Okay...I finally got some Friul tracks for my Pzkpfw II and T-34. Now can anyone tell me realistically how many links per track for these tanks? #:-)

Ha !
Now there's a real scratchbuilders nightmare. I had the intention to scratchbuild an M110 (or tracked wrecker on M110 chassis) last year. I figured making the tracks could not be much of a problem : you make one good link, make a mold of it and start casting links until you have a whole track. In fact, that works.... until you start wondering how many links it takes to make a track. It almost takes nuclear physics to figure out the exact size of one link if you know how many it takes to make a track : there's no tight fit ! I guess tracks need a bit of slack (like a bicycle chain), but they are HEAVY.

I had an interestig debate on the subject with a friend. That set us wondering how this works on REAL armor : does the correct number of links guarantee a correct fit or is there a possibility to wiggle one of the wheels in and out to make that a tight fit ? I'd love to see how this works in real life.

ANyway, after pondering over this issue a couple of mornings in the morning traffic jam (that buys me 90 minutes of thinking every morning on my way to the airport), I scrapped the idea of scratchbuilding tracked vehicles.

Hi,

It will depend of the type of tracks

here T34/85 at Patriotic War at HyperScale Brett Green says 68 links per side;

here T34/85 mod 1944 at Missing Liks Mario Ales refers 74 links per side;

here T34 variants at PanzerNet you have some info and tracks types;

here T34 Construction features at Russian Battlefield you have lots of info about T-34 including tracks types.

Hope it helps.

How do those Friul tracks work? Can you put them together, test fit them, and then add more links or take some out if need be? If you can, then I wouldn't worry about how many links to use and would just try to replicate the amount of sag shown in pictures.

Nic

TUGA
Thanks for the info and resources. I can really use the info from [i]Russian Battlefieldi]

General Failure
You raise an interesting theoretical debate. Me thinks it can be a great thread.

Folgore
I have the newer type of Friul track. Yes, it requires pinning with a wire to link the tracks; I will likely take your advice and test fit. I was just trying to make my tanks "anatomically correct"!

That's pretty much what I would do.



But, how would you know? You'd have to count carefully to be sure you got the number right. big trying to figure out the size of each link... I'll just buy some pre-made links, thank you! :-)

YodaMan

Tracked vehicles are designed to have a set number of track blocks per side. On some vehicles, it even varies how many per side (right # is different from the left #). The compensating idler wheel normaly has what is called a "track adjusting arm". You can adjust the track tension by moving the idler wheel forward or backward. New track will be much tighter (all the rubber bushings are new) and older track will be much loose, thus requiring the idler wheel to be moved out to keep the track at the proper tension. In the field, it has been know for track to "walk" itself right off of a vehicle. I saw an M60A3TTS roll right off its own track (track was still connected, it did not break).