Hello everybody,
What’s the best way to make rubber or vinyl tracks lay down at the top of their loop, so they look like they have some weight? Would superglueing the tracks to their upper rollers work? The subject is a Tamiya M4 Sherman, but I’m sure I’m going to have a similar problem with the Tiger II that I just bought.
Thanks Ya’ll
Chris
super glue works, but I prefer putting the tracks in near boiling water and quickly putting them on and put some weight on top (such as screwdrivers, etc.) where its supposed to sag, and let it cool that way and it should hold its shape. I’ve also heard of people using hairdryers
Chris,
i have run monofilament (fish line) through the treads,
knot it on the bottom (to anchor it)
and then tie it around the roadwheel axle.
it is not too tedious, and pretty effective.
ed.
You can get some individual-block tracks from AFV that can be posed to simulate sag. I bought sets for my M-48A3 and M-88 and they are great. Don’t know how many kinds they have, though.
Going with individual treads is the best way to go, but if it must be rubber treads I recomend super glue. Get some pictures of how much the treads sag on your tank (US armor had the least sag, the Germans came in second place and the Russians had the most sag) but the Sherman will still have some sag. Once you know how much to sag it, have many contact points with the wheels and treads. What that sentence means is I have seen some armor where the modeler glued the tread on one wheel creating a jagged sag that doesn’t flow like the real deal and they just called it good. Make sure you have as much contact points as possible and also make sure that the whole thing flows natuarly like the real tank (this will come in handy when you start that Tiger II)! put on the glue and gently ram a paint brush end or anything with the apropriate mass in the gap and let it stay untill you think the glue is dry. Hope it helps
I’ve done some tanks with metal pins or plastic sprue hotstuffed into drilled holes in the sidewalls behind the bogies and hotstuffed in place…and poking out halfway across the tracks to hold them in place.
Regards, Dan
What? Sorry either I am out on the lingo or it’s just me who got blown away by that. [:0]
The sag on an M4 (or any Sherman variant) is negligable at best unless the crew have been neglecting the tracks something fierce.
The best thing you can do is use CA glue to tack it to the top of the return skid on the top of the suspension unit.
Thanks ya’ll,
I’ll have to think about this one for a little while.
Chris
armormaster, there is an article in the march issue of fsm on working with limited run kits, and he uses the wire through the side wall technique on it, so you should look at it and see what it is.
Yeah, the tracks were live, right? I understood that the problem with Shermans and other tanks with live tracks is getting the tracks to appear not to sag, rather than getting them to sag. [:)]
Allright, thanks for clearing it up. I think I remeber that article now that I look back.[|)]
Just as an aside … when we’d adjust track tension on the M-60 and M1 series of tanks, we’d crank out the front idler wheel adjustment arm (that’s the part that swings out the very front wheel) until track tension could be measured by pulling a plumb string across the tops of the support rollers. The track could not sag more than an inch and a half or less than an inch, so a scale model would barely show any sag on a properly-adjusted track. Regular track maintenance resulted in continuous correction as the track aged and loosened. (I’m and old tanker)
Sherm and MBT70 are both right. Since ‘live’ track was brought up, maybe I should spout about it for a bit for those who’ve never heard of ‘live’ or ‘dead’ track.
Live track has track pins or pin sleeves that are bushed with rubber; so that there is some ‘spring’ to it, where as a ‘dead’ track has a dry pin in a (usually) steel shoe. Naturally a dead track is noisier and takes more power to drive, while the live track won’t ‘creak’ as much and takes less power.
A Live or dead track can be either suspended or unsuspended. Suspended tracks use return rollers, etc. too keep the track from sagging (and lashing). For example, the M4, M60, M1, etc. have a live suspended track. On the other hand, the M109, M113, M108 all have unsuspended live track. The tops of the road wheels act as a track guides to keep the track in line during the return run. There are no return rollers.
I believe the Centurion had a dead suspended track (dry pin). Several types of Soviet tanks, T-62’s, T-34’s, etc… had unsuspended dead tracks and the JS series suspended dead track.
Also, an unsuspended track doesn’t mean the vehicle had a Christie suspension. I had a lot of guys try to tell me that my M109 had that type. Nope. Christie type (as in the Christie’s BT’s and T-34’s) had that spring arrangement between the hull walls or in spring compartments. the M109, M113 etc. have torsion bars.
My [2c] hope I didn’t [zzz] y’all.
Ron[:D]
Thanks, Ron. As a matter of fact, I was going to post the question of what was a live track. So no snoozing here!!