ATLANTIS JS-3 STALIN TANK A303 -- MSRP $19.99 -- 98 STYRENE PLASTIC PARTS MOLDED IN SOVIET ARMY-GREEN -- LENGTH 8" (230 MM) -- ASSEMBLY REQUIRED PAINT AND GLUE NOT INCLUDED -- RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 14+ 

RUSSIAN TANKS IN UKRAINE:  THE STORY OF 2022

Atlantis Models has already released several 1/48 tank subjects that were previously Aurora tooling.  Back when these were first released, they were considered excellent models.  Like many other tank models in 1/48, they disappeared from the scene for many years as the industry seemed to standardize on 1/35-scale for large, detailed tank models and 1/72 for small-scale.  However, a few years back, Tamiya re-released some of their old 1/48-scale kits.  They were a hit in the industry.  Not only have more 1/48-scale tank models been re-released that have not seen the light of day in decades, a number of brand-new 1/48 tank kits have been popular with modelers.  So, 1/48-scale armor is enjoying a renaissance.  If you haven’t been much of an armor builder, Atlantis Models has provided a really good place to start with some nice kits of interesting, easy-to-build subjects at very low prices.

No, this is not 2022.  Russian forces in a destroyed landscape circa 1956 (original Aurora Models box art)

The JS-3 is an unusual tank.  Early examples were literally on their way to the battlefield as a brand-new weapons system when WWII concluded.  They were used in the victory parade.  A large, heavy tank, the JS-3 carried a long-barreled, 122mm gun.  This was substantially bigger than the gun in the later Patton tanks.  Over 2000 JS-3 tanks were made.  The Stalin tank is known for its bowl-shaped turret; it was the first time this design feature appeared on a Soviet/Russian tank and it became a characteristic of many Russian tanks to come.  The tank is known for its distinctive “pike nose” that was designed to deflect frontal attacks.

98 parts.  Length of finished model (including gun) 8 inches (over 20 cm).  Flexible tracks and seated figure included.  Wheels roll, turret spins, gun moves up and down.

Aurora came out with their model in 1956.  It was last released in 1976, so it has not been around for a long time.
 
Stalin's first name is interchangeably spelled in English in its Western equivalent Joseph or Cyrillic/English equivalent Iosef explaining the designations for the tank of JS-III or IS-III.  They're both the same tank.

The JS-III tank was used in the 1956 invasion of Hungary and Prague Spring in 1968.
 
The kit has a few sinkholes and some minor ejector pin marks.  A little flash.  Overall, It’s very well engineered.  It will be a simple out-of-box build.

At left are the tow cables.  Hull sides have the tank's trailing-arm suspension.  Note the textured surfaces.

Turret with molded-in grab-irons

Fit of the hull is excellent.  I was surprised how nicely the hull sides fit to the bottom.  It went together comparable to a state-of-the-art kit.  The original engineering was very precise.
 
While it will look great built right out of the box, I decided this model would be a nice one to develop my meager armor scratch-building skills.  The IS-3 had a number of grab-irons on the turret represented by ridges on the Aurora kit.  I decided to replace them with more realistic grab-bars made out of paperclips!

The hull top has nice details.  Note the "cast iron" texturing.

Mantlet, gun, and rear panel.

Many IS-2 tanks are seen with spare treads on the glacis plate.  Most tanks need to carry a few extra tread sections; these are like spare tires in a car.  On occasion, track links can get damaged and tank crews have to replace them.  On some tanks, you’ll see these spares stored on that front-face glacis.  This provides the crew with extra frontal protection.

A small, high-quality decal sheet provides multiple options for depicting your JS-III tank.  The roundels are Czech Army.

Here's what will greet you upon first opening the box.  Styrene plastic parts are protected in a plastic bag.

We're impressed with this kit.  Being basic and inexpensive, it's another perfect "first tank kit" for modelers who've never tried one.  Fit of hull parts is excellent.  We really see no reason this one couldn't be a contest winner after filling seams and a few sinkholes, maybe adding a little detail, and finishing up with a competent weathering-job.  Again, this is a great place to experiment with these building techniques to develop or perfect them and you just can't beat that low cost circa 2022!

A single 2-sided page has four easy-to-follow diagrams that will walk you through building your Stalin tank.  A fifth diagram shows decal placement.

Box side with information about the real tank and kit.

On the left is a photo of a model built in "parade dress"  with white fender edges and road wheel rims.   This decor wouldn't be used in battle.  At right is an original Aurora profile painting.

The 2Modeler Guys were very impressed with this model and give it an enthusiastic four thumbs up!  Atlantis Models has an impressive and growing collection of tank models in "Just Right" armor scale, 1/48.  Why not add to your 1/48-scale tank collection or start one with Atlantis Models' 1/48 JS-III Tank kit today!

SPECIAL THANKS TO ATLANTIS MODELS FOR PROVIDING THIS MODEL KIT FOR US TO REVIEW AND ENJOY!
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BONUS MATERIAL

PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS DEMONSTRATE THE SCALE FIDELITY OF ATLANTIS MODELS' JS-III STALIN TANK KIT

Russian drawing of the JS-3 tank.  Special thanks to fellow IPMS'er Robert Beach for sharing an expanded version of this graphic!

This photo shows JS-3 heavy tanks, brand-new in 1945.  The occasion was the Berlin Victory Parade, 7 September, 1945.

2022:  RUSSIAN ARMOR IN THE NEWS

RUSSIAN ARMOR IS HOT IN 2022—BURNING HOT

In early 2022, Russia, under direction of its President Vladimir Putin, initiated a “Special Military Action” to “De-Nazify” Ukraine.  A liberated republic of the former USSR, Ukraine is today presided over by democratically elected Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is notably of Jewish descent.  For younger readers perhaps not familiar with the conflict, it can be summed up in this “layman’s terms” description by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris:  “So, Ukraine is a country in Europe.  It exists next to another country called Russia.  Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine.”

A destroyed Russian tank with burned-out apartment buildings in Ukraine.  This tank was destroyed with what has been described as the "jack-in-the-box" effect; when the tank's munitions explode inside, the turret is ejected high into the air.  Note in this particular case the engine has also been catapulted outside the tank.

After a months-long buildup of troops and equipment, Russian forces entered Ukraine with no formal declaration of war on Feb 24, 2022.  Many military experts predicted that the capital, Kyiv, would fall to Russian forces within a few days.  Previous precedents included the fall of Kuwait after Iraq invaded in 1990 (2 days) and the Taliban taking over Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal in 2021 (10 days).
 
With decades-old memories of life under the old Soviet system still apparently fresh, the Ukrainians have provided a strongly motivated resistance, thwarting an assumed rapid Russian acquisition of Kyiv.  Horrific attacks on civilians and mass-casualties on both sides have produced images of widespread devastation and death not seen since WWII.

Flagging Russian troop morale and indeterminate tactics and execution have been cited as reasons for the stall of the “Special Military Operation.”  Photos and reports of many “Z”-bearing destroyed Russian tanks have gone around the Internet.  Russian troop casualties forced Mr. Putin to mobilize the draft of 300,000 reservists.  As a result, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of men have fled the country in opposition to this action.  As of posting, October 2022, the cost to the Russian economy alone of this loss of Russian workforce has not yet been discussed publicly.  The resulting loss of productivity will no doubt raise the cost of goods and services in Russia, compounding economic challenges for Russian citizens along with economic sanctions that have already taken place.  At last count, between reported troop deaths and potential conscripts fleeing, nearly a million Russians have either been killed in action or fled the country.  This number reflects about 1% of Russian workers.

On May 12, 2022, the Russian army lost a whole tank division during a river crossing.  Poor tactics can be the only explanation for such a wartime loss.

As of October, 2022 the outcome of this undeclared war is anybody's guess.  Reported high losses of current-model Russian tanks has resulted in Russia drawing on its vast reserves of mothballed armor.  For example, an effort to refurbish stored T-62 tanks for battlefield use is now in place.  The T-62, which began service over 60 years ago, is cited as an obsolete design and its value even as a recommissioned asset is highly debatable.
 
Many commentators have stated that the Russians have enough tanks to potentially draw the conflict out for years.  However, we are skeptical that any large percentage of this equipment can be made usable.  

With a Russian economy roughly equivalent to that of Italy or the U.S. state of Florida prior to hostilities, it is unlikely that this equipment was properly prepared for long-term storage in the first place and likely did not receive periodic attention to stave off corrosion and degradation over time.  Multiple attempts at military reform since the end of the Cold War have undoubtedly been a distraction from sufficient maintenance of mothballed assets.

2022:  Ukranian president Zelenskyy in a war meeting

 2022:  Russian president Putin in a war meeting

​SELECT HISTORY OF RUSSIAN ARMOR SINCE WWII

THE T-34

The T-34 was the USSR's standard battle tank of WWII.

The Russian T-34 was introduced in 1940 and saw widespread use during WWII.  Its large road wheels and “slack track” design are characteristics of its Christie suspension, an American design.  It was very effective against German divisions.  Economical, efficient manufacturing of the T-34 supplied Russia’s war effort and even though losses were high,   a steady stream of replacements contributed to Russia’s successes against the German onslaught on the Eastern Front.  More  T-34’s were produced than any other type in WWII and it eventually achieved the second highest production numbers of any tank.  According to armyrecognition.com, several nations may still be using T-34’s including Yemen, Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea.

THE HEAVY:  KLIMENT VOROSHILOV (KV SERIES)

The notion of the heavy tank is an attractive one for battlefield planners:  put a big gun in a large tank and give it plenty of armored protection.  Such a concept would give a mechanized army an edge when attacking fortified defenses and a large-caliber round would prove devastating to the lighter tanks of the opposing army.  It was said that the KV tanks were virtually impervious to damage from German Panzer tank attacks.
 
The KV2 was known for its massive turret containing a 120mm gun.  The round for this gun, approximately the size of a milk bottle, rivaled secondary armament on a battleship.  A significant downside to this large-caliber gun was that only 20 shells could be carried inside the tank and loading operations were cumbersome for crews.  The large tanks were much slower than their medium-sized brethren, prone to engine breakdowns, and of course they were much more expensive to produce.

The KV-2 is a modeler's favorite for its substantial, blocky turret. 

POST-WWII:  A NEW HEAVY, THE JS-III STALIN TANK

Russian separatists actually pulled a JS-3 Stalin tank off a Ukrainian war memorial display plinth, got it running, and used it to fight the Ukrainian government in 2014.  The main gun had been disabled, but the ancient tank made an effective armored, mobile machine gun platform.  Note the weld-line just above the ridge on the "pike nose" of this tank; this actually corresponds to a seam on the kit.

​​A massive hull and giant gun are interesting characteristics of the Atlantis 1/48 Stalin-III tank.  The Stalin tanks were intended to replace the KV Series late in WWII.  Their design was a response to the large German Tiger tanks.  The JS-III carried a huge  122mm gun fully capable of destroying armored entrenchments and bunkers.  Improvements over the KV series allowed 28 shells to be carried.  The inverted bowl-shaped, cast turret was an innovation that became a common feature of Soviet-era tanks to follow. 
 
While effective at attacking fortifications, a slow gun load-rate reduced antitank effectiveness and with a top speed of 37 km/hour (23 mph), the heavy tanks tended to slow down blitzkrieg-style mobile assaults.  Lighter armor assets such as the T-34 could travel a full 1/3 faster.  The JS-III (6 road wheels per side) evolved into the T-10 (7 road wheels per side).  The T-10 was the last Russian heavy tank.

T-54/T-55 SERIES:  THE EARLY COLD WAR

The T-54/T-55 series became the main battle tanks of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries post-WWII.  The 76.2 mm gun didn’t pack the firepower of the JS-III’s 122 mm unit, but it was a good fit for a general-purpose easy-to-produce tank with adequate armor, mobility, and reliability.  Various sources cite over 100,000 produced, making it the most numerous tank ever made.
 
The T-55 was designed with nuclear warfare in mind and was engineered to protect crews from nuclear blast effects and radioactive particulate fallout.  These tanks could carry 43 rounds and crews could fire four rounds-per-minute, a much quicker rate than could be had with the preceding heavy tanks.   In recent years, T-55 tanks were used by Iraq and Syria.

The Soviet Union exported the T-54/55 by the thousands to other Warsaw Pact countries.  They are still in use in many countries at time of posting.  James Bond film fans will remember a spectacular tank chase scene in 1995's Goldeneye which features a T-55 tank.

FROM THE HEART OF THE COLD WAR:  THE T-62

The T-62 retained many design features of the T-55 Series, becoming the standard Soviet tank from 1961 when it first entered service.  Increases in armor and armament had to be made to counter the American Patton tank.  Atlantis Models makes a Patton tank in 1/48-scale that would make a good companion to your JS-III model.
 
The T-62 had a 115 mm smooth-bore gun capable of firing new-technology antitank rounds such as finned kinetic energy penetrators.  Like the T-55, the T-62 had a simple mechanism to generate a smokescreen when needed.  The T-62 added a spent shell casing-ejection feature which was a great improvement for crews during battle.
 
T-62 improvements over older tanks came at a premium and many Warsaw pact and Soviet allies who relied on exports retained their existing T-55’s due to the cost of replacing them with T-62’s.  In 2022, Russia has been forced to pull T-62’s out of long-term storage for refurbishment to replace losses suffered during their “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine.

After over six months of war in Ukraine, Russia has run short of troops and front-line armor.  In addition to a very unpopular partial mobilization, Russia has begun refurbishing stored T-62 tanks.  The T-62 dates back 60 years at time of posting.

IT'S THE 1970'S CALLING:  THE T-72

Allegedly, at time of posting (October 2022), the open-source military intelligence source Oryx.com has visually confirmed the destruction of over 800 Russian Army T-72 tanks to date in the Ukraine War, which might be part of the reason Russia is refurbishing T-62’s.  In this photo, a cat almost appears to take on this Russian tank, Tiananmen Square-style.

​A design consideration of the T-72, which began manufacture in 1969, is compact size and relatively light weight.  The T-72 can ford rivers up to 5 meters (16 feet) deep.  It has built in NBC protection (nuclear, biological, chemical weapons) and reactive armor.  Of note, the gun caliber, 125 mm, is slightly bigger than that of the JS-III.  However, it is of the smoothbore variety allowing the firing of high velocity kinetic dart penetrators and other types of mission-specific munitions.
 
The T-72 became the most common Warsaw Pact tank from the 1970’s, remaining so until the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.  About 25,000 were built.  Russia began the 2022 Ukraine war with the T-72 as its most numerous tank type.  

NOW AND LATER:  THE T-80, T-90, AND T-14

Post Cold War, Russia emerged from the breakup of the Soviet Union with the need to upgrade its tanks.  The T-80 was the last Cold War design dating back to 1976.  The T-90 emerged in 1992.  Neither of these types have been built in substantial numbers compared to previous Soviet Union production rates.  The T-14 has been built in prototype form with a handful of pre-production evaluation units finished.  It has been slated for high-volume manufacture.  Innovations include a completely automated, non-crewed turret.  Some analysts have stated that versions of this tank could be built that eliminate crews entirely.  Of course this technology comes at a price; with an economy roughly equivalent to the U.S. state of Florida or the nation of Italy, it is expected that not many of these tanks could be built due to the expense of the advanced technology incorporated.  Indeed, Russia has struggled to modernize its tank fleet beyond the T-72. 

T-80.  1975-Present.  5500+ built as of 2022 with over half of this number in service with Russia as of 2008.

T-90.  1992-present.  Less than 1000 built by Russia.  Several hundred imported to other nations.  License-built by India.  

The T-14.  Unit cost has been stated to be less than US$5M.  We are skeptical that this tank can be built with stated performance at this price.

Building and collecting armor models is fun!  Atlantis' JS-3 Stalin tank kit is a great place to start if you've never built a tank model.  As mentioned previously, 1/48-scale was considered "lost" until recent years and many classic 1/48 tank models such as the Atlantis kit have returned and new 1/48 kits are appearing all the time.  In fact, most of the Russian tanks mentioned above can be found in 1/48-scale injection molded kits.  We consider 1/48 the "Goldilocks" scale for armor kits.  The models are just the right size--neither too large or too small.  Try an Atlantis Models armor kit today!
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