counterpart to the highly popular Tiger I and II!