I have a problem, I purchased a Dragon 1/35 Sd.Kfz..251/17 Ausf.C about a year ago. I've been putting it off until now however because of the tracks. It has no vinyl one piece track (which I'm used to) but instead you have to put each link together....very daunting!

Is there anyplace out there that sells a one piece vinyl track I could use on this? Preferrably a Canadian distributor to keep costs down.

Thanks,
Darren

Why not give the link tracks a shot? I just finished my first complete build, and used magic tracks without a hitch. They practically build themselves.

Just try to line them up against a steel ruler, and touch your plastic cement brush to the connecting points (do 4-6 links at a time to get used to it) and the cement will run into the joint. Connect all your small runs of track in the same way, and before the glue has got a chance to dry bend the tracks around your road wheels, idler, and sprocket and glue the 2 ends together.

I'm sorry if this is confusing, I'd send a link to a "how to" but don't know of at the moment.

I agre with Jaredt

Give the indy links a try, it will only improve your skills once you pull it off. Take your time and work out a game plan.

Darren;

Hi.

In large part, I would second or third the previous posts and say "give those links a whirl"... but they ARE a somewhat tedious task. NOTHING beats the appearance of a German "dead-link" pinned track like indy-links do - so, if authenticity is the goal, do them!

BUT... I also clearly understand the frustrations of indy-linking!

YOU, Sir, are in luck - AFV Club does market a set of NICE vinyl 251 tracks which come along with better sprockets (off-set roller-teeth, etc.) and road wheels and front wheel & details, too.

This is the AFV Club kit 35043, "Sd.Kfz. 251 Wheels & Tracks.

And the vinyl tracks do look really nice!

You might find a Canadian distributor, or get them off the evilbay.

Cheers!

Bob

I just finished a Tamiya SdKfz 251/1 and used the Hobby Boss tracks, they look alot better then the vinyl, and yesed looked a little daunting, but I made a jig out of styrene, and no problem. I would say give it a try with the indy links, if not, I could send you the tamiya vinyl links I did not use if you want to contact me off-line.

Please do the links! The 251 series are the easiest to do. Once you do them, you won't wanna go back!


Trust me, you will even be seperating links off of sprues, cleaning them, and then building them, and attempting to prove to others that it is still faster than vinyl! Look at the magic track as having half the work already done (if you go with the late war pattern).

Overall in this hobby I value control more than anything. I feel with vinyl I am always fighting to get them on the wheels and then I always have trouble getting the vinyl to stick. The magic tracks (while taking longer) will provide you with more control. You can determine where and how you want sag, unlike vinyl where you pray you can get sag.

Also, nothing kills a model more than the floating tracks.

Wow, talk about peer pressure! I've been guilted into trying the individual links. I'm still aways off tackling them, (I'm a sloooowwww builder) but I'll give it a whirl.
Thanks, Sgt Ram, I'll keep your offer in mind if things go horribly wrong.

Im With the rest. Find a small container with seal type lid, strip the individual tracks off the sprues using sprue cutter or side cut pliers and clean them up before putting in the container. once all done build in sections about 5 or 6 track links building against a "straight edge" or steel ruler; can use a plastic one if you are careful. will only take a couple of hours to do once you are on a production roll. I found they look heaps better than the one piece tracks, sit better on the model and is good pracice for tricker gluing of parts. the reason for the sealble container is if the job does take you ages you have done all the"hard" work and can build tracks over a couple of days weeks or months as you get time. the only drawback is you have to put them on after the model is painted as the are REALLY tricky to paint around. Happy building

Last post I did was in March of 2011. Not long after, I had to pack up my kits as we sold the house and built a new one. Now, I've got around to starting back into the kit and have got to the point where I've started making the individual link tracks...I'll see how that goes!