My friends, tonight we’ll build a tank
that I wanted to do for a long time. An IS-2 in a 1/35th scale. I don’t know about you,
but this box art has something about it that just makes me wanna build the kit straight away. But
first, let’s take a look at the ingredients. We have photo-etched fenders and details from Eduard,
I actually had these in my stash for a few years… a metal gun barrel, metal and resin tow
cables, and metal tracks. I took these from an old IS-3 model, washed them in acetone
and they’re as good as new. And, of course, some resin figures to bring this tank to life.
The Tamiya kit comes with some photo-etched goodies, pretty much all you need for
a nice, accurate out-of-the-box build, well, except these rubber tracks, but
it comes with plastic ones as well! And the parts, well… These look so nice I lost my
ability to even… when I was looking at them, the texture and the weld details, I thought there’s
not much I can do here to improve the model. But after looking at some reference
pictures, I knew there was a ton of texturing in front of me, and that’s
what we’ll focus on the most in this video, so let’s consider it a full-build and
extreme texturing tutorial of sorts… So, this model is not gonna start with assembly….
but rather with, um, destruction.
Because here’s the thing… each component has its own unique
texture, and I decided to treat them one part at a time. Hopefully, that will make things more
interesting. Let’s start with something simple, the gun mantlet. This part is cast from metal,
and as such, I started by melting the plastic with liquid cement and stippling it with a very
stiff paintbrush. This is a quick warm-up before the serious texture begins…. after looking at
reference photos, I noticed two very rough cuts. One on the left side, and one at the bottom with
a visible remnant of the steel sprue that was cut off. Rough cuts such as these can be quickly
replicated with a metal file and then finished off with lots of sharp cuts made using a hobby
blade. Then the texture is cleaned-up with a few passes of modeling cement. Additional cuts
can be made now because the plastic is soft, and that creates its own unique texture.
Clean that up again and we’re good to proceed. Most of my texturing is always carried out
with diluted Tamiya putty. I mix it with modeling cement and the consistency depends
on how rough the texture is supposed to be. In this case, I applied it rather thin,
just to sort of blend all the different textures together, especially
the sprue remnant at the bottom. And here it is, compared to the un-textured
cheeks, the difference is quite noticeable.
Well, here I started by removing the welded
plugs that probably hold the gun axle in place. The weld around them is not perfect, so I also
employed a ball burr to quickly enlarge the hole and make it anything but perfect. Then I glued
a circle punched from a plastic sheet inside, and this gives me a good template for the weld
bead. Once again, I stippled the entire part with modeling cement, but this time I gave it two
passes because the real thing has a visible pitted texture with lots of small holes in the surface.
Glue is actually one of the most efficient texturing tools, so try it out for yourself.
Just
like on the mantlet, I covered this texture up with Tamiya putty. Again, I diluted it quite a
lot because I didn’t want to hide the previous texture. But this time, I also stippled it a lot,
attacking the surface even further. I gave it a few passes until the surface wasn’t messy anymore
and then, it was ready for welding. We’ll talk about this more in a moment, but here it was
only about filling the hole I made previously, and adding another weld around the lifting hooks,
which are cast metal as well.
The weld textures are pretty unique as well. The round plug is
welded horizontally as seen on the real one, so I simply used a blunt knife to punch in the
weld texture. The hook is also welded similarly, but here I used the blade only on the top
and bottom parts. The vertical lines were textured with this C-shaped homemade tool that I
normally use for regular single-bevel weld seams. So here’s the result, two parts of
the tank are already textured and each looks slightly different. I also added this
bottom-out bumper made from a plastic rod, and overall, I think it looks pretty good
compared to the raw, untextured turret. Also, the gun mount was bolted from the inside,
so there’s gonna be no weld around it. Anyway, to make the turret ready for the same
treatment, I had to make a few extra steps. Drilling out the grab handle holes, removing
the seam from the kit, because this is not exactly where the actual seam line is supposed
to be, and getting rid of the plastic weld beads. These are actually very nice, but hand-sculpted
ones look just a lot better.
The roof plates were separated with a Tamiya scriber, and just like in
the previous step, a lot of care has to go into this because accidentally scratching the surface
and then having to fill and sand the damage is no fun. Scribing the seam line is easier with
a rotary tool because it has an irregular shape, and most importantly, it’s nothing but perfect.
But it’s also much easier because I can’t imagine using a tape as a guide for it, that’s why I’m
not an aircraft modeler. And while I have the rotary tool in my hands, I’ll make these massive
casting imperfections. These are the one thing that makes Soviet castings look so gnarly, and
it’s pretty interesting because they look like scars. As someone with no knowledge about the
process, I have no clue how these can happen… but it was apparently a big deal because they
made sure to fill them with weld beads, which we’ll do in a moment.
A rotary tool can be used to
improve the sprue remnants as these are actually reproduced pretty nicely, although, as you’ll see,
I later decided to sculpt them from epoxy putty. So that’s the turret all messed up and
ready for the fun stuff. It looks awful but sometimes we have to make a lot of damage
if we want to achieve more authentic results. So the first step was once
again stippling it with glue. On top of making awesome textures, it also
softens the gouges created with a rotary tool, blending them into the turret.
Again, it’s easy
to make the texture gnarlier by repeatedly melting and stippling the same area. The same process
with diluted putty was also repeated here. It’s just about tidying everything up while
also further attacking the surface. But also adding some raised texture. However, the
IS-2 turret is full of this raised texture, and for that, I used the putty almost straight
from the tube, with just a little amount of glue. I applied it hastily with a brush and then sort
of smeared and stippled it with my finger. It might be the easiest and most efficient way of
adding these large raised flakes on cast surfaces. I’m sure there’s a more sophisticated
way, but if it works, it ain’t stupid. And now for some epoxy putty action.
So I like
using Tamiya Epoxy Quick Type and the key is to roll it into these very thin noodles. The
thickness actually depends on the type of detail you’re recreating, but I can assure you that
it’s possible to sculpt massive welds around cast surfaces and also tiny ones around photo-etched
details. I started with the casting seam line, that’s where the sand mold was divided into two
parts, and it has this very interesting texture. I’m not skilled enough to capture its pure
essence, but I used this homemade sharp screwdriver carved from plastic sprue, sort
of trying to overlap the texture and make some of the putty “spill out” of the groove.
Similarly, I filled the scars with putty.
It’s important to use very little of the stuff so
it won’t create a bulge on the surface. Then, according to references, I added the texture.
Okay, some of these welds appear rather smooth, but I find it easier to achieve a
convincing result when I texture them. Feel free to experiment if you decide to build
a heavy Soviet tank and add those details. At this point, I decided to re-sculpt the metal
sprues because the kit details were rather flat. This task seemed intimidating
at first, but it’s actually pretty simple. Getting the correct shape is not
a big deal, and achieving the proper texture is just a matter of tools and some water. Although
I use a sharp blade when texturing plastic, here I had to use the opposite end of the
knife.
And instead of carving it into the putty, I sort of sculpted it – most of the time just
pushing really hard against it, combined with some gentle scribing for good measure. After
all of this texturing, the roof welds were easy. I actually had a reference photo on my workbench,
and although it’s impossible for me to fully capture the messy look of these welds, I like to
believe the spirit of that mess is clearly there. I’d say it’s still far more authentic than the kit
welds, although those were really nice as well… considering this kit is from 2007. I already
know what welds look like when they’re painted, but I wasn’t sure about those scars and sprue
remnants, so I gave them a quick coat of very diluted putty. This will blend them with the
surface a little, but it’ll give me a better idea about what they’ll actually look like.
The last welded detail on this turret is the grab handle…s. I made those using a proper
bending tool because there are a ton of them and they have to be identical.
They slid into the
pre-drilled holes like a dream, and I glued them from the inside. Why’s that? Well, because
there’s a weld bead on the outside and I didn’t want to mess up those places with superglue.
And that’s the finished turret, my friends. Some effort, lots of fun, and the end result is
full of interesting textures that give it a much more authentic look. Not to mention, it’ll be
a pleasure to paint and weather such a surface. You can see here how much fun we’d miss if the
kit texture was good enough for our purposes, and because the brakes on the texture train
have malfunctioned, we’ll proceed with the hull! Here I had to do more harm
than good from the get-go. The plastic fenders had to go because
I’ll be replacing them with metal ones, and it’ll actually make the texturing process
much easier because it’s gonna be quite messy. I mean, assaulting your model in this way is never
a clean job, right? Anyway, after getting rid of the fenders I had to slightly re-contour the front
casting so it would have a nice curve like on the real thing.
And there’s something highly appealing
about an IS-2 without any fenders, isn’t it? So after giving the front part the traditional
glue stippling treatment, I gave it a coat of a rather thick putty. Again, this part has its
own unique texture, with lots of raised flakes. This was much easier to achieve with one thick
coat that I stippled and smeared with my fingers. Mind you, in multiple layers because
the surface is really gnarly. The middle of the hull is again different.
It
has a bunch of these dents or craters… yeah, the scars are the most appealing, but let’s take
it one step at a time. I already know how much can be hidden with putty, so I added a lot of them.
Just small dents and holes with a ball burr. Scars – once again, gouged with a rotary
bit. These look a bit different than those on the turret. Maybe the hulls were
cast in a different factory or something. This is what I love about this process, you can
tell a different story with each part of the tank. After giving it the obligatory round of glue, the
final layer of diluted putty melted everything together. Compared to the front hull, here I used
it to just smoothen out some of the texture as it doesn’t contain so many flakes, but rather small
pits, dents, and scars. Tamiya has replicated the iron sprues on the glacis, but they’re again
very subtle. At this point, I knew immediately that I had to recreate them with two-part
putty, and once you get the hang of it, it’s actually a very fun process! Once again, the
texture on the real tank can be quite brutal and I doubt my creation captures the essence of it.
But all of this goes to show how much variation was in these surfaces.
The only place where I
had no references was this massive weld. Sure, I had these, but it’s a different version.
Tamiya has replicated two welds here, so I just went with that. Trying to make it
obvious, I made each half under a different angle. It seems like the scars on the hull weren’t
machined and filled with welds, so I used a slightly different approach here.
Instead
of adding the typical texture with a knife, I pressed the putty in with a toothpick, creating
those raised lips, as if the molten metal was spilling out or something. I mean, it’s not fully
accurate, but I think it gets the point across. So that’s the front of the hull finished, and
in some places, it’s even gnarlier than the turret… but if you thought these textures were
intense, just wait for these rolled steel plates! Starting with a new, unique imperfection
that I observed in another set of references, I added this line with a chisel. I think
it’s a flaw created during the rolling process or something. The flame cuts on
these plates are out of this world, so I went with the heaviest approach I could think
of and attacked them with a rotary bit.
To make the texture sharper and more pronounced, I gave
them one more pass with a hobby blade, further removing some of the material. Same thing here…
it’s important to scribe the flame cuts from both sides, this way you’ll achieve those random deep
gouges. Liquid cement, and I mean a lot of it, will clean up the fuzzy parts and soften
the cuts. This might actually be one of the easiest texturing techniques, and the results are
amazing, especially when you’re able to add this super rough texture. The sides received the
same treatment as shown before, but because they weren’t attacked by any rotary bits or whatever,
they ended up with a much smoother texture. It might not be visible now, but
I’m sure once the tank is painted, the difference between the front and rear
half of the hull is gonna be very obvious. And this is how it looks after I finished
texturing and welded every detail in place, with a few details made from wire.
It’s not
gonna be all about steel textures, though, because from now on we’ll be just
adding photo-etch and other details. Starting with the running gear, here I’m keeping
the swing arms removable because once the model is painted and weathered, I want to adapt the
running gear to the terrain in the diorama. This was a very quick task, because
I already had the tracks assembled, and although they came from an IS-3, they
fit here like a glove. I also made a hole and added a securing nut into the hull so
I could fix it temporarily to a painting stand. This way I won’t have to touch the model
with my filthy hands during the painting stage. So let’s now add those metal fenders. I know
a lot of people who are too intimidated by these details because they seem fragile,
difficult to assemble, and again, fragile. But I think these might be the perfect starting
point for anyone because they’re very simple. Especially if you’re building a torn-down
IS-2, then you’ll be mostly dealing with the straight sections that are totally easy.
These were actually so easy to assemble that I didn’t even use the soldering iron –
everything is held together with superglue. Sure, there were places where I had to employ
some brute force and copious amounts of CA, but other than that, it was a simple job, and most
importantly, the fenders are not fragile at all.
I couldn’t resist the urge
to add more weld detail, so I totally went with these intermittent weld
beads along both fenders. Even the missing ones… this will be very fun to paint, with a strip
of raw, corroded steel under the weld line. For the remaining metal details, I had to ditch
the Eduard set because it wasn’t very detailed or accurate. This one from Aber is amazing,
and I mainly bought it for the metal toolbox. However, some of the details are so small, and
some parts are broken down into so many pieces, it’s just a lot for me.
That’s probably why
I prefer detail sets from Voyager, who hit that sweet spot between simplicity and details.
But there’s no doubt how beautiful these are, and how they create a nice contrast
with the rough metal plates. So that’s actually the build finished. I
wanted to focus mainly on the texturing stages because this model was mainly
about them. The photo-etch, the wires, and other details are just a small addition, but
in its essence, the IS-2 is about rough steel. Let’s now finish the model with
some stowage and figures, shall we? Green Stuff epoxy putty has become my
favorite medium for sculpting tarps. It has some interesting properties, and
when it’s rolled into a super-thin pancake… it’s actually very sticky so you have to use a lot
of baby powder… but when it’s really thin, I think it’s the best putty for the job. I don’t know
what they’re putting into it, but it truly behaves like real cloth… the best way to describe it,
it creates realistic folds on its own… or… it sculpts itself.
The resin stowage on this model is
a mixture of various sets from Legend Productions, and the milk canisters, suitcases,
and some crates are from Plusmodel. Again, it helps to find some historical
photos as inspiration for the stowage, and I gotta say, it’s one of the most
creative ways of making the model your own. And the final touch was adding some crew figures.
The commander is from Panzer Art, and I had to remove some resin from his pants so he would
squeeze into the tiny hatch. The sitting loader is from Alpine, and he’s specifically sculpted
for this tank, so he sits there like a real bro. And that wraps up this build, my friends. I hope
you didn’t mind the rather simplified explanations about adding details, stowage, and so on because
I really wanted to make this video about steel textures. Whenever I look at an IS-2 or 3,
the first thing I notice is the cast surfaces, and I wanted to focus on that during this
build.
I’m actually building a specific tank, this one to be more exact, as I always wanted
an IS-2 with that red star and a bear. The initial idea that sparked this project,
however, is the diorama, and it’ll be much more exciting than an empty street in Berlin,
but I’ll keep that as a surprise for the very end once the model is finished. That’s also why I’m
keeping its suspension removable and positionable. Anyway, this time I’m not trying
something new as I promised, but I got really excited about this project. So the
next video will be about painting a nice, interesting 4BO with large invasion stripes on
the turret. I’m not sure what approach I’ll take, but it’ll most likely be my favorite post-shading.
So I hope you found this video helpful or at the very least interesting to watch.
And thank
you for watching my friends, but also, thank you to my Patrons who make this
show possible! If you like what I’m doing, wanna get more of it, and in return support my
work, you can go to my Patreon page and see what kind of rewards would you like. I’m posting there
almost every day with updates from my workbench, we can get in touch through DMs, comments, and
e-mails, I’m posting one week early ad-free videos so you could watch the painting video right now,
also these beautiful studio photos which you can download in full resolution, and last but not
least, some real-life references for dioramas, sceneries, and landscapes.
And, of course, small
3D models for detailing your tanks and dioramas. Alright, this was again something awesome and
enjoyable for me. It reminded me why I was a huge fan of Soviet armor for most of my modeling
life, but hey, now I got other things to do… it’s time to put on my spraying mask and start the
compressor. And you stay safe, stay awesome, build your models, don’t just collect them
and I’ll see you in the next one, cheers!.
