Further to my review on Leopard Club (http://www.leopardclub.info/#/orochi-leopard-1-tracks/4582035880), I have now built up a couple of lengths. Once you get into the swing of putting them together, they are actually reasonably easy despite the fact there are four parts per link. The end result is easily the nicest Leopard 1 track out there!!
Here's my method as the instructions with the tracks are very basic.
1 Cut six track shoes from the sprue and clean up the sprue gates. If you use a curved and sharp no. 15 blade, this is minimal.
2 Cut six guide teeth with a sharp blade. Again, clean up should be minimal. They are very small and fiddly so cut them cleanly from the sprue.
3 Click one guide tooth onto one track shoe – six times. The reason for clicking the tooth to the shoe is it gives you more to hold onto.
4 Click the six assemblies together. They will stay together and not fall apart, though the tracks will flex at this point.
5 Cut six end connectors from the vinyl sprue. Make sure these are oriented correctly with the sprue gate on the inside and the bolt on the outside face.
6 Hold a pair of track shoes together and slide on one end connector at a time. This may seem fiddly – and it is – but you will soon get the hang of it. This side will be the OUTSIDE edge of the track with the detailed end of the connector on show.
7 Cut a length of vinyl connector sprue with six connectors attached. With the bolts facing down, it is fairly easy to simply slide them onto the pins on the shoes (flat on a work surface) as they are spaced correctly and they are even at the right height! Carefully cut the connectors from the sprue.
Voila! Your first length is done. With practice this takes 5-10 minutes so a whole track length won't take too long. They are surprisingly strong and so far haven't fallen apart. They even survived being scrubbed clean in a bowl of water.
If you are doing as I am and leaving skirts on your Leopard, you only need 46 shoes as the top run doesn't need to be built. This leaves you with a complete sprue, plus the remains of a second, for another model. You will break some pins and lose some guide horns or connectors along the way. It's inevitable! Two Orochi sets should easily equip three tanks with tracks.
To repeat myself - easily the nicest Leopard 1 track out there!!
Best regards
Michael Shackleton
Author Leopard 1 Trilogy
www.leopardclub.info
www.facebook.com/leopardfibel
