plastic indy track links

[aaron]

I need a helpful sbs on doing plastic indy track links please post any helpful links. All appreciated thanks.

[aaron]

No one knows how to do indy links? lol :smile5:

[Guest]

Aaron,

This is how I do individual track links :

Normal masking tape, pull off a strip that's equivalent to double the length of of the tank you're making. Join it up so you have a loop & stick this to your workbench so it's sticky-side up. You could use double-sided tape, but that can be too sticky.

Next there are 2 ways of proceeding. Firstly, you can lay the track links on the tape So they're interlocking & run a small amount of extra-thin cement into the gaps between the links. This is, for me, the quickest & easiest method but you need to be careful not to use too much cement.

Second way is to stick each link one by one, adding a dab of normal cement to each one. This method is slower & more fiddly.

I do enough to go from 3/4 of the track length to around either the drive sprocket or idler wheel.

Leave it for about 30 mins to harden slightly & then remove from the tape & it'll still be flexible enough to drape over the roadwheels to get a nice 'sag'. Do the same with the remaining length & join them once you're happy with how they sit on the wheels.

Hopefully you'll have great tracks!

Hope this helps

Patrick

[aaron]

Cheers Patrick, That helped a lot, do you have the wheels removeable? how do you get the sag on the top run? do you do the tracks after the tanks built or after the hull has wheels?

[Guest]

I leave the wheels unglued until right at the end, after everything is painted & weathered.

The tracks get built usually while I'm waiting for stuff like washes to dry & they're painted & weathered off the vehicle.

To get the sag, I put them over the wheels & then pop some pieces of sponge between the hull & the track. This keeps it under pressure but won't damage anything delicate. I'm careful with how much sag to add, coz apart from Russian tanks, most tracks were pretty tight - throwing a track was a tankers nightmare!

Basically, the last thing I do is glue the wheels to the hull & add the trackage. It can be tricky depending on the particular tank - a Tiger is easy, whereas something with fenders is harder so that might involve feeding the track length from the front / back.

Is there a particular tank you're building Aaron?

Patrick

[aaron]

yep i have

dragon jsu 152 kit 9112

dragon pz3 kit 9111

dragon pz3 kit 9024

dragon pz3 kit 6631

masterbox munitionschlepper 1 ausf a

masterbox 1kla panzerbefeblswagen

These all have indy links of some form, so thanks a lot for your help

[Guest]

No problem mate, and that's a nice list of kits to build! I've the Tamiya JSU 152 in my stash but I'll be interested to see the Dragon one done.

Cheers Patrick

[aaron]

ugh i was dead keen on building the 152 but i got caught up on the fact that the road wheels are 1mm to small in diameter, this wouldnt normally bother me but its like they are tiny to me when i look at them. so it just sits in my stash atm