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For discussions on tanks, artillery, jeeps, etc.
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RobinNilsson
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Posted: Monday, February 10, 2020 - 04:10 AM UTC
:-)

My eldest child pushed some of them around when she was 3-4 years old, I'll have to repair them someday ...
panzerbob01
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Posted: Monday, February 10, 2020 - 06:24 AM UTC

Quoted Text

:-)

My eldest child pushed some of them around when she was 3-4 years old, I'll have to repair them someday ...



The earliest-learned lessons often stick around firmest and longest! My son did that at age 3, too... And, 22 years later, with a big brain and years of education and some great job experience under his young belt... Still joins his dad at the table playing with the toys! Yeah... We are talking plastic wheeled things, here!

Scarred
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Posted: Monday, February 10, 2020 - 06:32 AM UTC

Quoted Text

:-)

My eldest child pushed some of them around when she was 3-4 years old, I'll have to repair them someday ...



Leave them be. The memories are are priceless, especially the one when you didn't wring her ne... sorry, sorry, I have a ship with a busted mast thanks to a certain niece who shall remain aliv.. I mean nameless.

Back to the track issue. In this internet age I have found pictures of damaged tanks being towed or loaded onto trailers and railcars with shortened tracks because running gear has been lost or blown off. I've wanted to do an M1 loaded on a trailer with that kind of damage. I've also seen a lot of dioramas with tanks that lost their tracks. You couldn't model scenarios like that without individual or multi-part links. They give a modeler a lot more options.
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Monday, February 10, 2020 - 07:00 AM UTC
Dragon really took the price for dumb design with the tracks for their Ka-Tsu kits. Four lengths of Ka-Mi tracks and you were supposed to use 1 complete length + one section cut down to 30-40% of the length.
Scarred
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Posted: Monday, February 10, 2020 - 08:17 AM UTC
Did it say "Black Label" anywhere on the box?
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Monday, February 10, 2020 - 10:49 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Did it say "Black Label" anywhere on the box?


Nope, the one with the torpedoes has the 'Smart Kit' label though .....
Scarred
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Posted: Monday, February 10, 2020 - 03:11 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Did it say "Black Label" anywhere on the box?


Nope, the one with the torpedoes has the 'Smart Kit' label though .....



I always thought 'smart kit' was an oxymoron like the term 'military intelligence'. There were a lot of idiots in my intel units. Most were officers.
House
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Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 - 01:57 AM UTC
You might find this article from my club's website interesting. The author creates link and length tracks from the multi-part links. Pretty cool: https://www.cvillemodelersclub.com/news/2018/2/6/m1a1-abrams-track-assembly-jim-mcclaim
TopSmith
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Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 - 11:25 AM UTC
I saw the link. What grabbed my eye was the large sink holes in each track link. I know it is only time and effort to clean up.
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 - 11:36 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I saw the link. What grabbed my eye was the large sink holes in each track link. I know it is only time and effort to clean up.



A punch and die set can be used to fix those sinkmarks.
Punch out a lot of small discs from thin styrene card.
Use solvent glue to glue the discs over the sinkmarks and press down to fill the hole, let dry and file down to correct level. It is tidier than messing around with putty.
A "hotter" solvent glue works better (ethyl acetate)
TopSmith
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Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 - 03:07 PM UTC
Hummm... 160 links times 2 sink holes. That is a lot of work in addition to the 400 parts and assembly. I firmly agree that highly detailed links often provide the best detail. However, at some point I will be seeking a mid-range solution somewhere between rubberbands and 6 parts per track link plus cleanup.
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