Russian tank helmet details!

41 Pages·2003·5.49 MB·English

by  Jakko Westerbeke

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Photography, writing, Copyright & distribution
design, layout, etc.
This document is copyright ' 2003 by Jakko
Westerbeke, all rights reserved. Unless otherwise
Jakko Westerbeke <[email protected]>
indicated, all photographs and other illustra-
http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/afv
tions in this document are copyright ' 2002-2003
Other images by Jakko Westerbeke.
This document may be freely distributed, on the
Front cover photograph from unknown source, following conditions:that no changes or modifica-
via Tank Data 2 (E.J. Hoffschmidt & W.H. tions are made to the document in any way; and
TantumIV, editors, WE Inc., 1969). that no profit is made off the distribution.
IS-2M drawings on page 5 from unknown
Russian publication, via Tank Data 3 (Harold E. Thanks to
Johnson, WE Inc., 1972).
Marc Tempels for measuring the DML, Tamiya
Degtyarev 1938/46 and DTM photographs on
and Trumpeter IS-2 and IS-3 kit roadwheels.
page 4 from Military Small Arms of the 20th
Century (Ian V. Hogg &John Weeks, Arms &
Armour Press, 1977).
(cid:147)Page(cid:148) icon taken from one of KDE 3.0(cid:146)s icon sets.
Technical stuff
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I S - 2 M
J o s e p h S t a l i n
The IS-series of tanks was developed in the Soviet The turret had no basket, so the loader had to
Union during 1943, as a further development of the stand on the floor and walk along with the turret
earlier KV-series of heavy tanks. It went into pro- when it rotated. The commander and gunner had
duction in January 1944 and first saw action seats that rotated with the turret, however.
against German forces in the spring of that year.
Later in 1944, the design was modified in a num- Although the IS-2(cid:146)s internal fuel tanks held 520
ber of ways to simplify manufacture and rectify liters of diesel, which gave it a maximum range of
some minor defects, producing the IS-2 model some 250 km. Even in World War II,most
1944. After World War II, these soldiered on for 18 IS-2s carried two extra, external drums on
-
some years beside the newly-designed IS-3, until in 19 each side of the engine compartment with a
1954 a program was begun to upgrade the IS-2 total of 300 liters additional fuel. The IS-2M
tanks to more modern standards. could also carry two more, 200-liter drums on the
The rebuilt tank was known as the IS-2M, and rear of the hull, in the location otherwise used to
featured a large number of improvements and mount smoke generators, which were also cylin-
modifications. Although replaced in front-line drical but much smaller than the fuel drums.
service by more modern types, these vehicles None of these external tanks were hooked up to
remained in use for a number of years afterward. the vehicle(cid:146)s fuel system, however, so that their
contents had to be pumped into the main tanks by
Layout hand when those were empty.
The IS-2 had a conventional layout for a late- or
Drive train
post-World War II tank. The lower hull was con-
structed principally from welded steel plates, with All versions of the IS-2 were powered by a 12-
a cast nose and glacis section welded on. The upper cylinder diesel engine located in the rear of the
hull, above the track guards to about halfway tank, of type V-54K-IS in the IS-2M that produced
down the length of the vehicle, was also a cast sec- about 380 kW. The engine drove the track
tion. The rear hull plate was sloped, and bolted through a rear-mounted sprocket.
22
into place so that it could be removed for access to - The suspension consisted of six, double
25
the engine. The turret was almost entirely of cast roadwheels on each side of the hull, carried
construction, with a separate, cast front and a steel on torsion bars. The wheels were similar to
plate roof both welded on. Armour thickness var- those on the earlier KV-series of tanks, being made
ied from 20 mm on the floor to 110 mm on the gun entirely from steel without rubber tyres, but in the
mantlet, though the glacis was protected with IS-2M upgrade had the number of bolts increased
105mm of armour at 60(cid:176) to give an effective to ten per wheel hub (other models of IS-2 had only
armour thickness of over 200 mm. five). The front-mounted idler wheel was identical
The driver was seated at the front of the to the roadwheels, but was unsprung(cid:151)though it
6 hull, in the center without a bow machine did have a device to adjust track tension with. Each
-
gunner beside him. There was no driver(cid:146)s side of the tank also had three return rollers, small-
7
hatch, though the driver did have a vision er than the roadwheels but also made completely
slot as well as one fixed and two rotating from steel.
periscopes for observation. The 65-cm-wide tracks
The turret crew consisted of 26 were entirely cast from
-
30 the commander and gunner 27 steel, and were of the so-
- Basic data
31 on the left of the turret, and called (cid:147)dead(cid:148) type(cid:151)mean-
the loader on the right. The ing they sag down over the return
Length 9.83 m (incl. gun)
commander had a cupola on the left rollers in the top run. Unlike in the
Width 3.07 m
of the turret roof, with a simple, for- KV, which used tracks with two dif-
Height 2.74 m
ward-opening loader(cid:146)s hatch beside ferent types of link (with and with-
Weight 46,300 kg
it. The cupola had six vision slots out central guide tooth), the IS-2M
Speed 37 km/h
and a rotating periscope, the latter was normally fitted with tracks that
Range 150 km
fitted into one of the two semi-circu- had onl one type of link. 87 to 90
Crew Commander,
lar hatches that opened fore and aft. links made up each track.
driver, gunner,
loader
3
IS-2M
Armament Weapon data Service
The IS-2(cid:146)s main Degtyarev By the late 1950s
armament was pow- DTM 38/46 D-25T and early (cid:146)60s, in
erful for its time, in Caliber 7.62(cid:215)54 mm R 12.7(cid:215)108 mm 122 mm Soviet service the
part to combat Overall length 118 cm 159 cm unknown IS-2 was deployed
German heavy ar- Barrel length 59.7 cm 107 cm 525 cm only with second-
mour, but principal- Empty weight 12.9 kg 35.7 kg 2,588 kg line units, as the
ly because of the Rate of fire 600 rpm 575 rpm 2‰ rpm vehicle had been
IS-2(cid:146)s wartime role Magazine 60-round pan Belt (cid:151) replaced in front-line
of an infantry-sup- Operation Gas Gas (cid:151) service first by the
port tank. Effective range 800 m 2,000 m 14,200 m IS-3 and then the
The main gun was a T-10 heavy tanks. As
D-25T weapon of 122 mm caliber with a rifled bore, such, it probably never saw
which was derived from the A-19 field gun by fit- combat, and likely spent more
ting a different type of breech that per- time in tank depots than in
Degtyarev
mitted quicker reloading. The gun had a active service.
1938/46
double-baffle muzzle brake to reduce By the 1970s, many IS-2 tanks had
recoil, and fired ammunition with been given a new role: dug into the
separate projectiles and propel- ground near the Russian-Chinese border, as
lant charges, making for a cheap and powerfully-armed bunkers to repel
relatively slow rate of fire a possible Chinese invasion. Many other elderly
compared to other tank heavy tanks, again IS-3s and T-10s, suffered the
DTM
guns of its time. 35 rounds same fate.
of ammunition (and propel- Both Cuba and North Korea were provided with
lant charges) were carried, IS-2 tanks in the 1960s; it is not known if these
seven more than the IS-2. Most of were IS-2M variants, but given the date, this
these were stowed in the rear of the turret and on seems a likely proposition. The IS-2M does not
the floor of the hull, underneath the turret. otherwise appear to have been exported from the
Secondary armament consisted of a 7.62(cid:215)54 mm Soviet Union.
DTM machine gun coaxially to the main gun, on
the right. The IS-2 had a second DT in a ball mount Colours & markings
in the turret rear wall, but on the IS-2M this was
Soviet vehicles are not known for their colourful
replaced by a ventilator. The IS-2 also carried a DT
markings or intricate paint schemes, and the IS-2M
machine gun fixed in the right side of the hull,
was no different. These tanks were usually painted
operated by the driver and firing forward, but it is
overall Russian green with perhaps some markings
not clear if this weapon was retained in the
such as turret numbers, but that is about it.
upgrade to IS-2M standards.
The inside of the muzzle brake was an
A 12.7(cid:215)108 mm Degtyarev 1938/46 machine gun„
34 orange-red colour. The reason for this is
could be mounted on the commander(cid:146)s cupola,
-
unknown, but it could also be seen on
with 360(cid:176) traverse. 35
vehicles other than IS-2Ms during combat
The amount of machine gun ammunition carried
operations, such as the invasion of Czecho-
appears to be unsure. Some sources indicate 350
slovakia in 1968.
rounds of 12.7 mm and 3,024 round of 7.62 mm,
while others say 250 and 2,330 rounds, respective-
The photos
ly(cid:151)although both figures for 7.62 mm ammuni-
tion seem odd because the DTM was fed from a 60- The picture series starting on page 6 shows the
round drum magazine, and neither 2,330 nor 3,024 IS-2M in the collection of the Imperial War
is divisible by 60 (or by 47, which is the number of Museum Duxford, in the UK. It is an intact vehicle
rounds in the magazine of the DP infantry machine that was delivered direct from Russia in exchange
gun, from which the DTM was derived)(cid:133) for a Conqueror heavy tank in 1988, and is dis-
played in a World WarII setting (obviously incor-
rect for a 1950s tank) in the Land Warfare hall at
„ Often mistakenly called a DShK, which is only correct
Duxford airfield.
for the World WarII version of this weapon.
4
IS-2M
Modelling the IS-2M Also note that the Dragon kit is inaccurate in
some of its dimensions, most notably the road-
Although several kits of IS-2
wheel diameter and the lower hull height. The lat-
tanks have appeared in the
ter can be fixed by adding about 1 mm to its top
1990s, all of these represent
edge before fitting the upper hull, while replacing
World War II tanks. In 1:35th
the roadwheels by those from Trumpeter changes
scale, Dragon Models Ltd.
the wheels from being too small, to being too large
DML kit 6804
released an IS-2 model 1944
(but not by as much(cid:151)the Dragon wheels are
artwork
in 1995 as kit 6804, which was
14.9mm and the Trumpeter ones are 16.0mm,
later re-issued by Shanghai
while they should be 15.7 mm; those in Tamiya(cid:146)s
Dragon under the same number. Zvezda also has a
IS-3 are correct in diameter but need five bolts
kit of the IS-2 model 1944, kit number 3524, but as
added to be correct for the IS-2M).
the author does not have
The Dragon kit represents a tank produced at the
one, little can be said
UZTM factory, with a sharper glacis plate than the
about it here.
Duxford vehicle has, but photos show that UZTM-
To build an IS-2M mainy
produced IS-2s were also upgraded to IS-2M, so
requires the addition of
the hull front does not need to be changed.
Zvezda kit 3524 hullside stowage boxes The rear-hull fuel drums are probably the same as
artwork and side skirts, as well as on other Russian tanks, so a spare set from a T-55,
building new front and
T-62 or T-72 kit will come in handy. They need to
rear mudguards and several other details.
be fitted to completely different cradles than on
To be accurate, the roadwheels and idlers will
those tanks, however. Other bits that could be
need to be replaced, because they should have ten
taken from these kits are fittings such as night driv-
bolts around the hubs instead of the five present on
ing lights and similar small details.
kits of World War II vehicles. Currently, the only
In all, building an IS-2M model is mainly a mat-
source for these wheels is the Trumpeter kit of the
ter of changing details on the base kit, not of major
IS-3M, from which other parts could also be taken
conversion work. As such, it is not difficult but
and adapted to the IS-2 model(cid:151)such as the mud-
does benefit from a well-stocked spares box.
guards and other post-war fittings.
Although captioned as
showing an IS-2 from
1943, these drawings
from an unknown
Russian publication
actually depict an
IS-2M with the modifi-
cations introduced in
1954: track skirts,
recessed reinforce-
ments in the front and
rear mudguards, hull-
side stowage bins, twin
headlights, etc.
The cylinders on the
hull rear are not fuel
drums (unlike on the
Duxford vehicle) but
smoke generators.
The drawings have
been reproduced at
approximately 1:72nd
scale, but they are not
scale-accurate.
5
IS-2M
b Hull front right
The hull front seen from the right, showing
many of the fittings installed on it. For vision,
the driver has a visor with a periscope above it
(the little flap), and two more rotating
periscopes in the hull roof. The oval opening
in the glacis to the left of the photo is the firing
port for a forward-firing machine gun operat-
ed by the driver(cid:151)though it is not certain this
was actually fitted to the IS-2M.
c Headlight left
This is the left-hand headlight with its pro-
tective cage or brush guard, and underneath it
is the vehicle(cid:146)s horn. The headlight has a black-
out hood attached, which lets only a narrow
bundle of light fall on the ground ahead of the
vehicle, so as to make it hard to detect espe-
cially for aircraft. The right-hand headlight is
similar but without the horn.
Note that this is a post-war style of headlight.
During World War II, the IS-2 and IS-2m had
just one headlight, located higher up on the
glacis plate. It was of a large model than this
one, and did not have a brush guard. The sheet
steel plate at the bottom of the photo is the
splash plate, which prevents water from run-
ning too far up the glacis when fording.
6
Hull front
b
c
7
IS-2M
d Track guard left
An overall view of the hull front from the
left, with the track guard featuring prominent-
ly. The IS-2 had plain track guards, without the
reinforcing ribs or the sections hanging to the
side of the tracks, but the IS-2M refit intro-
duced these features.
e Track guard left
This tank is carried on the left front track
guard; it is most likely an oil tank of some
kind. It is only fitted to the IS-2M; the wartime
IS-2 had no stowage at all on the left track
guard. Similarly the skirts extending down
from the track guard were only installed on
the IS-2M.
8
Mudguards
d
e
9
IS-2M
f Track guard rear left
The track guards are of a style peculiar to the
IS-2M variant (though they are very similar to
those of the IS-3M), with four pressed ribs and
a wide support holding them up. This is the
left rear track guard, with a rubber mudflap
bolted to it.
g Stowage bins left
In the post-war refit, the IS-2 received addi-
tional stowage bins along its hull sides in a
similar style to those of the IS-3 tank.
However, whereas the IS-3 has three bins per
side, the IS-2M only has two, due to the exter-
nal fuel drums (see pages 18-19). The whole
assembly is made from thin steel plate, and
attached to the real side armour which is fur-
ther inward(cid:151)the join between the bins and
the armour can just be seen ot the left of the
station-keeping light.
The bins on the right are pretty much identi-
cal, but there is an unditching log stored above
the tops of the lids.
10