One of the silliest things a gamer can do is get stuck in an arms race… trying to get the biggest/ most powerful unit… it is even sillier when this is with yourself. Bearing that in mind I present my IS7: a Soviet prototype that should give the Germans with their dug in E100 pause for thought.
This beast of a tank, aka Object 260, was design in December 1945 and weighted in at 68 tonnes. Armed with a massive 130mm gun fed by an autoloaded it also carried 8 assorted machine guns (2 in the hull, 2 in the turret rear 3 co axially and 1 on an anti- aircraft mount). The behemoth had up to 300mm of armour and was proof against the german 128mm PAK (the main armament of the Jagdtiger and the planned armament of the E100) from the front.
Seven protypes were made but it was not, for many reasons, decided to put the type forward for full production. It remains the heaviest tank the Soviets/ Russia has ever made; a surviving example is in Kublinka museum. It was followed by the IS8 which eventually entered service as the T10 (the name being changed after Stalin’s death).
This 1/72nd kit is by Trumpter and was a pleasure to put together. I painted it with the usual acrylics. It should hake a decent opponent to all of the silly German experimental stuff I’ve got if I could only find somewhere big enough to take advantage of its main gun. It will probably be used as an objective in a skirmish game…. it may even face the Western Allies in a very early Cold War game… why not I guess?
Cheers,
Pete.
SP's Projects Blog 
Whoa that gun is huge! 68 tonnes?! Wow. Looks great Pete.
Thanks. It is such a heavy tank it would be hard to find bridges to take its weight. One of the reasons it was never adopted- the gun however would have been able to take out any rival tank though easily enough.
Cheers,
Pete.
Nice paint job mate ,mean looking beast and it’s good to hear that there is still have an existing model .
Thanks. I’d love to be able to go top the museum at Kublinka one day to see all of the kit the Russians have got there.
Cheers,
Pete.
Oh HELL yes, need one of these for the Holy Soviet Empire!! Nice job mate 👍
Thank you. Itr certainly gives my Soviet forces a massive firepower up- grade….
Cheers,
Pete.
Nice write up Pete and the tank looks great.
Thank you- I tried a different technique to paint it and I’m pleased with the result.
Cheers,
Pete.
Nice tank. 🙂
You are right of course about gamers and the arms race; I have allowed myself to fall prey to that myself a few times back when I was playing in GW tournaments.
Thanks Ann. The arms race is particularly prevalent with those sorts of games. It was like that when I played 40k as a teen. I prefer narrative games these days or at least skirmish sized forces for games in that universe.
Cheers,
Pete.
When I play these days, which isn’t as much as I’d like but as much as I have energy for with what I have going on, I prefer smaller, narrative games as well. This is good too because I like to paint what I like to paint, not necessarily what is currently good on the treadmill, so obviously that works better when you aren’t playing in tournaments, etc.
Very much so. It is great to have found such a decent group of non- competitive 40k gamers.
Cheers,
Pete.
I figured they’d have mixed gender mobile infantry teams in the movie, since that fits more with the spirit of the times now versus when the book was written. Still, I do think Heinlein, considering when he wrote the book, did a good job of including women in the milieu doing very important jobs.
My second comment was meant for someone else’s blog, lol. Sorry about that.
That is OK Ann, I did wonder.
Cheers,
Pete.
Pete, you are a thoroughly bad influence! After you posted your E-100 I managed to get a Dragon ready-built one at a very decent price! Now, based on this latest post, I am going to be forced to buy myself an IS7! What a hardship! 😉 You have done a very nice job with this one, I really like it!
Thanks Jhon. I’m pleased I could be such a bad influence. The kit is a dream to put together, you’ll enjoy doing it.
Cheers,
Pete.
Great paintwork and you can realistically have another seven!!?
Thank you- don’t say that… I know what I’m like with stuff like that. A pair of them would look really nice though….
Cheers,
Pete.
Two Maus would be a sight to see ranged against these Red prototypes!
It would be a game within the capabilities of my model collection but sadly not my table space. I’ve an IS 4 protype too that could get an outing with them….
Cheers,
Pete.
Of course, they can scamper through the trees and try to outflank a Ratte. Go on! You know you want to 🙂
Regards, Chris.
p.s I’m frankly amazed that one never appeared in Girl und Panzer!
That would be a hell of a game in 1/72nd, I do like the megalomania approach though. Modelcollect do do a 1/72 Ratte too but that would be too silly even for me. (Well not really but it is well out of my price range).
Cheers,
Pete.
Looking great Pete, I will see if I can find a printable Ratte for you 🤔
Thanks- although it would take all year for you to print it out…
… I have a 1/600th scale one somewhere it is about 2″ long to give you an idea of size.
Cheers,
Pete.
I found one 👍 as you say it is *king huge…. also found the Maus both in 1;100 a bit small for 1:72
Cool- you tempted to print one out for yourself? I’ve got two….
Cheers,
Pete.
Lovely paint job on this big beast. I get a real sense of its weight and power. Interesting to read about too.
Thanks Marvin.
Cheers,
Pete.
Ah, the antecedent of the T-10. I remember the T-10 on our tank identification cards back in the Cold War. Big slow behemoths! The green is really nice and I like the effect Pete. This Soviet needs to fight the last American heavy tank, the M103! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M103_(heavy_tank). That would be a fun fight!
Thanks Mark- the green was an attept to recreate a ‘happy accident’ (to quote Bob Ross) I had had with an earlier model. Am pleased it worked out as I’ll use it again.
I’ve got a M103 model in 20mm so I’ll be able to work up a scenario. Judging by the figures in that link the M103 will have its work cut out going up against the IS7- it would have to go for a flank shot….
Cheers,
Pete.
I’m betting on the US!
They wouls have the better training and doctrine for sure. Probably better situational awarness as they would be unbuttoned. It would be an interesting exercise to see if the quality of the man could overcome the quality of the machine….
Cheers,
Pete.
It. Is. ON.
I am building the very same kit (actually, I had an hour, and finished it). 🙂 The battle of the IS-7s commences 🙂 (It will be a while to actually paint it, but there you go.)
Great looking paintjob!
That is great stuff- can’t wait to see it finished.
Cheers,
Pete.
This is a fantastic beast of a machine, you’ve done here, and I really love the paint you’ve achieved on it as well – what colours did you use?
[…] S /SP from SP’s Projects Blog completed this IS-7 Soviet Heavy Tank. This beast is certainly a piece of armour that qualifies for Armoured April! Makes me want to dig […]
[…] Let’s hope Trumpeter does some other esotheric tanks, like the IS-6, T57, ELC-AMX, T-10, AMX-50 in plastic, too. All in all this is a neat little kit, worth picking up. Also, check this build out, too. […]