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#1
06-02-2009, 09:00 AM
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Russian Tank IS-3M Stalin
I buy this model from Paper Model Store (thank you for good service) a few weeks prior. It is older Maly Modelarz model from, aparently September 1982. I do not know if they print this new with the old cover, or if it is old and they still sell that printing. It is not very expensive and is printed on very poor quality paper. I have a second copy that perhaps was bought in Poland in 1982 and it is essentially identical.
I already adjust the color some on a scan of the cover just so it looks nicer than the original!  The parts they are printed on eight pages of spongy card. It is very much like thick newspaper paper. It feels damp even when it is dry. In my opinion, it is not usable as-is. The templates for the body and tower along with the crawlers are print on regular thin paper like newspaper. There is four pages of written instruction and a page and a half of diagramic pictures. Most of the written part it seems to be about the history of the tank. It is all in Polish text.  You can see from the above the crawlers are paper bands with the teeth glue in the middle and an incredible number of thin strip to glue across the face of the crawlers (approximately 300 tiny strip!) The parts they are not the most solid in color. It has blotches and uneveness. The back ground paper it is not white but I have adjusted it slightly to show here. The color is dull dark green mostly with the crawlers in grey.  I do not know how this will fit. The shape of the round tower it is complicated and on the model it is in the "petal" style with many zig sag sections you wrap around a simple profile core. I think perhaps it might be good if one would make the card template core and fill the void areas with soft florist foam that can be shaped down smoothly to a round contour to make a surface to apply the color paper wrapping. This way also there is some base to fix the many wire handles that go on the tower. The model it is probably not so good but it is interesting. 
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#2
06-02-2009, 12:23 PM
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Quote:
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My commercial models
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#3
06-02-2009, 12:42 PM
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LOL I know I am from Ukraine and while I am young, it can still be found there today the poor paper.
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#5
06-02-2009, 05:27 PM
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I'm not sure it's an IS-3M - the "M" (modified) version was produced in the 1950s to try to fix problems with the transmission as well as add some modern components.
The IS-3 model is not one of Maly's best - the fit of many parts is pretty bad. In particular the hull frame is very weak as designed. To get something useable you'll have to reinforce the frame so it will stay reasonably square. The lack of a frame to support the "pike's nose" looks like it will cause lots of grief. The foam block idea to establish the turret profile looks like it might be the only way to get the turret looking reasonable. Personally if you are going to invest the time and effort to build this model I'd use the sprockets and tracks from Modelik's IS-2. There is a running IS-3 in the Czech Republic - YouTube has a video of it. It's slow but impressive. Regards, Charlie Last edited by CharlieC; 06-02-2009 at 05:59 PM.
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#6
06-02-2009, 06:47 PM
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The cover picture it is of the IS-3 but the parts depict the 3M type with fenders with ridges, tool boxes on the side, and skirting over the top of the wheels. It is of the type on displaay in Moscow, which is odd as the original World War II tank it is on display in Poland where the model is made.
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#7
06-02-2009, 08:06 PM
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The model is a bit of a mixture of IS-3 and IS-3M since the roadwheels look like the original type not the later type with the larger hubs. I guess the IS-3s had all sorts of variations because there were at least two programs of modifications according to Ãëàâíàÿ - THE RUSSIAN BATTLEFIELD to try to fix the hull and transmission problems.
Regards, Charlie
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