On some of my armor projects, the upper section of the vinyl tracks has a tendancy to ‘bow’ upwards and off of the upper bogey wheels. I’ve tried gluing them down onto the wheels, but it eventually breaks and pops up again. What works for you guys? Also, is it possible to get that sagging effect of the track hanging down over the wheels with vinyl? Thanks
Vinyl tracks (the most of them anyway) are impervious to most any glue. Tamiya has reformulated the vinyl to make it gluable with model cement but this has only been in the last few years on the newer kits. A few other manufacturers have taken the same steps… But back to case.
Depending on what type of tank it is will depend on the technique. My favorite method is to glue blocks inside the hull walls just below where I want the track to end up. then I drill a hole through the hull and insert a piece of piano wire. The wire will hold the track down while the block on the other side of the hull wall keeps pressure on the other end of the pin so the track wont force it up. (This method works quite well on Pz IV/III and Russian armor that has a lot of sag. On tanks such as the M113, Tiger, Panther that have a dead track then it can be more tricky. There is a method involving tying the the track down to the bogie wheels and I am sure it works well. but I have not tried it myself.
Now for the Sherman or M3/5/8 series then its a tough one becuse the track needs to be tight and layed accross the return rollers (NO sag). You could use a combination of the two methods above for this…
Good Luck pal…
Oh and Welcome to the forum…
I have had pretty good luck with just useing CA on them and glueing them to the tops of the wheels with a bit going over the top to get the sag look. I just use the end of a paintbrush to hold it down betweent he wheels until the glue dries. Thats how I did the ones on this one here http://lizardsworkshop.50megs.com/marder.html .
Welcome to the forum!
i have used fishing line to hold down vinyl tracks.
i run it through the tracks and tie it on the inside, leaving two long ends.
(tying it on the inside helps to keep it under control when you are assembling)
it is a bit of a hairy mess when you have ten ends flopping around before you get them tied up,
but then i just tie the ends around the nearest axle and snip the loose ends.
can’t say if it’s better or worse than other methods,
but it works pretty well.
black nylon thread would work too, i guess.
good luck.
I do the same as lizardqing. Superglue held down on top of the track with popcicle stick usually left to dry overnight. I have had no problems with it popping off on models that I did over ten years ago.
Use a needle and thread to stitch them to the weels.
Elberich,
Welcome to the forum…
The method that Kennethc recommended (probably the best way to do it) is demonstrated with a T-34 in the May 2004 issue of Finescale Modeler (the one with the LAV-25 on the cover). It has detailed pictures of how it’s done that may be useful to you. Good luck