First time assembling tank tracks help
The model I'm currently working on (Trumpeter 1/72 Elefant) will be my first time assembling tracks from 'scratch' and I want to make sure I know what I'm doing. I've done other models that come with those terrible rubber tracks, but I don't like they way they look on the models.
I've watched a couple videos on YouTube like this one, and the general process looks like secure some masking tape upside down on my work surface, arrange the tracks on that, and then apply some cement so that they stick together.
My main question is how long do I let the tracks sit before fitting them onto the model? I've read that if you don't give them time to stick they'll fall apart when you try to move them, but if you wait too long they might be too stiff to handle and fit properly. What's the "proper" amount of time to wait before trying to fit the tracks on the model?
From what I've read this is probably the most frustrating thing to do in tank modeling, especially at 1/72 scale, so is there anything else I should know before I sit down to do this?
Posted Dec 23, 2014, 7:28 PM UTC
Okay, so that's this model?
http://www.onthewaymodels.com/reviews/Trumpeter/graphics/Ferdinandtracks.jpg
http://henk.fox3000.com/trumpeter/7204/05.jpg
That's somewhere between link-and-length and individual link tracks. People are pretty right that it's a pain to do at 1/72. LnL tracks aren't bad, but those little fiddly bits are going to be a pain.
This guy has a pretty good example of more or less what it should look like:
http://miniafv.blogspot.com/2011/09/trumpeter-172-sdkfz184-elephant-cetin.html
What I would do (and have done a couple of times at 1/72) is assemble the smaller parts that go around the drive sprocket and idler by gluing them directly to the sprockets. Those are what are going to determine how the rest of it fits, so you don't want to glue the sprockets on before you've built the rest of the track-- fitting them so they look nice will require rotating them a bit. Then build the lengths that go around the underside and the road wheels. Those look pretty straight, so you can align them to the road wheels, hook on the lengths on the bottom, and then rotate the sprockets so they hook up properly. Once they're lined up, glue those sprockets on.
Then assemble the top parts separately, using Tamiya super thin cement or something similar (it should be watery, not a gel, so capillary action can suck the glue down into the joint where it will pretty much vanish although still keep the parts stuck together). That's the A3x6/A4/A4/A3x6 section in the instructions.
Let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes-- it should be pretty flexible, and will be kind of fragile so you can't crank it around too much, but you should be able to gently mold in the track sag you want, and since the pieces that go around the sprockets are in place and hooked to the bottom length of track, it should be relatively easy to line up the top saggy part with the sprocket parts and glue them into place.
Does that all make sense? That looks like kind of a pain to build, but not too bad.