In Box Review of Dragon 1/35th Scale
Soviet JS-1 (M. 1943)
Kit no. 6052
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright:1995
I paid $32.98 for this kit at a local hobby shop that went out of business.
Available at one location overseas on the web.
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright:1995
I paid $32.98 for this kit at a local hobby shop that went out of business.
Available at one location overseas on the web.
HISTORY:
The IS tanks (Russian: ИС) were a series of heavy tanks developed as a successor to the KV-series by the Soviet Union during World War II. The IS acronym is the anglicized initialism of Joseph Stalin (Ио́сиф Ста́лин, Iosif Stalin). The heavy tanks were designed as a response to the capture of a German Tiger I in 1943. They were mainly designed as breakthrough tanks, firing a heavy high-explosive shell that was useful against entrenchments and bunkers.
The IS-2 went into service in April 1944 and was used as a spearhead by the Red Army in the final stage of the Battle of Berlin. The IS-3 served on the Chinese-Soviet border, the Hungarian Revolution, the Prague Spring and on both sides of the Six-Day War. The series eventually culminated in the T-10 heavy tank.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Heavy tank
Place of origin: Soviet Union
Used by: Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Egypt, Poland, North Korea
Wars: World War II, Korean War, Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Six-Day War, Prague Spring, War in Donbas
Designer: Zhozef Kotin, Nikolay Dukhov
Designed:1943 (IS-2),1944 (IS-3), 1944–45 (IS-4)
Manufacturer: Kirov Factory, UZTM
Unit cost: IS-2: 264,400 rubles
Produced: 1943–44 (IS-1), 1944–45 (IS-2), 1945–47 (IS-3), 1947–49 (IS-4)
No. built: 207 (IS-1), 3,854 (IS-2), 2,311 (IS-3), 250 (IS-4), 6 (IS-7)(prototypes)
Specifications (IS-2 Model 1944:
Mass: 46 tonnes (51 short tons; 45 long tons)
Length: 9.90 m (32 ft 6 in)
Width : 3.09 m (10 ft 2 in)
Height: 2.73 m (8 ft 11 in)
Crew: 4
Armor: IS-2 Model 1943: Hull front: 120 mm, Lower glacis: 100 mm at 30° angle, Turret front: 100 mm (rounded), Mantlet: 155 mm (rounded), Hull side: 90–130 mm at 9-25°, Turret side: 90 mm at 20° angle.
Main armament: D-25T 122 mm gun (28 rounds)
Secondary armament: 1×DShK, 3×DT (2,079 rounds)
Engine: 12-cyl. diesel model V-2 of 600 hp (450 kW)
Power/weight: 13 hp/tonne
Suspension: torsion bar
Fuel capacity: 820 L (180 imp gal; 220 US gal)
Operational range: Road: 240 km (150 mi), Cross-country: 180 km (110 mi)
Maximum speed: 37 km/h (23 mph)
The IS tanks (Russian: ИС) were a series of heavy tanks developed as a successor to the KV-series by the Soviet Union during World War II. The IS acronym is the anglicized initialism of Joseph Stalin (Ио́сиф Ста́лин, Iosif Stalin). The heavy tanks were designed as a response to the capture of a German Tiger I in 1943. They were mainly designed as breakthrough tanks, firing a heavy high-explosive shell that was useful against entrenchments and bunkers.
The IS-2 went into service in April 1944 and was used as a spearhead by the Red Army in the final stage of the Battle of Berlin. The IS-3 served on the Chinese-Soviet border, the Hungarian Revolution, the Prague Spring and on both sides of the Six-Day War. The series eventually culminated in the T-10 heavy tank.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Type: Heavy tank
Place of origin: Soviet Union
Used by: Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Egypt, Poland, North Korea
Wars: World War II, Korean War, Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Six-Day War, Prague Spring, War in Donbas
Designer: Zhozef Kotin, Nikolay Dukhov
Designed:1943 (IS-2),1944 (IS-3), 1944–45 (IS-4)
Manufacturer: Kirov Factory, UZTM
Unit cost: IS-2: 264,400 rubles
Produced: 1943–44 (IS-1), 1944–45 (IS-2), 1945–47 (IS-3), 1947–49 (IS-4)
No. built: 207 (IS-1), 3,854 (IS-2), 2,311 (IS-3), 250 (IS-4), 6 (IS-7)(prototypes)
Specifications (IS-2 Model 1944:
Mass: 46 tonnes (51 short tons; 45 long tons)
Length: 9.90 m (32 ft 6 in)
Width : 3.09 m (10 ft 2 in)
Height: 2.73 m (8 ft 11 in)
Crew: 4
Armor: IS-2 Model 1943: Hull front: 120 mm, Lower glacis: 100 mm at 30° angle, Turret front: 100 mm (rounded), Mantlet: 155 mm (rounded), Hull side: 90–130 mm at 9-25°, Turret side: 90 mm at 20° angle.
Main armament: D-25T 122 mm gun (28 rounds)
Secondary armament: 1×DShK, 3×DT (2,079 rounds)
Engine: 12-cyl. diesel model V-2 of 600 hp (450 kW)
Power/weight: 13 hp/tonne
Suspension: torsion bar
Fuel capacity: 820 L (180 imp gal; 220 US gal)
Operational range: Road: 240 km (150 mi), Cross-country: 180 km (110 mi)
Maximum speed: 37 km/h (23 mph)
THE KIT:
Dragon (sometimes named DML) is an old prolific plastic model manufacturer based in Hong Kong, China. They make all manner of plastic model kit subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a blousy, shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box. It is 4 ½” too long and 3” too wide.
The cover art shows a color illustration of two JS-1’s moving down a city street past a large municipal building someplace, past a destroyed German tank.
Both of the JS-1’s are overall green, with no markings.
The one in the foreground has 2 crewmen standing in the hatches on the roof of the turret. They both wear dark navy uniforms and black leather helmets. Two Soviet infantrymen are seated on the main deck. Both wear dark-grey uniforms. One man wears a steel helmet. He is aiming a sub machine -gun. The other man wears a cloth side cap and is armed with a rifle.
One corner of the box art says: Unassembled model kit. This kit contains 407 parts. For modelers age 10 and over. Box contains a model of one armored vehicle.
One side panel of the box gives: one paragraph histories of the JS1, over a repeat that the kit holds parts to assemble one JS-1. Paint and cement are not included. Said in six languages, including English. Each language identification labeled with a color illustration of the flag of the country that speaks the language.
Followed by a CAUTION in the 6 languages that says: When you are using paint or cement, do not be near an open flame and be in a well-ventilated room.
Over: Not suitable for children under 3 because of small parts. For modelers aged 10 and over. In multiple languages, including English.
The copyright for this kit is 1995, over Dragon’s street address in Hong Kong, China and the kit was made there.
Dragon (sometimes named DML) is an old prolific plastic model manufacturer based in Hong Kong, China. They make all manner of plastic model kit subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a blousy, shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box. It is 4 ½” too long and 3” too wide.
The cover art shows a color illustration of two JS-1’s moving down a city street past a large municipal building someplace, past a destroyed German tank.
Both of the JS-1’s are overall green, with no markings.
The one in the foreground has 2 crewmen standing in the hatches on the roof of the turret. They both wear dark navy uniforms and black leather helmets. Two Soviet infantrymen are seated on the main deck. Both wear dark-grey uniforms. One man wears a steel helmet. He is aiming a sub machine -gun. The other man wears a cloth side cap and is armed with a rifle.
One corner of the box art says: Unassembled model kit. This kit contains 407 parts. For modelers age 10 and over. Box contains a model of one armored vehicle.
One side panel of the box gives: one paragraph histories of the JS1, over a repeat that the kit holds parts to assemble one JS-1. Paint and cement are not included. Said in six languages, including English. Each language identification labeled with a color illustration of the flag of the country that speaks the language.
Followed by a CAUTION in the 6 languages that says: When you are using paint or cement, do not be near an open flame and be in a well-ventilated room.
Over: Not suitable for children under 3 because of small parts. For modelers aged 10 and over. In multiple languages, including English.
The copyright for this kit is 1995, over Dragon’s street address in Hong Kong, China and the kit was made there.
The other side panel of the box shows 3 color walk-around type photos of the model made up. Followed by a repeat of the copyright date and address.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
This kit contains 6 medium-grey parts trees and the medium-grey hull tub part, 2 jet-black parts trees in 5 sealed clear cello bags and 3 instructions.
The main instructions consist of a single-sheet that accordion-folds out into 8 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¼” page format. The title at the top of it says JS-2 “Stalin II” and kit no. 6012. Dragon makes a kit of it. But why they stuck these instructions in their kit labeled JS-1 is strange.
Page 1 begins with a black and white illustration of two JS-2’s moving down a street , past a large crowd of civilians. Both are medium-green overall. They are of the Polish People’s Army, Eastern Front, 1944. They both have a white eagle on the sides of their turrets and the JS-2 in the lead also has a white number 051 on the sides of it’s turret and 6 victory markings on its main gun barrel that are white X’s. This scheme cannot be done with the decal sheet in this JS-1 kit.
Below the illustration is the history of the JS-2 in 6 languages, including English.
The second page of the main instructions begins with CAUTIONS regarding the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations and a suggested paint color listing of Gunze Sangyo Mr. Hobby and Italeri brands of hobby paints. In the six languages.
Next is a black and white photo of the JS-2 model made up in the medium-green overall color, with a white 32 on the sides of the turret. Not on the decal sheet of this JS-1 kit.
The bottom of page 2 through to page 6 gives a grand total of 10 assembly steps.
Page 7 is the painting and marking guide. It shows a 4-view profiles- illustration of the JS-2 in overall medium-green and a 2-view of it in the Polish Army scheme (both already described above).
Page 8 is the parts- trees illustrations, down the left side of the page and ). and decal application instructions down the right side of the page.
Copyright of the kit is repeated and printing was done in Hong Kong.
The second set of instructions is correct for the JS-2 and not the JS-1 that is featured in the wrong main instructions. It is the same size as the main instructions pages and consists of a single-sheet, printed on both sides. It has painting and marking instructions on its face side of a 4-view profiles- illustration of an JS-1 that is overall medium-green again, with no markings. It says it was a model 1943. One corner has an illustration of the letter H tree in the kit, this tree is the alternate gun barrel and mantle parts correct for a JS-1 (M.1943).
The reverse side of this instructions shows assembly of the alternate parts to build the JS-1.
The third instructions are also the same- size as the other 2. It is a single sheet printed on both sides and labeled as JS-2 STALIN II. The face side shows walk-around illustrations of both the JS-1 and the JS-2.
This kit contains 6 medium-grey parts trees and the medium-grey hull tub part, 2 jet-black parts trees in 5 sealed clear cello bags and 3 instructions.
The main instructions consist of a single-sheet that accordion-folds out into 8 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¼” page format. The title at the top of it says JS-2 “Stalin II” and kit no. 6012. Dragon makes a kit of it. But why they stuck these instructions in their kit labeled JS-1 is strange.
Page 1 begins with a black and white illustration of two JS-2’s moving down a street , past a large crowd of civilians. Both are medium-green overall. They are of the Polish People’s Army, Eastern Front, 1944. They both have a white eagle on the sides of their turrets and the JS-2 in the lead also has a white number 051 on the sides of it’s turret and 6 victory markings on its main gun barrel that are white X’s. This scheme cannot be done with the decal sheet in this JS-1 kit.
Below the illustration is the history of the JS-2 in 6 languages, including English.
The second page of the main instructions begins with CAUTIONS regarding the kit, over international assembly symbol explanations and a suggested paint color listing of Gunze Sangyo Mr. Hobby and Italeri brands of hobby paints. In the six languages.
Next is a black and white photo of the JS-2 model made up in the medium-green overall color, with a white 32 on the sides of the turret. Not on the decal sheet of this JS-1 kit.
The bottom of page 2 through to page 6 gives a grand total of 10 assembly steps.
Page 7 is the painting and marking guide. It shows a 4-view profiles- illustration of the JS-2 in overall medium-green and a 2-view of it in the Polish Army scheme (both already described above).
Page 8 is the parts- trees illustrations, down the left side of the page and ). and decal application instructions down the right side of the page.
Copyright of the kit is repeated and printing was done in Hong Kong.
The second set of instructions is correct for the JS-2 and not the JS-1 that is featured in the wrong main instructions. It is the same size as the main instructions pages and consists of a single-sheet, printed on both sides. It has painting and marking instructions on its face side of a 4-view profiles- illustration of an JS-1 that is overall medium-green again, with no markings. It says it was a model 1943. One corner has an illustration of the letter H tree in the kit, this tree is the alternate gun barrel and mantle parts correct for a JS-1 (M.1943).
The reverse side of this instructions shows assembly of the alternate parts to build the JS-1.
The third instructions are also the same- size as the other 2. It is a single sheet printed on both sides and labeled as JS-2 STALIN II. The face side shows walk-around illustrations of both the JS-1 and the JS-2.
The reverse side has a development history of the JS heavy tank family. It lists the KV-85, JS-1, JS-2, JS-2m, JS-3, JS-8 (T-10), T-10M, Obiekt 277, JS-4, JS-1E, JS-6 and JS-7.
Trees are alphabetized.
Medium-grey letter A tree holds: the hull top, engine air-intake screen, shovel, saw, spade, barrel support, rear hull wall etc. (18 parts)
Trees are alphabetized.
Medium-grey letter A tree holds: the hull top, engine air-intake screen, shovel, saw, spade, barrel support, rear hull wall etc. (18 parts)
There are 2 identical medium-grey letter B trees. The hold: fuel drums, drive sprockets, road wheels, idler wheels etc. (111 parts ea.)
Medium-grey letter C tree holds the turret parts (4 parts)
Medium-grey letter D tree holds: the main gun, mantle etc. (19 parts) Two parts are shaded out in blue. Meaning they are excess and not needed to complete the kit.
Lettering jumps to the medium-grey letter H tree. It holds the main gun (without the muzzle brake), mantle, turret railings etc. for the JS-1 version.
There are 2 identical jet-black parts trees. They hold the individual track links. (92 parts ea.)
The one piece lower hull completes the kit contents.
The decal sheet is missing in my kit. I asked Dragon's customer service for one. I hope they send me it.
There are no crew figures included or any interior details.
Good detail.
Recommended.
Good detail.
Recommended.