[ATTACH]411498[/ATTACH]
This is a set of separate-link tracks moulded in a hard, dark red-brown plastic, intended for M4 Sherman tanks and derivatives with the wide horizontal volute spring suspension (HVSS) — commonly known by the erroneous names of “E8” or “Easy Eight”
These tracks were not used that much, chiefly only on tanks and some self-propelled guns produced ca. late 1944, before being replaced by an entirely different design. As such, though, there are plenty of kits to which they could be fitted.
In the box, which, by the way, has a cardboard sleeve you have to push it out of, you get two bags, one with track links and the other with pins and an assembly jig:
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The links come two to a sprue, and unless I miscounted, there are 160 links (actually, I did miscount, because I got to 159 after cleaning them up, so 160 for the set sounds like a good assumption) while the pins come 24 to a sprue, of which there are 16, making 388 pins. Given that there should be 79 links per side, or 158 per tank, making 316 pins, this is very good, because you can break or lose some and still have enough. It would have been nice if Trumpeter had chucked a few more links into the box as well, but at least they provide lots of spares for the delicate pins. The pin sprues are moulded so that the pins themselves are on a 1 cm long bit of sprue that can be cut or twisted off (cutting is easier), giving you a handle to hold the tiny (2.5 mm long and 0.85 mm thick) pin while you insert it into the track.
Actually putting the links together requires finding a routine that works for you, as always with this kind of thing. I found what works fairly well for me is to put the links into a container after cleaning them up, the pins from one sprue into another, and then put a number (five to eight) onto the jig. I then stick the pins in on one side and then the other, after which I can cut off the sprue handles with a knife, then shift the assembled track length sideways so the last link is still on the jig, and repeat. The pins are tight enough that they will stay in the track without glue, but you do need to ensure you’ve pushed them all the way in. Also, when cleaning up the links, take care not to damage the holes in the outer parts, where the pins actually go in: if you do, chances are the pins will fall out again if you handle the track, or so experience taught me.
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As a tip: you can see in the photo above that I write the tens of the number of assembled links on the track. That is, the link with the pencilled 2 on it, is the 20th in this stretch. You can much more easily keep track of how far along you are this way than when you have to keep counting and/or fitting the track to the model to see if you’re there yet.
Detail is quite nice, with good profile on the outer face, and though the inner face is mostly smooth, it does have some recessed bolt heads. The only thing that could really be improved here is that the guide horns are moulded solid, when on the real thing they had a hole through the link from front to back. When the track is put onto the model, it’s not very obvious that the hole is lacking:
[ATTACH]411504[/ATTACH]
It would be far more obvious for spare tracks made from this set, though.
Looking at the design of the link sprue, they could have had the hole moulded in, but this would have required a more complicated mould, so I suppose Trumpeter chose to keep the cost down a little. The only alternative would be to mould the horns separately and have the modeller glue them on, which is a chore that I for one would rather do without unless I have to
Talking of glueing, the plastic is a hard polystyrene. I initially thought it was ABS because of its hardness and smooth feeling, but the box claims it is PS. My usual plastic glue, actually a MEK-based solvent sold as a degreasing agent, doesn’t work on this plastic at all — brushing it onto the sprue didn’t dissolve the plastic and wouldn’t stick two bits of sprue together. However, Tamiya Extra Thin cement did work, so the links can be glued together (or the pins glued in) if you want or need to.
Testing the links around a Tamiya drive sprocket (of the kit shown above), I’m not entirely convinced they will sit well:
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The links don’t seem to go far enough over the teeth. A quick test with spare Asuka and Dragon sprockets shows those seem to fit better, and they feel like the sprocket rings are thinner than Tamiya’s, so perhaps that’s the problem. I may try filing down the Tamiya sprocket rings from the inside to see if that solves it.
Ratings
Appearance: 7/10
Ease of construction: 7/10
Quality: 7/10
This is a set of separate-link tracks moulded in a hard, dark red-brown plastic, intended for M4 Sherman tanks and derivatives with the wide horizontal volute spring suspension (HVSS) — commonly known by the erroneous names of “E8” or “Easy Eight”
These tracks were not used that much, chiefly only on tanks and some self-propelled guns produced ca. late 1944, before being replaced by an entirely different design. As such, though, there are plenty of kits to which they could be fitted.In the box, which, by the way, has a cardboard sleeve you have to push it out of, you get two bags, one with track links and the other with pins and an assembly jig:
[ATTACH]411499[/ATTACH][ATTACH]411500[/ATTACH]
The links come two to a sprue, and unless I miscounted, there are 160 links (actually, I did miscount, because I got to 159 after cleaning them up, so 160 for the set sounds like a good assumption) while the pins come 24 to a sprue, of which there are 16, making 388 pins. Given that there should be 79 links per side, or 158 per tank, making 316 pins, this is very good, because you can break or lose some and still have enough. It would have been nice if Trumpeter had chucked a few more links into the box as well, but at least they provide lots of spares for the delicate pins. The pin sprues are moulded so that the pins themselves are on a 1 cm long bit of sprue that can be cut or twisted off (cutting is easier), giving you a handle to hold the tiny (2.5 mm long and 0.85 mm thick) pin while you insert it into the track.
Actually putting the links together requires finding a routine that works for you, as always with this kind of thing. I found what works fairly well for me is to put the links into a container after cleaning them up, the pins from one sprue into another, and then put a number (five to eight) onto the jig. I then stick the pins in on one side and then the other, after which I can cut off the sprue handles with a knife, then shift the assembled track length sideways so the last link is still on the jig, and repeat. The pins are tight enough that they will stay in the track without glue, but you do need to ensure you’ve pushed them all the way in. Also, when cleaning up the links, take care not to damage the holes in the outer parts, where the pins actually go in: if you do, chances are the pins will fall out again if you handle the track, or so experience taught me.
[ATTACH]411501[/ATTACH][ATTACH]411502[/ATTACH]
As a tip: you can see in the photo above that I write the tens of the number of assembled links on the track. That is, the link with the pencilled 2 on it, is the 20th in this stretch. You can much more easily keep track of how far along you are this way than when you have to keep counting and/or fitting the track to the model to see if you’re there yet.
Detail is quite nice, with good profile on the outer face, and though the inner face is mostly smooth, it does have some recessed bolt heads. The only thing that could really be improved here is that the guide horns are moulded solid, when on the real thing they had a hole through the link from front to back. When the track is put onto the model, it’s not very obvious that the hole is lacking:
[ATTACH]411504[/ATTACH]
It would be far more obvious for spare tracks made from this set, though.
Looking at the design of the link sprue, they could have had the hole moulded in, but this would have required a more complicated mould, so I suppose Trumpeter chose to keep the cost down a little. The only alternative would be to mould the horns separately and have the modeller glue them on, which is a chore that I for one would rather do without unless I have to
Talking of glueing, the plastic is a hard polystyrene. I initially thought it was ABS because of its hardness and smooth feeling, but the box claims it is PS. My usual plastic glue, actually a MEK-based solvent sold as a degreasing agent, doesn’t work on this plastic at all — brushing it onto the sprue didn’t dissolve the plastic and wouldn’t stick two bits of sprue together. However, Tamiya Extra Thin cement did work, so the links can be glued together (or the pins glued in) if you want or need to.
Testing the links around a Tamiya drive sprocket (of the kit shown above), I’m not entirely convinced they will sit well:
[ATTACH]411503[/ATTACH]
The links don’t seem to go far enough over the teeth. A quick test with spare Asuka and Dragon sprockets shows those seem to fit better, and they feel like the sprocket rings are thinner than Tamiya’s, so perhaps that’s the problem. I may try filing down the Tamiya sprocket rings from the inside to see if that solves it.
Ratings
Appearance: 7/10
Ease of construction: 7/10
Quality: 7/10
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