The ST-1

steampunkkaja (52)in #tanks • 5 years ago

By mid 1945, a number of projects were on the tables of Soviet tank designers for the purpose of replacing the IS-2. The two main competing projects were Objects 701 and 703. Object 703 entered production first, as the IS-3, but not in time to see combat. Object 701 entered production as the IS-4 in 1946, but there were already plans to alter the design, as it offered no significant benefit over the IS-2. The first of these was Object 701-1, a.k.a. the ST-1. It was to be armed with the same 122mm D25T rifled tank gun, but in a much larger turret that could carry more ammunition. Other changes were made to the IS-4 chassis as well to accommodate the increased weight.

ST-1 1.PNG

ST-1 2.PNG

ST-1 3.PNG

ST-1 4.PNG

As you can see, the running gear is also slightly different, employing larger road wheels, though not as large as those of contemporary medium tanks or the later IS-6.

One other advantage of the larger turret was increased gun depression, up to 10 degrees, though the image below actually shows 11.5, as I made the barrel parallel to the roof:
ST-1 5.PNG

A large turret with a sloping roof was not common among Soviet tanks, and this design is actually somewhat similar to the American M103 heavy tank. The reason is that Soviet tank tactics were very different from Western tactics, which made greater use of hull-down positions. Part of the reason for this is that warfare in Western Europe took place on much more varied terrain, whereas the battlefields of the Eastern Front were much flatter, and tanks with a lower silhouette had an advantage.

Per my self-imposed 15mm challenge, I won't be releasing this model in 1/100 scale until I have a fictional tank to upload along with it. However, it is available in 1/285 (6mm) scale: https://www.shapeways.com/product/MKRFSA4CD/1-285-st-1?optionId=97760990

The ST-1 will appear again after I make the ST-2, and compare both to the IS-4. However, I need to fix the IS-4 before I do that.

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