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Russian or Soviet vehicles/armor modeling forum.
Dragon T34 1941 track question
Bigmikey
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Nebraska, United States
Joined: August 14, 2006
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Armorama: 4 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 12:13 PM UTC
I'm assembling a Dragon (6205) 1/35 T34 1941 tank kit. It has individual track links, which I don'q quite understand. These tracks are not flexable, so how do you get them over the sprockets on the tank? I didn't want to start on this kit until I understood the track assembly procedure. The instruction book was no help on this. Is there an article somewhere on how to do this? Thanks for the help!
BorisS
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New York, United States
Joined: October 07, 2007
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Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 01:19 PM UTC
Are they magic track? (it should say so somewhere in the kit like the bag theyre in) If so then I heard once you click em together theyre a bit flexible, just enough to run them over the wheels.

If not, they would probably be molded on sprues. In that case you just line them all up together on a strip of masking tape (might need to file and clean the pieces to get them to connect) and when they are on the tape all in one run you run them over the wheels, and glue them together that way. I suggest gluing short runs so you can take them off for painting and stuff. That's how i do it but there are lots of methods.

heres a thread on another method ( scroll down the page a bit)
http://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/108253&page=2
it's for a DML king tiger, but same basic concept

and a feature that may help too
https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/1737
good luck
Bigmikey
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Nebraska, United States
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Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 02:46 PM UTC
Thanks for the advice and links, Boris. The pictures of the King Tiger track assembly will help. These are not magic tracks, just links on several spruces. It doesn't look like an easy job, but not terrible either. I am trying to figure out if I should paint the links that glue around the end wheels before I put the entire track on. Seems like it would be difficult to paint those sections of track afterwards. I guess I will get started. Thanks again!
BorisS
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New York, United States
Joined: October 07, 2007
KitMaker: 144 posts
Armorama: 91 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 04:39 PM UTC
yea it was horrible building my KT and IS2, so much filing......still gives me nightmares. but you get the hang of it after a while.

I would suggest doing the track in 2 sections. The upper run from the idler to the drive, and the lower run. That way you can separate them and take them off for painting. You gotta be careful though because you may not be able to take the upper run off and put it on if the fenders and upper hull is installed. To avoid that you can actually assemble the tracks in one piece but not glue the wheels on so you can slip the whole shebang off the side and then take the wheels out of the track,. or only glue on the inner half of the wheels, whatever works for you.
Finch
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New York, United States
Joined: August 03, 2005
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Posted: Friday, May 16, 2008 - 12:13 PM UTC
It looks a lot harder than it is.

Just choose a slow-acxting cement such as testors. Detach the tracks and clean them up just as you would any other parts.

Build the suspension with only the inner wheels attached; leave all the outer wheel halves off, except the drive sproket.

Lay the track links out and click them together (they won't hold by themselves) and apply some cement. You can do most of the run this way. Then attach them to the tank by winding the whole run around the wheels, just like the real track. As long as you work at a steady pace you'll be fine. The trick is to wait long enough so that the glue is holding th track links together but not so long that they become inflexible. If you start with the flat bottom run it's quite easy.

One fine point: it is easier if you don't glue the idler into place till you are finishing up - that way you can make small adjustments if needed.
Bigmikey
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Nebraska, United States
Joined: August 14, 2006
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Posted: Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 01:55 AM UTC
Thanks for the advice, Danny. Question: What type of testors glue are you suggesting, the regular model glue, or the liquid in a bottle with a brush?


Quoted Text

It looks a lot harder than it is.

Just choose a slow-acxting cement such as testors. Detach the tracks and clean them up just as you would any other parts.

Build the suspension with only the inner wheels attached; leave all the outer wheel halves off, except the drive sproket.

Lay the track links out and click them together (they won't hold by themselves) and apply some cement. You can do most of the run this way. Then attach them to the tank by winding the whole run around the wheels, just like the real track. As long as you work at a steady pace you'll be fine. The trick is to wait long enough so that the glue is holding th track links together but not so long that they become inflexible. If you start with the flat bottom run it's quite easy.

One fine point: it is easier if you don't glue the idler into place till you are finishing up - that way you can make small adjustments if needed.

Finch
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New York, United States
Joined: August 03, 2005
KitMaker: 411 posts
Armorama: 273 posts
Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 11:05 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Thanks for the advice, Danny. Question: What type of testors glue are you suggesting, the regular model glue, or the liquid in a bottle with a brush?



My bad, actually I meant Tamiya extra thin. It's a slower-acting cement. In fact it is slow enough to be really annoying when you want FAST cement. But for tracks it is perfect.

The method I described will still work even if you put all the wheels on, it's just a little easier if you leave the outer ones off until the tracks are on.
Jacques
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Joined: March 04, 2003
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 12:01 PM UTC
The method Danny described should work, it is what I am using for my work right now on the SU-100. I will try to post some pics as I get going.

I use Testors liquid cement in the bottle with the brush in the lid. Works just as good as Tamiya cement, but easier to find in the USA.
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