Happened across some aftermarket tracks by a company called Spade Ace. They look like Fruil’s but may be a little cheaper. Anyone used them or tried them out yet?? Found them on the link below if anyone wants to have a look
http://www.importhobby.com/shop.php?section=&type=Metal+Tracks&scale=35&brand=Spade+Ace
I don’t know how it works out for you guys overseas with shipping,but we can get friuls at www.pacmodels.com for $32.95 all the time.
I saw a few varieties that Friul doesn’t do…
You lucky swine, we are looking at around £30 for fruils here.
Think these ones will work our more than Fruils when you add the postage, not sure if they are going to be sold in the UK. But think i will stick with Fruils at least until i see some reviews on these. But thanks for posting.
Man, I gotta be honest–whether Friuls or these new ones, that’s ust too expensive for a set of tracks.
I honestly think you can make just about any set of indy link tracks look just as good if you learn to simulate the proper weathering in layers and learn how to set sag effectively. It beats paying the price of a decent smaller kit for tracks alone, in my opinion.
Doog, I agree with you in principal, but my modeling time is pretty limited, and the amount of time I spend with Friuls, vs the amount of total time I have, makes it a worthwhile expense. Plus, I really like the Friuls, but that’s a personal thing, not a criticism of plastic indies.
I would think that the Friuls would eat up modeling time> Aren’t they a rather tedious process?
My bias against them is purely from the point of view that when I take a look at them, I don’t see a true heads-and-tails advantage to their appearance over what I can get with regular plastic indy tracks to justify that kind of expense.
. I just think the …what’s the word…“myth”??? grown up around them is a little exaggerated considering their cost. I"m not judging you or anyone else though for choosing to use them. [;)]
It’s not bad, plus I can set up on a small cutting board, and do them while watching something on TV or playing in the kitchen with my wife…works for both of us, since it doesn’t count for modeling time in the official love bank record. I should also say that I don’t use Friuls unless I want sag. No point in it otherwise, not with all the other good choices available now. I also look at cost, but I buy and build fewer models now than in years past, so I splurge a bit for those models that I feel will benefit from the natural sag it’s so easy for me to get with workable tracks.
The other thing I like is that once the pins are in, (I use .020" steel or brass wire) they’re very sturdy during the painting process, something that I have a hard time with when using plastic indies. I do have a couple in progress with plastic indies, kit tracks, but they’re “live” tracks.
One thing that may make me unusual is that in my former life, I did gear and axle work and a fair amount of fab work, so my hands aren’t as limber as they used to be. I actually find Friuls relatively easy to work with, as long as they’re reasonably sized, like Merkava or Tiger. I did some for a Hellcat, and that was not quite so rewarding…but for the Trump KV, sweet!
BTW, what’s “Spade Ace” refer to? Gotta love it.
I don’t find Fruils take that long to assemble. The ones i have used so far have needed little if any clean up. The only thing i have found is that on occasion i have to open some of the holes the wire goes through.
Due to the cost i only use Fruils to replace rubber band tracks. I haven’t yet had to deal with plastic indy link tracks, apart from a set of 251 tracks which were pretty easy, but i have alot of Dragon kits in the stash with them. So i do plan on getting plenty of practice with them. But if fruils were cheaper, i would replace all my kit tracks with them.
Funny you should say that…I’ve gone back to a couple of models on the shelf (Tamiya T72 for one, Cromwell as soon as I score the Friuls), and done just that- the T72 for a complete re-do, the Cromwell probably also. It’s like building a new model w/o buying a new kit. I’ve also had exactly the same build experience with Friuls, and since I use stiff wire instead of the stuff Friul supplies, I can avoid opening up a lot of lightly flashed-over holes.
Nice idea with the wire, i’ll have to look for some. And i always have use for spare wire, so the Fruil stuff won’t go to waiste.
Oh yeah, the Friul wire makes great electrical conduit, exterior fuel and vent lines, all that kind of stuff, even fair tie-down “rope” for exterior cargo and stowage.
I don’t recall the last time i built a kit, armour or aircrfat, and didn’t need at least a little bit of wire for somthing. I find with alot of Eduard PE sets i need to use thin plastic rod for somthing, usually less than a mil, and wire works just fine.
Eggzactly.