The Little World

Despite indecision about the Zvezda JS-2 kit’s deficiencies, I think it has fulfilled my vision splendidly.

The idea of armour and military modelling is new to me – heretofore I just collected die-cast vehicles that suited my model airfields. I admired the efforts of expert armour modellers i saw at my club and at interstate exhibitions. But I knew my limitations when it came to painting and weathering. I was ever going to be able to make the super-realistic vehicles and dioramas. Most of mine had much of the toy about them.

However, that is the charm for me of many of the models I build and collect – there can be a die-cast feel to them that recalls my toybox days. I welcome the chance to achieve this with the wider variety ( and cheaper prices ) of kit-built plastic models. I was searching for a way to get this while advancing into the world of the vehicles.

Well, the scale choice was easy – 1/35 seems to have the most variety of models. None of them, save John’s massive rail gun, are too big to accommodate on my shelves. But I needed a vision – a gimmick – to work to.

My first three 1/35 builds had the gimmick of cheapness – two of them cost a dollar apiece and the third was a starter set for $ 40 with paint, cement, and brush included. You cannot fault that – so I searched the net for examples of the vehicles that are in good museum condition – And found them. This the painting could be clean, with just the barest hint of wash or dust spray.

The JS-2 was a different matter – and in this I started with the internet inspiration to begin with. In 1991 A student, David Czernÿ, and his mates painted a Soviet-era monument tank pink. It caused outrage and arrests but some people took the protest with characteristic Czech humour. The vehicle spent the next few years alternating between green paint and pink as the various factions and movements got to it. It is unlikely to rust for want of a coating…

It is now in a military museum – still pink – and occasionally is hauled out for art exhibitions as well. As of 2017 it existed in Brno in a central square – a favourite of tourists.

Note that I did not think to model a large erect finger on top of the tank – one of the features it bore at some stages of the game. I’ll bet there’s a Czech resin-moulder who has made a kit of it, though…

The spirit of Jaroslav Hašek lives on…