Taigen JS-2 initial impressions
 

I am not affiliated with Taigen in any way, shape, or form. I am just another that suffers from the addiction of rc tanks.
I had preordered this back in February and recently received it. Here are my first impressions.
This thing is a beast. It weighs in at 14.2 lbs and it came extremely well packaged, probably in an attempt to protect it from the gorillas that handle it during shipment. That being said there was some slight damage to one of the sides of the box as if it had been dropped. Upon opening the box I did note some minor damage. The fender mounted tool box was no longer attached, one of the exterior fuel tank mounts was cracked, and the machinegun on the turret rear was broken. The fuel tank and tool box were easily repaired with some glue.
The machineguns are a clear plastic that are installed prior to shipping. I used a sharpie to give them a darker color. If they came as separate parts that the customer could install there would be less of a chance of damage during shipment.
The internal space is extremely narrow and the motors are almost touching. I would recommend inspecting the wiring and capacitors on the the transmissions for clearance from the gears prior to running as I did find one of the capacitors was physically touching one of the gears. This was easily addressed by gently bending it up but I will be checking this on a regular basis as preventative maintenance.
The power switch is in a poor location. It is located under the engine deck hatch and is inaccessible unless you manually rotate the turret which causes an awful noise as the clutch slips.
The smoker works great on this. I am not a fan of smokers but this thing is proportional and when filled with megasteam fluid it really produces. I usually discard the smoker but I am contemplating keeping this one.
The mfu has a switch to disable the track recoil.
The latch for holding the hull open is a definite plus but hinge pin on the back of the hull would look better if it was blackened.
The road wheels and idlers appear to have bearings.
The paint job is pretty good but I am not a fan of the weathering.
The suspension responds extremely well and appears to support the tank but I will be storing this on a raised block due to its weight.
The gun elevation was a slightly jerking when the cannon elevated but I remedied that by adding a drop of lubrication to each side of the mantle and cycling the barrel up and down. I did notice a small spot on the top of mantle became bare metal after doing this.
There are some some excellent details on the hull and it runs extremely well.
Overall I am very pleased with this. Taigen has definitely stepped up their game with this tank.https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...180f9f8d59.jpg
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Another nice model by taigen.
I wonder though, why does the flat rolled armor have casting texture? I know nothing of soviet armor so maybe they cast flat armor for the tank. Or is it just really thick paint? If its supposed to be smooth rolled armor, bummer. If its supposed to be cast armor, good for them for replicating it.

I'm not sure about the armor either but it does give a somewhat crude appearance to the model.

Here's a video of a walk around of an earlier model of the JS-2:

I agree with you on the armor. I am not a rivet counter. I am satisfied as long as a model is a close facsimile of the real thing, runs well and easy to maintain.
Here's a video of a later model JS-2 and the armor is similar to the first video although it appears to be equipped with KV tracks.

They did produce cast straight nose versions. Pretty sure my tamiya had cast texture too.

Yes they did. Russian Tanks 1900-1970 ISBN: 0-88365-052-5 states on page 123 John Milson describes how the JS series differed from the KV series that they were developed from. "The hull nose was made in a single casting, and the upper and lower tail plates were made from single plates, each sloped at approximately 45°. Previous tanks of this type had the armour at the front of the driver made of a flat, slanted plate running from side to side, but on this tank a shaped casting was used."

Tomhugill,
Do you have a Taigen JS-2 and if so can you tell me if the rings on the two rear hatches are movable like the rings on the engine deck hatch?

Another thing worth noting. The muzzle flash does not use a xenon bulb. It appears to be an smd led unit. I suspect this will have a lesser current draw than the xenon style which may or may not lead to a slightly longer run time.https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...6319792f17.jpg

I ordered a couple new flash units awhile back and was surprised to see the change. The whole package is smaller.
I asked Erik about it and these were his comments.

"Also yea the IR flasher changed a bit ago due to me complaining about the high voltage needed to charge the old Xenon bulb. It was around 380V lol! The LED flasher is smaller too and easier to get in and out of the barrels versus the old one. Nothing special other than that, just safer and smaller, the function is the same."

Enjoy,
Shad

I'm glad you are enjoying it! Please send me an email or a PM with the broken pieces ok? It looks like you already fixed it but I still want to see what I can do about making that right. I always got you guys :) As for the paint I didn't choose this one so yea the weathering is a bit much. For some reason they seem to always over weather IMO the tanks when we are gonna add some natural weathering immediately :)
The LED was changed for a few reasons but safety and smaller form factor was the leading change. Oh and the two rear rings do not move like the engine hatch door rings btw.
I have noted a few things here and will be talking with them soon actually. I am ALWAYS interested in packing, that is something I'm working on pretty hard with a lot of products outside of Taigen too. This is the first round of shipping and shipping can get rough sometimes so I do expect some issues here and there. However we have always taken care of you guys so just give me a PM or email (preferably email) and I'll get you taken care of asap.

Good looking tank (being a big Russian tank fan too) and Erik is right, a bit of over weathering BUT... the basis is laid down and it can be modified. The hinging of the upper hull is so cool! :cool:

I like the look of the WSN T-34's white paint application and how it gave the illusion of 'dripping paint' some but overall I do like this!

What I would love to see is the PIV winter scheme we just got done on the JS-2. That would be super nice. I'll look into that one first...

I had one but sold it on, I'll see if I can dig out the photos

Tanks for the preview Dusty. Mine is to arrive on Wednesday, I hope.

Too bad about the damage, I hope mine fares better.

Did the tank come with the leads to connect a hobby grade receiver? Just curious, though I do have a set from a defunct V2 MFU.

Are the sounds appropriate for the JS2?? I will be experimenting with an aftermarket speaker just to see if it gets better.....can't wait!!

Jerry Rude

The damage was minor, more than likely caused by the shipper as it was all on the left side of the tank and one side of the box had some damage.

It did come with leads and a jumper for using a hobby grade radio. The instructions describe 6 channels
1 steering
2 throttle
3 firing/elevation
4 turret rotation
5 engine on/off
6 main mother trim
Nothing is listed about the machineguns or smoker on/off. If these require another two channels there is no way to connect them and if these are done with channel mixing there is no mention of it.

If connectivity is required why is it not provided and if mixing is needed what channel mixing gives you the results are questions that need to be answered.

The sounds are a vast improvement over the earlier sounds that Taigen used. I would say the quality is pretty close to, if not as good as a TK22.

I do strongly recommend inspecting the transmissions to make sure no wires or components are touching the gears and that power leads on the motors are not shorted against the neighboring transmission. It is a very tight fit in the rear of the tank.

Thank Daryl Turner for the great idea on the hinge :)
Remember, if you have a problem send me an email and I make sure you are taken care of. To answer your questions: yes it doe come with a hobby wiring kit and does have JS-2 sounds :)
Don't have that one on the radar but It wouldn't be too terrible to do.... :) There are a few others being worked on now, this next one I'm hoping will be done asap....
Yea unfortunately you do lose MG control and the ability to turn on/off the smoke unit with an aftermarket TX. If you need a bypass cable for the smoker so you can add the switch again I've included a picture below. This will still give you the proportional on/off from the motherboard but will give you back the switch for a manual on/off control of the unit if you use your own TX. The MG however is lost on a hobby TX. Just out of curiosity how important is the MG to you guys?

Using a hobby grade radio with the stock electronics does not interest me as I will be upgrading the electronics and rewiring it to make this compatible with the Tamiya battle system. I only mentioned the loss of the mg and remote switching of the smoke for those that may want to keep the original electronics but use a hobby grade radio. If someone has a hobby grade radio that supports multiple models they could eliminate having a dedicated transmitter for each tank and if the mg and smoker worked they would not lose any of the tanks functions possibly resulting in a higher demand for your product.

The only thing I need is a replacement barrel for the damaged turret mg. I suspect that you probably don't have , but will soon have spare parts for this particular model. We can settle up when you do get the parts in stock.
Thanks!

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Test run outdoors revealed a gap between the upper and lower hull that allowed debris that is prone to being grabbed by the rear drive sprockets to enter the tank in the area of the transmissions. The white line above the track is actually light being reflected through the tank.

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Photos of the real beast, Sevastopol, on a plinth since 1955, 50 years of slap dash 'paint' applied from time to time, and wrong color. T 34/85 from this display of armor was removed from display in late fall of 2017, rebuilt and restored, and was in Victory Day Parade of 2018. Power pack is original and untouched during the restoration. Rumor has it IS 2 is next.

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More. Notice the textures after all these years of sloppy paint jobs. Tanks were driven up on the plinths in 1955, shut down and left. Batteries are still in most of them and fuel was not drained from the main tanks. Crank case, transmission, final drives etc are the same, original oil and lubricants still in place. T 34 was actually started and driven off it's plinth.

Confirmed this evening, 03 April 2019. IS 2 was started and driven off his plinth on Sapun Ridge apparently this past Saturday, 30 March, loaded on a low loader and taken to the facility that did the T34. Doubt he will be ready for 09 May but it would be nice!

Wow!

Took 'em a while, I think half a day, they had to purge the fuel system, pump out the tanks and fill at least one with the proper diesel fuel. We know a couple lads who were involved and they told us that once the fuel systems were purged and the old batteries replace, the beast fired right up. Don't know the story yet on the IS 2 but it was probably the same drill, purge, new fuel, new batteries and up he fired.

Yea aftermarket radios and the tanking community absolutely do not make sense. I'm not sure why anyone would want to use the stock TX over their own in any form or fashion, but to each his own. If Taigen would of listened to me 100% the board would of been much different. However I cannot always get what I want :( Personally I only use the stock transmitters when we precheck tanks or if I am doing a repair, my transmitter is VERY well loved and sees use every day. In fact I'm about to rely on it for a big media event I'm filming this weekend here in FL. I also run 915MHz as well, I stopped using 2.4 a long time ago and never looked back. I do believe I was also the first person to do a Crossfire controlled tank too. Personally I think Open Panzer got it right with the radio input and setup, that was super easy to do and assign commands.
Actually I do have a bag of them somewhere :) send me an email on the site and remind me and I'll take a look. I was out the first half of the day today so I'm trying to catch up on what I missed right now.

Thanks for sharing those photos! Those are some heavy hitters. The ISU-152 and ISU-122 assault guns are interesting. Do you have anymore photos, possibly of an SU-152?

email sent

Dusty,

Got my tank the other day, and Erik has helped me with the damage instilled by UPS on its way across the states. A little worse than yours, with two corners of the upper hull rounded off.

The interesting bits with this tank are the suspension arms with integral springs apparently, and of course, the jacks to keep the lid up when messing about inside. There are no torsion springs across the bottom of the interior, as the shafts for the suspension arms are keyed into the lower hull sides and have small E clips holding them in place. This frees up a lot of space.

I really like the new sounds, especially the turret rotation. I'll have to get a few sound cards to use with my OPTCB KV tanks, and free up the Benedini's for other use. I've gotten the IR emitter installed so far, (its an airsoft tank), and am awaiting a serial motor controller for the OPTCB destined to be installed. Sorry, but the V3 controller still doesn't drive as well as the OPTCB with the sabertooth controller so I'll save it for a future project.
So I measured the tracks next to my KV1/2 tracks, and they are narrower by about 0.1 inches. The tank is also narrower by about 0.75 inches and shorter, idler to sprocket center lines, by about 1 inch though overall they are about the same length due to the fender overhang on the JS2. I guess the Russians narrowed the JS2 so it would be easier to transport via rail?

The gearbox is a 4:1, all ball bearing unit. I thought the sprockets were loose initially but apparently the axle gear isn't pinned like in all the other 'boxes', but must have a woodruff key or something as it has a slight rotational movement not present before. Also, you can pop off the sprocket hubcap easily now, without scratching the paint. They have thoughtfully put a small hole in the side of the sprocket so a small screwdriver can be inserted and pry on the back of the hubcap....nice.

Jerry Rude
Roseburg, OR

I got my JS2 the other day and kind of have mixed emotions. There was some good stuff and some not so good. First the good:

I really like the new sound set. The engine sounds great, the startup is great, and the secondary sounds, like elevation and rotation are also very, very good. It's a solid and good running tank and I like that part. I also like the way Imex packages things. My tank arrived with absolutely no damage and I like the fact that they check every tank and then add additional precautions, like taping down all the hatches and using foam in between the box for the tank and the shipping box.

Now the bad, and these are just personal observations that others might not have a problem with:

Whoever had the bright idea to make this tank so that you cannot turn it on or off unless the turret is rotated 90° deserves a good swift kick. I do not like rotating the turret by hand and I don't care if they say it can take it I still don't like it. It's not that big a deal, I'll just relocate the switch, but I still think it was a bad idea to put it under that hatch. The next thing I had a minor problem with was the tow cables. I'm not sure why they decide to attach them without coloring them, but getting them disconnected without breaking or cracking on those little tabs is an exercise. One that I failed miserably at. I think they should either make them the right color and attach them or leave them unattached. I also wish they would make a plastic turret for this tank. I have a feeling that the flimsy upper Hull is going to be a problem with that heavy metal turret on it down the road. I suppose I'll have to look into some kind of bracing for the upper.

Last is the paint. I usually expect that I'll have to repaint any tank that I buy, but I really wish they would stop trying to weather these things. The mud on my tank doesn't look like mud that got splattered on a tank, it looks like somebody flicked paint on it. Again, nothing I can't fix but I would have been much happier if the tank came just painted green.

So I've decided that since I wasn't completely happy with the js2 there's only one way to make myself feel better, and that is to order a new Panzer IV. I just hope they have the summer camo in stock. I laughed when Eric mentioned that he lives in Florida and prefers winter camo. I live in Detroit and really don't like the winter camo. I guess it's just a matter of personal preference. So if you're watching, Erik, you can expect to hear from me today or Monday to order a Panzer 4.

Notes taken. I wasn't a fan of this paint scheme but maybe in the future we can change that :) The tow cables I wasn't too happy with either, I'll speak with having those removed and something you add later. Not only is that a PITA for you guys but it isn't for us at the warehouse here either. The hatch thing was due to the requests to move away from the buttons on the bottom of the tank. I'm sure we can get a different solution for the wiring though, with a 3d print we should be able to possibly move the switches to the front of the tank. I'll work with anyone who wants to do 3D parts for the tanks btw, just hit me up and I'll do my best to help.
Also yes, the winter schemes are IMO much better, especially the new PIV winter. After 10+ years here in FL I absolutely HATE the heat. I have always loved cold weather growing up and not having it here is horrible. My gf has never even seen snow before.... Oh and the summer PIVs are OOS atm but are on order. The only one left around here is my personal tank :) We also have some Walterson 24th and FoV stuff coming next month too just a heads up.

Oh yeah, it's also cool to have a rep for the vendor here on the forum where we can talk to him. Mato used to have a rep, but she disappeared long ago.

I actually enjoy repainting the tanks so to me it's not a big deal, it's just sanding off the "mud" that's a PITA. If you've got an stl file for the switch solution I'll be happy to guinea pig, in either filament or resin.

Erik, I know you hate the heat, but to get the cold you also give up color, and that hurts. Detroit is a very grey place in the winter, with lots of black and white thrown in. I'm sure if you did move north you'd instantly notice the loss and miss the color. I'm so glad winter is almost over I don't know how to act. Bring on the heat! And the eye candy wears so much less. Gotta love that. ;)

Sorry to hear the summer camo is out of stock, but now you know I want one so I just have to wait. :)

More on FoV? Didn't they do 1/18 stuff, like the PAK 40?

And you know what would make a cool 3D print project? An upper hull for an ISU-122. Just sayin'. :cool:

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A DPST rocker switch fits nicely alongside the speaker. I just need to finalize a mount for it.

Time for a road trip to Boston!

Impressive!

So after having a chance to play with it a bit, I have to say this thing is a real little beast. The drive train is very smooth. It runs so well that if you release the stick from full speed it will coast for at least it's own length. I need to add spatter shields and a bit of grease, but the ball bearing gearboxes aren't too bad for noise level, and the engine sounds easily drown out any gear whine. The metal lower is quite stout and the individual roadwheels travel smoothly up and down. All together the suspension works great, and the tracks seem of high quality as well. As for the upper hull, it seems a bit on the flimsy side and I worry about longevity with the metal turret. If there were a plastic turret option I think I'd go for it. I know everybody loves metal, but you can't tell the difference once it's properly painted, and the reduction in stress on the upper is well worth it for me. I've already converted a couple of my tigers back to plastic turrets and I'm glad I did.

I can't say I'm crazy about the clear machine gun barrels, but it's a simple project to fix, and those are the kinds of mods that can be fun. I'll have to do more research and see what I can come up with for an MG upgrade, at least to the bow gun. These little bits were in the accessory pack, any ideas where they go? I couldn't find reference to anything similar in the instructions. The hooks are metal and the other two pieces are green plastic, so I imagine they go on the deck somewhere, or maybe the turret?

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Looks like the half barrel part goes in the center of the hooks. They are holders for the tow cables. Typically the barrel portion is completely round. Looks like they only made it look right from one side. The small hook attaches to the body of the tank and the larger hook goes to the cable end. I know this is a KV-1, but it's the same device.
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And on the IS-2...