I am attempting to wrestle an Italeri LVT-4 Water Buffalo to the ground, and have run into a problem with the tracks. They are the rubber band variety, and the first set went on fine. The second one has separated in two spots, and I can't get either CA or styrene cement to hold the parts together.

Add this to the fact the paint is flaking off the tracks the more I wrestle with them....

My overall reaction to this kit has been and I'm almost at the point of junking it. Maybe turn it into a wrecked scenario on Saipan....

it they have split you will struggle to glue them, i would suggest using thin wire to hold them together or even maybe a couple of staples.

other than that you may well need some new after market tracks, I had a similar problem with a Italeri RSO that just crushed the suspension when trying to put them on, ended up opting foe a set of model kastern ones

cheers

Keith

Thanks, I was leaning in that direction, but it will look horrible.


Brother, you are preaching to the choir. I have looked all around and can't find any AM tracks for this kit. I would junk the rubber band ones in a heartbeat.

I will NEVER purchase a kit again that doesn't have Friul tracks for it.

Never say never

Are there any skirts under which you could hide a "staple" repair ? (Sorry I don't know the vehicle !). Another solution is to melt your plastic thanks to trichlorethylene (named like this in French) and just after while the plastic is still soft you can glue it with CA. You'll get a kind of a white blob as the CA sets but after that the seam wil be solid and you even can sand it. It did sometimes with the Tamiya old plastic tracks and they haven't separated anymore.

I hope I sound sensible
Olivier

Thanks, Olivier, but the tracks have separated at the pivot point, so anything I do has to be "invisible." There are no skirts to hide anything, either.

I guess y'all can see by now I'm pretty sore at Italeri!

Wow, you're in a fix. You could try getting another set from Italeri. Most manufactures are pretty good about replacing defective parts. The only other thing would be to tie the ends together with fine thread or a staple, and put the model on a base of simulated soft dirt or sand with the seam under a road wheel.

Good luck, Jerry