Hello all
Its been a while since Ive posted. Life changes and such. Lots of changes here. Anyway I am assembling AFV club’s T80E1 indy track links. According to the instructions on the box everything is just friction fit to help tracks remain workable. However when I try to attach the end connectors they just slip off. I have started applying a small amount of glue to the outside but it makes the tracks stiff. Anyone who as assembled these or other AFV tracks I need some advice.
I have the T80 set for the Sherman, same assembly and material, and I have to glue the end connectors. In fact, they’re such a pain to assemble, I stopped and got some Dragon DS tracks.
You need to be careful with weathering,I had the tracks for the M!A1 and they got very brittle after washing with enamels.
I also ended up tossing my AFV indies for a Tiger,just had so much trouble.
AFV Club’s T80 series (T80, T84, T80E1, T84E1) tracks are horrible. They are too fragile for themselves. I too ended up trashing a set and going with Dragon tracks.
Your best bet is to replace them with Dragon indi-link plastic ones, or a set of Dragon DS rubber one-piece tracks. Sorry, they just suck.
I’m having problems with their tracks too. I had to do it right the first time because if I have to repeat the process, the track’s plastic will be loose already.
Same thing with the T197 tracks for the M48 series–I used them on my M48 recently, and had nightmares with them breaking apart after an enamel wash. Even before that they were really sketchy. I’m pretty sure I had assembled them and then glued them, too?
Looking at the instructions I honestly don’t know how they can be a friction fit. I would build them in runs maybe 4 or 5 links long then build the full runs form there. Build on the sprockets and work your way from there. No simple fix to be honest
I have built a few of the AFV track link kits and some are great, the tiger ones in particular. The Sherman ones you need to know how to put together to make them work, I learnt on the second set!
Phil
Their T80/T84 sets are the only ones I have had problems with. Their Abrams, M48/M60 and M108/M109 track sets are great. I always glue them to make sure they stay. I don’t trust friction alone to hold them in place. I use a light brushing of liquid glue once they are in place, leaving a couple end connectors loose so they can be removed for painting after they dry.
I’ve used a couple of AFV Club U.S.track sets and definitely had problems with the loose end connectors. On my first attempt at correcting that I brushed Mr. Surfacer 500 on the pins to bulk them up a bit. Had to do put a couple of coats on. When dry the end connectors did stay on, but I think the lacquer base on the Mr. Surfacer weakened the tiny pins and they eventually started breaking, but it was months later.
Then I read on these very forums a neat trick! Use a sharp needlenose pliers and pinch the middle of the pins just enough to make them "bulge’ a bit. Just enough to get those pesky end connectors to hold on. I tried that on my next set and it worked like a charm! I lost a few links due to overpinching, which made it difficult to press the end connectors on and resulted in some broken pins…ooops!
Anyway, here are some photos:
This is the 2nd set I did, T48 Sherman tracks. Basically the same setup as the T80 and most U.S. links with end connectors. I used the pinching method on these links. As you can see they fit pretty good and even with some pressure to get them tight they didn’t break nor did any of the end connectors slip off.
Steps to alter the pins. First: this is one of those T48 links:
Next pinch or squeeze just the middle of the pin using needlenose pliers or some strong tweezers
If you squeeze too hard you’ll get something like this!! Actually I did that on purpose so you can see it clearly in the photo. The first couple I did you could barely see the bulge in the photo. I have to stress that you need to be careful and not overdo the pinching, otherwise you may ruin too many links. Fortunately these set usually have enough extra links!
See…they hold on pretty good!!
That’s it! Do the same to all 4 pins, multiplied by…what 160 or so!! Yeah, its tedious, but at least you won’t have to throw that AFV track set away.
The only other tip I have is if you’re going to do a wash on the painted tracks don’t use enamel thinner or mineral spirits. Those liquids are hot enough to eventually weaken those pins and then you have a disaster! I would base paint them thoroughly with acrylic paint, then overcoat with enamel paint, then apply a water or alcohol based wash.
Or you could just get some DS tracks!! [:P]
Hope this helps!
