Hi All - I’m the newbee with the Trumpeter Sam-6 kit. All has gone well up until now. The overall fit of the launcher is real good with very few minor fit problems. With that said I have run into a stone wall with the tracks. They come in various lengths with the single tracks being the most prevalent. I have tried to lay them out in sections so that I might have just a few overall sections to mount on the wheels. Every thing I do seems to be wrong. Whenever I pick up a section and try to put it in place it falls apart. I am afraid to glue any of them as I want to be sure they will fit and look right. I do not want to buy any aftermarket tracks as I want this to be a total out of box build. Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated so please helpe maintain my sanity.
It’s a link-and-length system by the sound of it, meaning that the single links are meant for the areas that need to curve around the sprockets and idlers and connect up to the longer multi-link pieces. You’ll need to glue them together to get them to stay attached to each other and, if you don’t use a fast-setting glue, should have about an hour or so work time to form them and insure you’ve got the right mix between the singles and the lengths.
the tracks on your kit are called ‘link and length’ tracks. The individual links go around the more sharply curved sections of the run, such as the outsides of the drive sprockets and idlers. The longer lengths go along the top and bottom of the runs.
If you look at these instructions fo the Revell Germany 1/72 Nashorn, you’ll see how link&length tracks go together (it’s a pdf file, and takes a while to load):
It’s probaly best to assemble each track into four sections - drive sprocket, upper run, idler, lower run, and then cement each section together with liquid poly. Let them dry for five minutes or so, and then, before the glue has set fully, fit them round the running gear where they are supposed to go. Then leave them for a few hours for the glue to dry fully, and remove them from the model.
Now remove the tracks from the model, paint them, and, when they are dry, cement them back in place. This time, use superglue, not polystyrene cement.
Here are a cople of piccies of a Trumpeter 1/72 Panzerjager Ferdinand that I build a couple of years ago. It has a similar style of tracks to the SAM-6 launcher, and shows how they lie along the upper run:
There are lots of people here who do this sort of stuff every day, and have been doing so for several years. If you’d like any more help, ask away!
Another tip to remember when working with link and length or indy track links…
Don’t glue the sprocket in place before assembling your tracks. This allows you to align the drive teeth on the sprocket with the holes in the track.
In many kits with link and length or indy tracks, the sprockets aren’t “keyed” to the axle, meaning that you can glue it at any point in its rotation. With link and length tracks in particular, there isn’t really a lot of room for adjustment and if the sprocket is glued slightly “off” you may find yourself with gaps and/or excessive “hang” under the sprocket
I did a whole tutorial on assembling individual tracks over there.
www.armorama.com, then go to in the middle of the page where it says “Features”, click on “more”, than “Armor/AFV’s” and my “Karl Logan’s Indy Track Tutorial” is in the middle of the page.
Thanks to all of you for your help. It is greatly appreciated. If, and when I run into other problems I’ll be back looking for mor help. Once again, thanks.
Doog, I was wondering if you have heard of or seen a track link assembly tool called the Trakmaster. Its made by our neighbors to the North and from everything I’ve read and now that I have one I think its going to cut the assembly time in half for just about all Fruil links besides the Sherman ones. If you know anything about the trakmaster let me know and if you didn’t know about now you do,check it out…
Yeah, Cougar, I’ve seen that–the only thing is, I don’t do Friuls. I just don’t see the benefit vs. the cost-- I like to think that I can make a set of plastic links look just as good for less than a quarter of the money–hell, FREE if they come with the kit!
It looks like a cool unit if you’re into the Friuls, but I have a pretty simple method that seems to work for me with the plastic links, so I would have to take a pass on it. But if the Friuls are your thing, go for it! [:D]
Yeah, Cougar, I’ve seen that–the only thing is, I don’t do Friuls. I just don’t see the benefit vs. the cost-- I like to think that I can make a set of plastic links look just as good for less than a quarter of the money–hell, FREE if they come with the kit!
It looks like a cool unit if you’re into the Friuls, but I have a pretty simple method that seems to work for me with the plastic links, so I would have to take a pass on it. But if the Friuls are your thing, go for it! [:D]
Doog, I checked out your Armorama article,Cudos,very nice job. In fact I noticed how you put those track links together and I use something similar. I went to my local hardware superstore and I bought a roll of double stick tape, and then I square off an area on my cutting mat and thats how I’ve done my links in the past. Relatively cheap and very affective. I like the fruils, and GOD they are expensive. So, when I got my tax return I bought up all that I could for my current stash. If you needing any links let me know because I have some left over from a Dragon 3-1 maybe you could use them. No cost, no worries,anything to help out a fellow modeller. I haven’t used the Trakmaster yet, but I’ll let you know what I think of when I do. I like your work on your armor so keep posting them on photobucket. The last armor I was working out went to crap. I had the magnifying light too close and it melted the right side of it…[censored] I boxed it up do to frustration and started on something else. As soon as I come up with an idea for the kit to have a huge melt spot on the side I will finish it. lol
Shame about that light mishap–getting a good Optivisor would eliminate that possibility of melting another kit. I can’t live without mine! They’re easy enough to find–Squadron’s got them.
I’m set on tracks for now, but thanks for the generous offer! [;)]
No worries,I bought a nice one from Model expo, dual flouresent lights very good. i will look into getting an Optivisor too. When ever I get a set of extra links I will send you a message and let you know. Either way for me there just sitting in the extra stash.
