i cant find any pictures of the M1 with the side skirts removed, showing the track sag. i completed on side of the AFV tracks yesterday, with the box saying 82 track links are what is supposed to be made. when i put these on there is quite some slack, is there a sag in the real tank, or is the model not to size, therefore i just need to remove links to keep it tight. how much slack is there?
IIRC the M1 uses “live” track (bends against the natural drape of the tracks over the suspension) so there shouldn’t be any sag.
Squadron/Signal M1 In Action shows a unit being assembled with the skirts of, p.11.
Damon.
The M1 series has a grease fitting on the idler arm that is used to set track tension. Pop up the fitting with a screwdriver and the grease escapes (sprays) and the track will relax as the idler arm compresses. Use a grease gun to pump up and extend the arm, the track then tightens. Because of the high performance of the M1, track tension is critical to the automotive performance of the vehicle, track is always set as tense as possible. There is very little “sag” if the tension is “on”.
If you’re modeling with the skirts closed, you probably dont even have to complete the track assembly across the support rollers as it will not be visible.
Steve
Save those extra links for some future project !
oh wow, i didnt even think of that. i was at first going to have the tank being able to have the tracks move, but really it doesnt matter since no one will be ‘playing’ with it. ill keep those extra tracks so i can use em with another tank!
If I recall correctly (and considering how many times we changed track last year, I really should know), there are 78 track links per side. (10 blocks of 8, with the last two links removed on one block)
There will be an amount of sag. No amount of tensioning will compensate for the sheer weight of the blocks. The catch is figuring out just how much there should be. Well, either way, it’s behind track skirts, so shouldn’t really be visible on the model anyway.
NTM
Not much sag here
They are under tension and they dont sag.
Okay time for my two cents worth. Any vehicle with “live” track will have sag. Live track merely means that the track pads have a rubber bushing around the track pins so that when assembled the track will try to curl up. Of course with it’s weight only the end block will curl up. The trick is to minimize that sag so that it does not degrade performance since the vehicle does travel at some very high speeds. I can’t spreak for the Mi series as I have no personal experience with it but it’s predecessor, the M60 series also had live track. THe way to set it was to run a strong cord over the track end connectors between the first and second support rollers then beasure the distantce from the end connector closest to the center of the run and the cord that runs over it. It 's not supposed to be over a ser limit. Of course, for the purposes of modeling, the actual measurement is quite triviial, so just get your tracks tight enough tso that there is no obvious sags between the front idler and first road wheel and last road wheel drive sprocket. The only time that you would any sort of slack in this area was if the vehicle was going in reverse in difficult terrain.
That’s my plan. No need to bother if it’s not seen anyway.
thanks for the pic, thats what i was lookin for
I saw that pic a couple of days ago rufio. Still wondering what happened to his skirts. Might be a good story!
My tank lost its first three skirts in a collision with a SuperHET. Was out of action for five months before they got it fixed. I was not happy.
Wasn’t even our fault!
NTM