Hi there!
A friend of mine offered me to trade the vinyl tracks from my Italeri Pz IV to the link by link track from his DML Pz III, and I did!
I received them today, and I´m almost sorry for it, they´re small, a lot of sink holes to correct, and they aren´t hollowed in the guide teeth as I suppose and besides that, I think they will not complete a whole tank (they seens to be so few!!!!!!!!)
First, do you think I made a bad deal?
two, do you think they will be enough to make the whole thing?
last but not least, how do I get them together???????????????????????????? #:-)
Any suggestions?
Cheers

Paulo I counted the individual links in my DML SiG 33 ausf Pz3 I got 3 trees and counted 228 links That should be more than enough for your Pz 4 I think that took 100 links per side,but I'm not sure As far as the sinkholes and non-hollow guide teeth I don't worry about them Waaaaaaay too time consuming #:-) #:-)
Chad

Thanks Chad,
But I think not to open the guide teeth gonna make my model look real fake.
How do I put them together? #:-)
Cheers

Ok They are a very tight fit so I take an emery file board,like the type women use on thier finger nails,and sand where the connection points are They are non-workable,so I just use glue on them I hope that makes some sense Been a long day for me
Chad

Hi Paulo,

I used to hate DML track links, but after I built a couple of them, they seems to be okay. This what I do. I use two straight edge taped to a base with the width of the track, then I just glue them together, because the glue won't set for quite some times, so I can have enough time to finish a long stretch, and then do the wraping around the road wheel, saggings, etc. I usually do them in 4 sections, the one wrapped around the idler, the one wrapped around the front wheel, and the upper portion and the lower portion.

I know the feeling they always seems to be kind of not enough for the tank, but indeed they always have some to spare, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

HTH

I agree with Dave. At first they are rather daunting, but once you get used to them, you can clean up a sprue's worth just while watching the evening news. I keep a box top of them along with several needle files going. It does seem like there will never be enough, but I always have plenty of spares to go around.

I always put on a war movie while I doing the Individual tracks. The only draw back I can think of for the DML style track is that sometimes it's hard to paint them at some area, i.e. under fender or between road wheels. Andit's sort difficult if you want to achieve a clean look tank. Because for a model kasten I can paint them before put it on the thank.

First of all: Don't worry, be happy!

-the technical thing: there were panzer III, IV tracks where the guide teeth were not hollowed. don't beat me, but I am not sure if these were late or early ones, but I think they were late ones.
-next question: are these the more sophisticated ones? DML offered 2 version where the difference are hollowed outer edges ( or so ). I also expected hollowed out guide teeth from this version...
-building them is not that bad..
I take a long piece of marble when I glue individual tracks to have
a.) a flat surface for the tracks
b.) there is always a bit of glue squeezing out and gluing the tracks to the working surface,
but they don' t stick to marble..
the ejector pins are not that bad. all my boxes contain tracks with raised pins, which can be sanded down easily. I hope urs are as such also..

I put all cleaned tracks in a box and glue them together as follows.
when available I take the vinyl kit track as scale for the lenght.

I take 4-5 tracks and stick them together by pressing down one track with the left hand and adding the next track with the right hand. I use a J-shaped tweezer, which holds the track at the guide tooth and snap it together with the other track.
after 4-5 tracks I start adding liquid plastic glue to the track connections and then lay the part aside and start with 4-5 new ones.
if this segment is ready I glue it to the already finished part.
if the whole track is finished, I check if all parts glue together well and I let it set for antoher 10 minutes.
Then I wring them arount the running gear ( upper hull is not installed ).

before this, it is recommended to take a 10-15 tracks long part and check, if the tracks fit to the drive sprocket...

the time for this exercise is about 3 hours..for both tracks..

regards, tankbuster

Well Paulo if you don't like them there is allways Fruil or modelkasten if you want to spend the money. Actually for a contest model I would use the Fruil tracks.
Jeff

I read somewhere that somebody lays down double-sided cellotape, and this helps hold the individual links together and then having the usual straight edge to line up. Dont know if it is any good as I have never used these yet.

Paulo--spend the extra bucks and get the best track made.
DJ

go for the Modelkasten tracks and save a lot of headaches.

Hey Paulo,
Gotta agree with 210cav, get the fruil tracks. I used my first set on my T-55ARV. Not only do they look right but it gives you the right sag. It does however include about two hours of braindead drilling but well worth it in the end. I got my set for around $20 US, Not bad unless you finnish more than 5-10 models a year.

Thanks guys for the supporting, I know I could get better results using a Modelkasten like tracks, but since I already got it in hands I´ll try to do my best with them...besides that US$20,00 is something about R$53,00 + shipping+60% tax (really it´s too expensive for me!).
I´ll keep you informed about my progress, ok?
Cheers