Plastic Fit

[rtfoe]

Yup the guys have spotted the problem. One of the references of alignment is on the outer side welded slot that would have given the indication that the rear plate was glued at a wrong angle. Good thing its sorted.

Cheers,
Richard

[Del640]

.... And this is what I love about this forum the most.

Excellent!

Del

[Jack L]

Unfortunately made another balls up of this one. Applied the tracks as per this reference:




To find out the outer edge (of the tracks) should be flush with the outer edge of the drive wheel, not the inner edge, as per this reference:



Means now the side skirts will not fit, nor are the brackets any use, as I soldered them to the plates for extra strength. The tracks are not particularly neat (5 pieces per 88 links each side) so the plan was to cover most with the skirts. This one may be destined for the bin.

[KarlW]

The reference is another model and appears to have winterketten, but a bit short..........did the germans have another type? @Jakko

[Jack L]

The reference is another model and appears to have winterketten, but a bit short..........did the germans have another type? @Jakko

Yeah it’s a model, and I think you are right, I just didn’t pay enough attention. It wasn’t particularly clear from the instructions, but I think most German tracks are aligned like this:



And I didn’t think it would be any other way. Completely my fault.

[Allen Dewire]

No Jack,

Please don't bin the kit. The top pic is a model and not a real Panther II. The bottom pic is also very, very iffy. Ok, we won't get into that...

A simple solution would be to nip the track at one of the join points of the links, but first I have to ask if the tracks are workable or did you glue the links all together? If they are workable, then nip the join and swap them around. You would then have the width you need for the skirts and you can glue them back together and hide the join under the skirts, out of view...

The Panther II chassis uses the same roadwheel setup as the Tiger II. The tracks for the Panther II chassis are the same tracks used on the Tiger II when it was transported by rail, not the wider normal Tiger II tracks...

No Panther II's were ever completely built with the small turret designed for it. The chassis was captured by the Americans in April 1945, without a turret.

Allen

[Allen Dewire]

The Panther never had winterketten. It used ice cleats. The Tiger tanks also never had winterketten. Pz III and IV's had Ostketten...

Allen

[Guest]

The reference is another model and appears to have winterketten, but a bit short..........did the germans have another type? @Jakko

The last photo:



is a tank with Panther II tracks, which are like those of the Tiger II: made up of two different types of link, alternating. It’s a completely different track than fitted to production Panthers.

Here’s Dragon’s take on those links, with a single (I couldn’t find any more) Tamiya link from a Panther G kit for comparison:

[ATTACH]401343[/ATTACH]

[Jack L]

No Jack,

Please don't bin the kit. The top pic is a model and not a real Panther II. The bottom pic is also very, very iffy. Ok, we won't get into that...

A simple solution would be to nip the track at one of the join points of the links, but first I have to ask if the tracks are workable or did you glue the links all together? If they are workable, then nip the join and swap them around. You would then have the width you need for the skirts and you can glue them back together and hide the join under the skirts, out of view...

The Panther II chassis uses the same roadwheel setup as the Tiger II. The tracks for the Panther II chassis are the same tracks used on the Tiger II when it was transported by rail, not the wider normal Tiger II tracks...

No Panther II's were ever completely built with the small turret designed for it. The chassis was captured by the Americans in April 1945, without a turret.

Allen

No not workable, all glued to the idlers and drive wheel. Trimming back could be an option...

[Allen Dewire]

Ok Jack,

Do you mean glued to the road wheels too, or just to the idlers and drive sprockets? When you glued the tracks on, were the tracks and wheels painted where you glued them? What type of glue did you use on them? I ask these questions as they help in the solution. You only need to put the right side track on the left side and vice versa to correct it and drive on with the skirts. Please be specific as it helps....

Allen

[Jack L]

Ok Jack,

Do you mean glued to the road wheels too, or just to the idlers and drive sprockets? When you glued the tracks on, were the tracks and wheels painted where you glued them? What type of glue did you use on them? I ask these questions as they help in the solution. You only need to put the right side track on the left side and vice versa to correct it and drive on with the skirts. Please be specific as it helps....

Allen

Thanks Allen. Tracks glued at all contact points with Road wheels, idlers and sprockets using TET. Painted post glueing. The tracks were a but of a pain and pretty fragile, hence I did it this way and built them off the tank for ease of painting.

[KarlW]

Loads of mud and no one will notice..........

[Allen Dewire]

Ok,

Another question, Did you glue them on both the outside and the inside road wheel sets or only the outside? Also, did you glue them to the sprocket at every tooth gap? The solution will be time consuming and require a bit of patience and maybe a few bad words....

[Jack L]

Ok,

Another question, Did you glue them on both the outside and the inside road wheel sets or only the outside? Also, did you glue them to the sprocket at every tooth gap? The solution will be time consuming and require a bit of patience and maybe a few bad words....

Yeah went for every point of contact I could reach unfortunately.

[Allen Dewire]

Alright Jack,

Then we have to go for plan B...

Plan A, was to, first cut the track as shown here,



Then using a lot of toothpicks or Qtips, apply TET to the points of glue contact and gently, with a pair of tweezers, lift the track up a little and stick one or the other under it to let the TET dry. Working towards the front first and then working to the idler. Now the top run is loose. Again using TET, you should be able to loosen the track from the idler and at the front, the drive sprocket. This done and dry, you can work the bottom run the same way being very careful. You then could remove the track and do the other side the same way. Very time consuming and lots of patience but can work....

Now for plan B...Do you have a JLC razor saw in your arsenal of weapons? Or maybe something similar with fine teeth on it and not too big in size? If so, then you could do this,



Cut off the outer ends of the track and make it a mirror image of the inside of the track. This would also take some time, but your problem would be solved. You could also use a set of cutters to achieve the same effect. Your skirts would fit and hide most of your surgery too. It won't be 100% accurate, but would look good sitting on the flatcar Sir. These are the only 2 ways I can think of to correct the tracks. Please don't bin this beauty Jack..........

Prost
Allen