Hey guys, I’ve been doing armour for awhile now. I have always had a problem with the tracks. I always saved them for last, and I would usually spray them black, then drybrush the track colour onto it before gluing. That would allow me to paint the lower hull of the tank, and dirty it up before hand. What the issue with this is, the glue on the links doesn’t bond strong enough, and they break off, mainly when they get jiggled around a little bit. Just today I was trying to put a link (or what became all links) back onto my most recently completed model of Dragon’s Captured T-34/76. That tank has been through alot. It had seen one hatch ripped off because of my roomate’s Jewish friend not enjoying the Luftwaffe Identification on the Hatch (giant swastika flag), then the other day my fiancee’s dog jumped up on me when I was showing her dad my recent acheivement, and knocked the tank out of my hand breaking the track links and the riders.
Darn there I go rambling again heh.
What I’m trying to ask is, before I do something stupid with my Tiger and it’s tracks, what are your tricks to keep a secure bond, and to allow myself to be able to paint the tracks and lower hull and wheels. I fear if I put the wheels on and the tracks on BEFORE painting I will have more of a difficult time, but I would rather cut out the difficulty of throwing out a bunch of links. PLEASE HELP ME! heh, I’m getting really frustrated with the tracks/wheels of my tanks!
and thanks for bearing through my ramblings! (good thing I got pics of the T-34/76 before it got wrecked!).
I have not done many Indy links but I have found that I have to take my time and not rush.
I also leave the fenders off untill the tracks are fitted and dirted-up, for bonding the tracks I use the normal plastic cement with no bother. Hope this some help!.
Hi CDNTanker25,
I don’t have a lot of experiance with individual track links either, but what I have done on Dragon’s JSU-122 that I am currently building for the TD Group Build is: assemble the Idler wheel and sprocket as usual. Place, do not cement them to the hull of the tank. Glue the inner half of the road wheels and return rollers to the suspension arms. Now, build the tracks as normal. When the glue has dried completely, you can remove the entire track assmbley with the sprocket and idler wheels. Now you can go ahead and build and paint the rest of the tank as normal except leaving the outer half of the return rollers and road wheels off, and when you are ready, slide the completed tracks into position and cement the idler and sprocket in place. Last you glue the outer road wheels and return rollers in place.
So far, this is working out great for me. I am almost ready to start painting, and re-installing the tracks. I hope this helps. Good luck!
I build and the tracks on the tank then I paint them, Thats easier for me.
Dave
For my first time, I built the line straigth runs in a jig to keep them straight. The curved runs were buitlt straight and then when the glue was partially set put in place and shaped. Then they were left in place to dry. I was able to then remove the runs and paint them off the tank. I used a base coat of MM titanium metalizer, with a light overcoat of Tamiya RotBraun. Buffing the tracks lightly with a cloth wore away some of the rotbraun revealing the titanium color under. I tried steel metalizer, but that was too bright. I did drybrush some steel metalizer and added some orang and brown pastels to finish. I think it turned out well. After the tracks were weathered, I glued then to the tank.
ditto on that… if you have a small enough brush and a steady enough hand, painting them on the tank is the easiest. good luck!
Howdy and[#welcome] I could give a long and drawn out explanation but this article is pretty much how I learned!!
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=84
I build indy-link tracks in 4 sections, generally. The upper and lower ‘straight’ runs count for two sections. The other two are the ‘curved’ runs that go around the front drive sprocket and the rear idler wheel. Once those runs are done then one just assembles them together around all the road-wheels.
Glenn
Well, I’m pretty sure that no one here has tried tieing down the tracks… I had to do that on an Sdkfz 251/I when the vinyl tracks didn’t quite have enough length to make a comfortable revolution around the wheels. For short, they weren’t long enough. So sagging with glue was not a possibility. I would have to practically pour on super glue to get it to hold. So, I took extremely thin black sewing thread and tied about 5 loops around the gaps in the tracks and around the shaft that connects the wheel. It worked pretty well, and I could then apply a reasonable amount of glue to the tracks and wheels and create sag.
thanks guys for the tips!
Like everyone here for the most part indy link buildup can be a real challenge even to seasoned builders. I don’t have any magic secrets that can make it any more full proof on assembly, but in reading the comments posted here, one really caught my attention, and I will utilize it on my next build if I’m using styrene indy tracks! I think Nate (Nachtflieger) might have hit the nail on the head, for assembling indy tracks on especially hard to access areas of some tanks. The idea of leaving the outside sprocket, drive wheel, and main running wheels off until the tracks are installed sounds very practical, and would make installation of the tracks subject to less handling in my opinion. Good ideas folks. Semper Fi, Mike