Tamiya JS-2

[CygnusX1]

So I dug this one out of the stash today:


Tamiya's JS-2. It's kit number 35289 and the sprues are stamped 2007.
I bought this kit when it came out (but I wasn't actively building then) as I saw it on the front cover of one of the usual modelling magazines and thought "that'll do for me" so I bought it, checked through the parts to make sure nothing was broken or missing etc, and filed it away in storage to be built later. If I recall correctly, I think I paid about £30 for it, so it was time to build it.

Instructions are usual Tamiya:



Well printed, well set out, easy to read and follow etc - nothing we haven't seen from them before.

What is unusual for Tamiya is you get some photoetched grills included in the box:


They look... rather disappointingly, just OK; there's not a lot of detail for the folding screen that goes over the grills, or the bolts and hinges that connect the screen to the hull. These grills might not get used, depends on how much a replacement set is going to cost and / or how much work making all the hinges, bolt detail (etc) from scratch is going to be. Have to have a look at some more detailed pics before I make a decision as all these parts are quite distinct on the real thing, and to leave them off would be noticeable.

Kit comes with both rubber band tracks and 'link and length' tracks.
How the rubber band tracks had been jammed into the box and curled over time:



Box has taken a little bit of damage too whilst in storage; all the parts are OK though, nothing broken.

I'll be using the link and length tracks - even though they represent considerable clean up; there's two ejector pin marks on every single link of track - even on the longer lengths - each link has a couple of ejector pin marks.



The kit does supply a nice jig for the top run of tracks though to get the correct amount of sag in that top run. Kit also supplies a couple of jigs to ensure the suspension arms are all aligned so you don't get any floating wheels.

And progress so far today - I've mostly been making wheels...



This takes me to just completing Step 2 in the instructions. Each wheel is made up from four parts: wheel halves, a poly cap and a hub cap, even the drive sprocket and idlers. I also fitted the suspension arms, front and rear lower hull plates, and a few other small parts that fit on the lower hull.

[CygnusX1]

So more progress on this today; I have mostly been making, breaking, and fixing tracks...

I spent the morning cleaning up the tracks; spent a very long and tedious time getting rid of those ejector pin marks, but did feel that I'd accomplished something once I had two pots of different track links (one with guide horn, one without).

So I put them together



To be honest, I thought they were a bit of a PITA. And all because of one part: D4. It's a section of 5 links and it has a gentle curve in it and is supposed to be placed in the front and rear of the run as a link between the tracks that go around the idler and the sprocket, with another couple of individual links between it and the lower run which curve around the first/last roadwheel. It just wouldn't cooperate with the other links, and kept on breaking away from the rest of the run. After a substantial amount of cursing I decided that the only way to 'fix' it was to hold it in place whilst the glue set up and was strong enough to hold it in place on its own. I had to do this four times. To be honest, I would have liked a complete run of individual links rather than the mix and match in the kit, but they're on, they look pretty good, and the jig to get the sag in the top run is a great addition to the kit.

And while they were drying, did a little bit of work on the upper hull



By the time I'd done lunch and some family stuff, a return to the bench and it was time to inspect the tracks, make sure they were all fixed in place, and if they were take them off the hull to ease for painting later. I was expecting part D4 to be the PITA that it had been earlier, but surprisingly they weren't a problem. Only one run broke whilst I was removing it for paint, and required a fix.





I used two pieces of wire to "tie" the links together whilst I glued them back together, as just holding them wasn't working as they were right on top of the idler.

And that was it for today.

[onemac]

10/10 for the effort in cleaning up the tracks chap and great idea for holding the tracks as the glue sets - must remember that one

Al

[Christian]

Nice build ...
In my 1/87 diorama project I have build the tank now 2 times in 1/87 ... but there are 2 different versions (note the different hull side below the turret and so also different upper hull front on the image).
I have no idea why the difference, even after intense investigation. There was an IS-2, an IS2m and there also exists an IS-122 and looking on the articles it is wild mixed. What is in one article an IS-2 is in the next one an IS-122 or IS-2m and so on. Very confusing... Has here anyone any clue about?



P.S.
Sorry for hijacking your thread a little bit...

[CygnusX1]

Sorry for hijacking your thread a little bit...

No problem

The differences between your models are that one is a JS-2 and the other is a JS-2m
They differ in their upper hull; the 2m is the one with the angled hull sides ("35" in your pics) a few cosmetic changes around the mudguards front and rear (they have the front guards that would later appear on the JS-3), but the major difference in them is the gun and frontal armour.

The 2m has the same 122mm gun as the 2. All the changes are with the breech end - it has a drop loading breech (which makes it easier to load the two part 122mm shells) and has a different fire control mechanism. The frontal armour is thinner, but is a different shape and angle which makes it more effective.

Hope that helps some.

[Christian]

That helps very much ... thank you very much

[CygnusX1]

Time for an update on this build. I decided to build the turret and gun as I wanted to get some primer down on the gun so that I could begin the sanding process of eliminating the seam that runs up the centre of the gun. So....

The Turret.
Or.... A Tale of 11 Grab Handles and a BIG Gun

The Chelyabinsk Kirov Factory, 1944.

Line Supervisor: hey Ivan, weld these grab handles on that tank
Ivan: where on this tank, comrade supervisor?
Line Supervisor: on the turret of course
Ivan: whereabouts on the turret, comrade supervisor?
Line Supervisor: has already walked off leaving Ivan to his own devices

So Ivan proceeds to weld 11 grab handles on the turret of this tank, and he's not particularly careful about it.

Tamiya would have you put these grab handles equidistantly around the turret: 7 around the lower portion, 4 on the upper. They indicate in the instructions that there are some witness marks on the turret that tell you where to put them, and apart from the handles that are below the cupola and loaders hatch, and two on the lower weld seam, these witness marks just aren't there. They're missing entirely.

The handles that Tamiya supply are very thin and very fragile, so much so I broke 2 getting them off the sprue. Tam give you a spare, but that's it. So I decided to replace them with slightly thicker guage brass wire, which seemed more in scale with the real vehicle (and generally look better anyway) so here we go with how I make grab handles:


Step 1. Cut a piece of scrap plastic strip to the approximate dimensions of the handle, remembering to leave a bit of room for the guage of the wire and the bends etc.


Step 2: cut wire and bend to the size of the plastic strip:


Step 3: repeat 11 times. (I know there are only 8 handles in this pic though!)


Step 4: drill a few holes, attach the handles with superglue from the inside of the turret




Step 5: use Milliput to create small(ish) weld beads around the handles. I deliberately made these rough, not neat and tidy, and some bigger than others.

And yeah, I managed to scratch the rear turret whilst I was drilling the holes - quite how this happened I don't know; one minute that scratch wasn't there, then it was. whatever; I'll fix it before paint.

So where to actually put these handles? How exact do I have to be? Well, as this is Russian, it turns out that it doesn't really matter as long as they're on the turret in a rough approximation of where they should be. Here's a couple of pics of wartime vehicles that show the disparity of where these handles were on different vehicles:




A nice pic of two JS2's showing the same turret sides, and handles with nothing in the way. This pic is a particular favourite; taken at what looks like a field repair depot, it clearly shows that no two grab handles are the same, or in the same spot... or even straight... it's rare to see this sort of thing, and helped me out considerably when placing these.

I also added some weld seams across the two turret halves joint seam (it's split upper/lower) but I don't have a pic of this.

That big gun is usual Tamiya; two halves split down the middle. The muzzle brake is moulded on the end of the barrel and not a seperate part. I put it together, did some sanding then blasted it with some primer from a rattle can to check for seams. Then did some more sanding / priming / etc on repeat until I ended up with this:



I don't see any seams there, and the gun retains it's shape. All in all I probably spent about half a day on the gun alone.

I also made some tow ropes in between waiting for primer on the gun to dry:



replacing the string Tam give you in the kit with my own twisted wire cable.

I also spent a considerable amount of time on the floor looking for some small parts that pinged out of my tweezers:



These parts: there are 4 of them - two on the rear here, and two below the turret on the 'bulge' in the superstructure. They're small, you don't get any spares, and will ping out of tweezers in a second if you're not careful... fortunately the carpet monster was denied, and as I said, you don't get any spares.

Throughout all this, the only thing that gave me any grief was the Milliput. I don't know if they've changed their recipe or something, but it's just not as... "sticky" as I remember it being, and proved to be generally difficult to get what I wanted. I might chip some of these off and re-do them with some other stuff (not sure what yet though) depending on what it looks like under primer.

Next will be the main hull. Lots of little bits and pieces that need adding there, so it won't be a 5 minute job.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

[Quax]

All coming together very well, I liked the tip regarding wiring awkward track links together and it has been duely stolen for a later date. Looking forward to seeing the paint go on
Paul

[Donkeywalloper]

Really ace work Cygnus. Great attention to details
DW

[alextheblue]

Great work with the grab handles, that will pay off massively when it comes to painting!

[Kevthemodeller]

How have I missed this one

Looking good mate, nice touch with the grab handles

[CygnusX1]

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement guys; it really is much appreciated.

[digger303]

Your doing really well. I like what your doing there going the extra mile. I would like to pass this along , you probably already know. If you get a piece of small diameter rod then file the side of it so that you end up with a half moon. It can be used when pressed into the putty at a 30 degree angle repeatedly to simulate weld.

[Hawkmoon]

All looking good and nice work

[CygnusX1]

Your doing really well. I like what your doing there going the extra mile. I would like to pass this along , you probably already know. If you get a piece of small diameter rod then file the side of it so that you end up with a half moon. It can be used when pressed into the putty at a 30 degree angle repeatedly to simulate weld.

I didn't know that particular technique, no. I have an ancient set of tweezers with jaws that have a profile that's almost exactly the same as what you're describing. I just use(d) them as that's about all they're good for now.

So I'm calling the actual build portion of this one done.

I used an Aber set of replacement grills / screens as I ruined one of the Tam supplied etched screens when I was getting it off the fret. They're awful. They're made from titanium, then coated in diamond and thrown into the sun to harden off... I'd completed most of the hull in between waiting for primer to dry on the main gun in between bouts of sanding to remove the seam line.

I also managed to get some primer down on all the parts before I ran out of natural light:





Ultimate black primer through my new Ultimate Apex.

Those 3 little bits of light you can see in the hull aren't holes; it's just wet paint reflecting off the flash on my phone...

First time using the Apex, and have to say I'm quite impressed. The only gripe I have (and it's a really small one - stop laughing at the back..) is that the colour cup is part of the body. Every airbrush I've had till now has had removable cups; it's just what I'm used to, and I think makes it easier to clean, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It seems really well built and put the primer down first time without any issues whatsoever. Impressed.

Now for some adventures into 4BO...

[CygnusX1]

So I've been doing some painting...

I generally use Tamiya paint but they don't make a "4BO" out of the jar, so I mixed my own using various shades of their XF "greens" into dark, medium and light shades of 4BO. The dark green is very dark green (almost black) and covered the whole vehicle. The medium is mostly 'dark green' and was applied to centre panels, and most of the rest of the vehicle in light passes. The light shade is used on the highest detail points of the turret and hull only and is very light green.
When I paint, I don't work to "ratios".
I couldn't tell you what the exact mix of colours was I used to make the various shades, but I can say that I don't use white to lighten green, I use yellow sparingly, and also light grey. White mixed into green to make 4BO I find is just too... 'harsh'? I'm not sure that's the right word, but it makes the green look more like a tennis court at Wimbledon than a Russian vehicle... but I digress... so I just mix paint until I get 3 distinct shades I like and that will work together, and go with it. I found in the past working to "ratios" makes every model of similar colour subjects very samey...

Anyway, here's the pics:

Turret


Turret close up


Engine deck close up

Then I gloss coated the hull and turret in prep for some decals and weathering:






Whilst I had the airbrush out, I also painted the wheels, tracks and underside of the JS with a 'dirty tracks' shade that I make from XF52 / XF1 / XF7. Again, couldn't tell you ratios, but use the XF7 Red very sparingly - like drops of the stuff rather than ml's.


They look a bit dark here, but they'll gradually get lighter with application of some dust and whatnot.

So next is going to be decals, masking and painting the white air recognition stripes on the turret and some weathering.

[CygnusX1]

So I'm calling this one done.

Anything that's not straight, bent, off centre and such is by design. Looking at the photo's of these vehicles in Berlin '45 shows them to be quite well worn, so that's kinda what I was going for.

Some pics:



















I was also going for a 'no two panels the same shade of 4BO so hit it with various washes, oils, staining and so on and so forth. The Berlin stripes were hand painted on the real thing so I was going for that effect with them, and put some white paint runs and splashes around (anybody that's seen the well known pics of JS-2 No. "13" will know what I was trying to achieve here) and I think it's come out... pretty good.

I left the turret hatches open as I intend to put a crew in there at some point, but the figures supplied in the kit (Boris and Doris) are horrible - probably the worst part of the entire kit, mainly because they don't fit properly and their faces (on mine) were covered in.... burrs... I guess? Not flash per se, but just some weird stuff that once I'd gotten rid of made them look like their faces had just been gone over with a sander, so they went into the "spares box".

So that's it.
Pros: easy to build, great subject, instructions are fantastic, lots and lots of details, many different versions to build so kit has lots of 'rebuildability'.
Cons: some fit problems with the track (probably my fault) Boris and Doris, lots of loseables (carpet monster was denied on this build, but Tamiya don't give you any spares for all those parts that like to ping out of your tweezers) and absolutely no 'accessories' to put on the vehicle. Not a single shell, shell casing, ammo box... nothing.

I give it a solid 80%.