Buck (and others),

Today I just airbrushed, put on the decals, washed, drybrush, chalk dusted the turret, upper hull, & part of the lower hull of the very well detailed T-34 you gave me while painting some figures (Hectic schedule ain't it?). As usual, no pictures . But I have been defeated by the one enemy I have always dreaded after I met Mr. Indy tracks, Rubber tracks!!!!!

Yup, lil 'ol me gave up on those T-34 tracks after doing my best to superglue them on. Yes there are many other ways to keep them stuck on but I concluded that those tracks were reminiscent of the rubber tracks of tamiya's M-16 half track. I have tried that method you guys taught me (scoring the link joints w/ a knife to give 'em tracks some bending) but to no avail, plus the fact that the tracks were too short for the whole drivetrain.

Any advice? Thanks.........

P.S. Buck, I really thank you for the tank, a nice crossover from German stuff!

If the track was too short for the whole drive train, it aint your fault.

If the track is too short, you can re-position the idler wheel. Research on the Net where the idler wheel is (I reckon this is the first wheel at the front, not sure though).

BTW, it's a T-34, right? You can glue the track to the top part of the wheel to make it sag. Alternatively, you can use pins like what I did to the Strv103B, but the lack of side skirts will not hide the pins - unlike the Strv103B which, though lacking in side skirts, has enough mass to hide the pins from sight.

Forgot to add a method of lengthening tracks. Boil hot water. Then, place track in hot water, stretching it like you're stretching sprue. Alternatively, you can pin the track on a wooden board, stretching it at max, then dipping the whole assembly (pinned track and board) on the hot water bath. Let it stay there for a few minutes then remove. Let cool. The heat will have softened the track, making it retain its extended length.

Lastly, try to glue the tracks with chloroform which practically melts just about anything. Try getting some (if you can find them) at Mercury Drug. You might have better luck than me finding chloroform.

Ooohh! Thats tough. But dont sweat it, Fritz. Like what Lattex said it aint your fault. Mas nanghihinayang ako about the effort you put into it.

Btw, sounds like a potential kit review entry for GI's "Caveat Emptor." Hehehe!

That's exactly what I did but those tracks just won't stick to the wheel. Let's just say that they're as stubborn as a 4 yr. old kid. #:-) #:-) #:-)


Well, not really buck. The tank itself is well detailed. The cons are: poor fit of the 2 halves of the turret, some bloated details like the screens in the engine bay, & the almighty bummer of them all..........RUBBER TRACKS!!!

Fritz

I do have a suggestion. Why not do a model of a T-34 with blasted tracks? A wreck diorama of sorts?

Think about it

Thought of that already but wrecking up tanks is an uncertain side of dio making w/c could end up as a waste, plus I don't have shelf space.

Fritz: In that case, another method for track sag from Shep Paine's book is by using thread. What you do is take some black thread, put it in a needle, and loop the thread around the wheel. Pierce the track and loop the thread to the wheel round-and-round to make the track sag. I'll post a picture later.


EDIT: Added pic to illustrate method

I have already thought of doing that but the tension is so strong that the one time I managed to get those tracks in, the idler wheel broke off........sad ain't it?

How about a T-34 getting its tracks replaced?

Then it's either:

a) Heating and stretching the track;
b) Re-positioning the idler wheel; or
c) Get some after-market tracks.