Product Overview
1/48 Scale. Features elevating 122mm gun, flexible tank
treads, traversing turret, 12.7 MM machine gun, opening hatches, Molded
in russian green.
JS-III Stalin Tank.
In 1943 the Russians developed the famous T-34 tank which
did much to help drive the Nazis from their homeland. The T-34 was
heavily armored and mounted a large caliber gun in a single 360-degree
traverse turret. This tank set the pattern for future Russian tank
design and strongly influenced foreign designs including the
world-famous Panther Tank produced by Germany during World War II. The
Panther copied much from the T-34 and the Germans developed these ideas
into an even better fighting machine. With the introduction of the
T-34, the large gun, heavy tank race was on. The Russians, utilizing
the experience gained with the T-34 design, came out with the KV-2, a
52 ton, 76mm gun tank which was quickly followed by the first of the
Stalin Tank series, the JS-1. This new design was a 57 ton 122mm gun
tank which first appeared in 1945 and was improved in the following
years to produce the Joseph Stalin III.
The JS-III Tank incorporated two conspicuous departures
in armor design that were entirely new in tanks. The first is a
prow-shaped front hull, technically called compound obliquity. A shell
striking the front of the tank must, because of the sharply angled
plates, penetrate a thicker section of armor than would be encountered
in a flat vertical plate. The second radical feature is the turret,
which is the first turtle-back design on a standard tank. Because it is
cast in steel with varying wall thicknesses, this type of turret
affords greater protection against high velocity anti-tank shells at a
substantial savings in weight, while still being sufficiently protected
on the top surface.
The JS-III mounts a high-velocity 122mm cannon which
fires a 50 lb. shell. Because of the size of these shells, not many can
be carried in the closely-packed turret. Another disadvantage of this
gun is that the shells are hand-fed into the breach. A slower rate of
fire is affected by this, and this is critical when the first few
rounds of a tank battle count. The only other armament on the JS-III
Tank is the 12.7mm DSHK machine gun mounted on top of the turret in
front of the Commander’s hatch. Periscopes are provided for both
driving and observation to cut down the number of openings into the
interior, and all steering instructions are radioed from the
Commander’s hatch.
The JS-III is powered by a 60-degree V-type 12 cylinder,
liquid-cooled diesel engine which gives the tank a top speed of 20
miles per hour. The tracks are large and widely spaced, exerting 11.6
pounds per square inch making it possible for the JS-III to cross over
soft ground that would bog down even lighter, smaller tanks.
