I agree with Bob. There is no reason to change Tamiya´s tracks to Friuls in Char B 1bis. If you have older AL-BY kit that is different case..

I really don't know why anyone wouldn't use the Tamiya tracks either. Using those Fruil tracks just sounds like creating totally unecessary work for your self even if the Tamiya tracks have a slight thickness inaccuracy. They look perfectly fine to me.

I put together a pic showing how the parts don't fit, but unfortunately don't have any place to upload an image - it's not a photo of the links, alas, I just threw together a drawing. Oh well, it probably wouldn't have cleared anything up anyway.

To the person who mentioned the Fruil Merkava IV tracks - the first Merkava IV on the market was from Legend and if I remember correctly, the Fruil tracks appeared *before* any of the injection kits, is it possible that was what the tracks were sized to fit? You might find somebody with a spare Legend kit they don't plan to build - the thing was so darn heavy (solid turret, mainly solid hull) that the kit suspension couldn't support its weight.

Since you never got a response from them on the Merkava sprockets, I'll assume I'd get a similar silence on any Char B1 Bis query - the Fruil tracks go in a corner and I'll give Fruil a wide berth in future, except for tracks that I know go together easily (i.e. I've got a need for a good number lot of T-34-85, T-55/62 and T-72 tracks and I know those go together nicely...).

Anybody know of good tracks for the Sturer Emil and Neubaufahrzeug? I may just use the kit tracks in the latter (it's the Amusing kit, so the kit tracks are Modelkasten quality) but the tracks I've got for the former, from WWII productions, fall apart as soon as you breathe on them.

The Friul Char B1 bis tracks are indeed a more complicated affair, and think they might have erred on the connection area

-- it helps to give them a quick swipe with a Dremel to allow them to slot together more easily...however, it's the only set on over 50 different tank sets I've assembled from them that were so.

I wouldn't have an over cautious attitude towards their use on other tracked vehicles. I think Friulmodel wanted to make the Char tracks as close as possible to how they work in reality, and made them harder to assemble then need be. That said, once assembled they are indeed a definite improvement over the kit tracks in visual appearance and refinement, just like the rest of their line up tends to be.

Not the best drawing, I realize. I've spent most of the morning trying to use an assortment of Dremel pieces to remove the "blue wedge" or just push back the edge of the indented semicircle so that the pieces fit together.

However, no joy. While the Fruils, properly assembled, would be much nicer than the kit tracks, I'd rather go with intact kit tracks than Fruils I've had to beat into shape with a blunt instrument (that two sets of these tracks cost about $75 adds a little extra violence into the beating too - for what Fruil tracks cost, the fact that it appears a faulty *design* made it into the market adds a little extra anger).

So I'm sticking the Fruils in a corner - the kits have both got nice Blast conversions and Aber PE, maybe the thick track won't be so noticeable :-)