I happened to watch Aaron’s video about putting together individual link tank treads. In the video he shows how to make the tread sag over the idler wheels. My question is, in the older tank kits the treads are usually some sort of flexable plastic. How do you make them sag over the wheels since they seem to fit fairly tight?
Dave
Glue? LOL!
One thing you can try to do is adjust either the idler or sprocket (if possible) inwards to create some slack. Then you can get some invisible thread (used to hem pants legs) and loop it through the top run and around a corresponding road wheel to create sag.
What some people do (I’ve never done this as I haven’t done enough to really need to and I prefer individual link tracks as well) is put a small metal rod or nail through the hull of the tank where they need the track sag to be.
That was an old school solution, but when I tried it years ago, the pins tended to not stay horizontal and would tilt upwards after a while. I guess if there was something a little more substantial on the inner surface or if a pin went through the entire hull, both sides.
I use the thread method if the vehicle doesn’t have return rollers (T-34, Panther etc.) and the pins if it does (PZIV, PZIII etc.). I build a little shelf inside the hull with scrap plastic card to keep the pins from moving over time.