Tamiya IS-2 Model 1944 ChKZ

Military Modelcraft International Volume 14 Number 7

Clash ofthe Titans:

IntroductionThe IS (Josef Stalin) 2 tank first sawcombat in the spring of 1944. They wereassigned to separate heavy tankregiments, normally of 21 tanks each.These regiments were used to reinforcethe most important attack sectors duringmajor offensive operations. Tactically,they were employed as breakthroughtanks. Their role was to support infantryin the assault, using their large guns todestroy bunkers, buildings, dug-in crew-served weapons, and other ’soft’ targets.They were also capable of taking on anyGerman AFV if the need arose. Once abreakthrough was achieved, lighter,more mobile T-34s would take over theexploitation. The IS-2 weighed about thesame as a German Panther, and waslighter than the German heavy tanks,the Tiger series. It was slightly lowerthan both. A major weakness was thetwo-part ammunition, which slowed therate of fire considerably. A second

weakness was the very limitedammunition supply of only 28

Rick Lawlerpresents the Red Army’s Big Cat Killer.

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rounds. This was the price paid by thesmall size of the design. One of the IS-2’s most notable engagements tookplace during the fighting in August 1944to establish a bridgehead over the riverVistula around the town of Sandomierz.This was the first time the IS-2 hadcome up against the fearsome KingTiger. During the engagement on 13August, the 71st Independent HeavyTank Regiment’s eleven IS-2s blocked anattack by fourteen King Tigers of thes.Pz.Abt. 505.

Tamiya PerfectionIt would be an understatement to saythat the Tamiya IS-2 is a nice kit directlyout of the box; as a matter of fact it isan excellent kit as built from the box. Sowhat, you might ask, would possess meto add just about every conceivableaftermarket item available to thisproject? Partially the answer is to befound in how I conceived of the finalpresentation. I knew that I wished toportray a battle weary vehicle as seenduring the final months of the war; tornfenders, dented auxiliaryfuel tanks

and torn bracketswould be necessary toconvey the image. Therefore,a good helping of brass wouldbe just what was needed toachieve the effects. Inaddition, a nice set of

Friulmodel tracks would helpto achieve

realistic weightand sag sooften seen onSoviet vehicles.

AftermarketAttack!It’s no secret thatusing aftermarketsets can help toachieve realisticscale and finish, butthey can also presenta lot of extra workfor the modeler. In

the case of the IS-2,Tamiya has manufactured

the fenders attached to thehull, so it is necessary to

remove these in order to installthe replacement photoetch fenders.

To begin the removal process I scribedthe fenders along the hull line using thetip of a new scalpel. Once I had a

definite and deep line I was able towiggle the fenders back andforth until they snappedoff. A little lightsanding alongthe hullremoved anyremnants and Iwas ready toproceed.

Next, I turned myattention to thephotoetch. Because oftheir larger size and relatedstresses I chose to solder allof the photoetch connections.The same is true for the auxiliaryfuel tanks as their shape will pullapart seams held only with CA glues.And although somewhat delicate innature, neither the Aber fenders nor theVoyager fuel cells posed any difficultiesduring construction or soldering(photo1). Once I had the fendersconstructed it was time for a littletest fit, and it

was during theaffixing of the Aber fenders to the hull

that I ran into some difficulties.

Tothe rear

of thevehicle the

fenders fix as intended; snug against thehull. Toward the front, however, whilethe hull of the vehicle contours thefenders maintain a perfectlystraight line. The resulting gapbecomes quite apparent atabout the second support riband only increases toward thefront. I checked and recheckedthe alignment and soldering ofthe fenders looking for anymistakes, but found none.The fact that this issueoccurred on either side onlyaffirmed to me that theproblem was in the fender’sdesign. Ok, what to do?

Idecided

the best (andeasiest?)

approach was to takeadvantage of the rough

cast texture and simply adda little more bulk and width to

the edges of the hull were it meetsthe fenders. Small bits of Milliput wereapplied to the hull in order to slowly ‘re-

cast’ theshape sothat thesupportribs andfenderswould

make contact.After the Milliput had dried a liberal

coating of Mr. Surfacer 500 was appliedto the area to blend it with thesurrounding area. Finally, a light coating

of Mr. Surfacer 500 was brushed,and then stippled with a stiff

brush to recreate the casttexture (photo 2). Theturret also received a littleextra detailing by addingthin strips of Evergreen rod

along the welds. The stripswere washed with liquid cement

to soften the plastic, and then newweld details were imprinted using the

back of my Xacto blade. Once again alight brushing of Mr. Surfacer served toblend the new welds with thesurrounding areas (photo 3).

The remainder of the constructionwas for

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Tamiya IS-2 Model 1944 ChKZ

Military Modelcraft International Volume 14 Number 7

themost part

straightforward. Mybiggest challenge was simply

keeping track and sorting through thenumerous instruction sheets that I hadlaid upon my work desk. By now thebeast was really taking shape, andthe new brass bits were reallymaking for an impressive show;I’m quite the sucker for shinythings. During this time I alsoconstructed theexcellentFriulmodeltracks.Included intheFriulmodelpackage isthin wire to beused to pin the linkstogether, however, I find thiswire to be too flexible and prefer to use.18 gauge brass wire instead (Photos 4& 5).

Painting the BeastI had been looking forward to paintingthis beast from the outset. Over thepast months I have been exploringsome of the principles of light, shadow,

and colour tone asexpressed though the

Colour Modulationtheory. I began

the painting process with anoverall primer coat of Mr.

Surfacer 1000. Theprimer isparticularlyimportantwhen

workingwith multi-media projectssuch as this.

The initial basecolour is an intentionally bright

mix created from Tamiya XF-13 J.A.Green, XF- 67 Nato Green, and XF-4Yellow Green (photo 6). In this case,the Yellow Green is my lightening colourthat I will be using though out the

process to add highlights

andinterest to the details. I

used a small card mask for quick, crispedges between panels and features. Ifeel that adding these sharpdemarcation lines between panels andfeatures is an important element in theprocess which promotes a morevisually interesting finish. The thing tokeep in mind is that this is not alinear process, and quite a bit ofback-n-forth occurs as I return to addhighlights to certain features, ordeepen shadows in other areas. As afinal touch I added just a hint of XF-2Flat White to mycolour mix and

lightlymisted theupper areas. This helps unify the coloursa bit, but the white also begins theprocess of creating fading paint in theweathering steps (photo 7).

The turret received some extra,additional attention as I prepared

to paint the larger air recognitionstripes. The stripes were painted

with a two step process: first, Iairbrushed a light, uneven basewhite colour between the tapedareas. Secondly, I removed the tapeand returned with the brush to‘repaint’ the stripes, once again

intentionally uneven to simulate thehasty, hand painted stripes so often seenin period photographs (photo 8).

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4It seems ashame tocover up allthis work inpaint!

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The impressive Aberbarrel and Friul tracksmake a big differenceto the finished model.

With the painting completed I gavethe entire model a light mist ofJohnson’s Klear acrylic floor polish toseal the paint. The limited decals wereapplied, and then another light mist ofKlear insured that everything was sealedup and ready for weathering. I beganthe weathering by applying MIGProductions Abteilung 502 ShadowBrown directly into all of the nooks andcrannies of the vehicle. Then with a softbrush I feathered the paint and removedany heavy, unnatural accumulations.Although a somewhat subtle effect, I feelthat this is an important step in creatinga certain weight and depth to the finalpresentation (photo 9).

I followed this with more oils, thistime in the form of dot fading using MIGProductions German Ochre, Olive Green,and Faded Green. These dots are appliedto a surface that has been pre-moistened with thinner, and then thedots of oil are worked into the surfaceusing a larger, soft brush. The idea is tocreate subtle, tonal variation to the basecolour which helps to add to the visual

interest of the vehicle. Once thishas dried I returned once morewith the oils, but this timeconcentrating only on thesmaller lines and detailsusing the Shadow Browncolour as a pin wash. Onceagain, this is not a linearprocess so I often will returnto adding more dots, then morepin washes until I have achievedan appearance that I am satisfiedwith (photo 10).

There always reaches a certain timeduring the painting process when Irealize that the paints and oils havereached their functional limits; the look Iam after just cannot be achieved bydoing more of the same. It’s at thispoint that I incorporate the pigmentsinto my weathering mix. I think of thepigments more as an extension ofpainting, rather than a separatematerial. With that thought in mind, Ialways dissolve my pigments in thinnerand apply them wet by using a smallbrush. I generally begin the applications

in the corners and vehicle recesses,similar to how I applied my initialShadow Brown colour, then with eachapplication I slowly work my way to thepanel centers. I find that I have greatcontrol using this technique as thepigments only go where I place them.From time to time I will use a soft, dry

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IS-2: In Detail As with Gary Kwan’s King Tiger, it’s the attention to detail and multi-layered approach to weathering that makesthis model stand out. Small details like the ditching beam and the stained engine deck make all the difference.

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Tamiya IS-2 Model 1944 ChKZ

Military Modelcraft International Volume 14 Number 7

brushto softenand edge orremove extraaccumulations froman area (photo 11). Ofcourse, to be natural in appearance themodeller must capture the messy,random nature of mud and dirt. As afinal step I used a brush and my finger

toflick

smalldroplets and

splashes to theappropriate areas

of the vehicle wheresuch accumulations would

naturally occur (photo 12). The smallun-ditching log on the fender was madefrom a small section of wooden dowelingpainted quickly washed with brown andgrey artists oils. The small rag hangingfrom the tool box is made from Milliput.

Final ThoughtsI find myself at the end of this articlewondering what conclusions or advicemight be drawn from my experience.Obviously, the amount of Aftermarketmaterials that I used brings its ownunique challenges and it is difficult torelate all the trials and tribulations thatoccurred in this short article. So withthis in mind I guess that I have twothoughts that I would like to share: first,using all sorts of photoetch and everyAftermarket item available is notnecessary to achieve a wonderful result.Secondly, it’s nice to know that there is

all of this wonderful stuffavailable to use whenever

you decideto use it!

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Tamiya 1/35RussianHeavy TankJS-2 Model1944 ChKZ(kit ref.35289)

retails at £38.99 and is availablefrom all good model shops.

Aber 35-219 Basic Set Vol. 1, 35-220Fender Vol.2, 35L-69 Russian 122mmBarrel, R-18 Shackle for Russian Tanks,Friulmodel – ATL-14. All available fromHistorex Agents (www.historex-agents.co.uk).Voyager Model – PE 35221 WWII RussianIS-2 Tank Basic set. Eureka XXL – ER-3509 Towing Cable

Steven J Zaloga,IS-2 Heavy Tank1944-73 (OspreyNew Vanguard 7) ISBN: 978-1-85532-396-4

Availability and References

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