In my thread about the AMX-30 I answered a question regarding tracks and mentioned just having ordered a couple of sets from a new-to-me maker.
They showed up last week and first impression was good enough I wanted to build something to use one of the sets on that would be a relatively quick and easy build. I grabbed a really old Tamiya M1 out of the bottom of the stash and got started, first assembling a run of ten links or so to check on fit to the drive sprockets. I tried two different Tamiya sprockets and one from an older Dragon kit.
In order, Tamiya, Tamiya with the guide ring and finally Dragon.
IMG_5200 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_5201 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_5202 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I’m happy, especially with how fast they go together. I made up a basic jig, put ten links on it, inserted the pins leaving a couple of millimeters of pin exposed and put a dab of super glue on the end of the pins. A quick shove to seat the pins and presto, a run of ten links was done, that easy. I assembled two runs of 75 links in about an hour.
Links on the jig:
IMG_5189 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
And with with pins not seated:
IMG_5190 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Of course that meant I had to actually start the model, so I did, knocking the hull and running gear pretty quickly as well, filled the open sponson undersides and checked the tracks on the model. My 75 link runs were tight, 76 links was way too loose so I whipped up some different idler mounts and went with 75 links. The whole upper run will be covered but I still wanted them to fit reasonably well. Without stretching the tracks, I got this:
IMG_5197 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Yes, if I was building a tank with the skirts off or open for maintenance, that’s loose. Since I didn’t want to stress the tracks or suspension parts, this is okay.
I had a few links that required a single swipe of a file to remove a bit of flash on a few links…
IMG_5193 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
And I ended up with 70+ extra links, pins as well. I had no broken or mal-formed links either.
I will be ordering more from CRS. And again, I have absolutely no connection with CRS Tankwerks, other than really liking their product.
Now I need to build an Abrams.
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Looks good Russ,I bookmarked their site
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