Jurjen Zuijdendorp (Jurjen), brings us a useful little feature for beginner''s on the differences between Metal Fruil and plastic Modelkasten aftermarket tracks. Thanks Jurjen!

Vinnie

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

HI, As with Jurjen, my preference is Fruil. Now if I were to build a vehicle with damaged or destroyed tracks on it, then I would consider the plastic links, as the "sag" effects could them be built into the damage as they are put togther a lot easier.

Thanks for the article, Larry

Jurjen
Thanks for the article I also love the Friuls over the MK tracks Another great thing about the Friul tracks is no ejector pin marks to clean up

Nice article, Jurjen

Sounds like the model kasten are not even taking the time to look at what with most of the recent sets comiong out with good indiviaual links in plastic included. I still can't justify spending more on a track set than I do on the kit, so I will forever be relegated to what comes with the kit, which I personally find more than adequate for my needs

I prefer Modelkasten over Friul. Faster to clean up than re- drill all the holes and cut wire/plastic rod to the apropriate length.
And they sag the same way as Friuls do, because gravity also works with plastic.
Believe me, I have the Friul and the Modelkasten tracks for the T-55, there´s no differendce in the way they sag.
I don´t know, why this rumor always comes up that Friuls sag better?
1kg of plastic weighs the same amount as 1kg of white metal.

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

What I tried to explain that if you apply too much glue on the endconnectors of the modelkasten tracks. And the glue sets before you positioned the tracks on the tank, it can be difficult then to re-position them with a sag. That's why I prefer the Fruil ones. But that's just personal.

A kg plastic = a kg white metal....true, but a 25 centimeter track of plastic has not the same weight as a 25 centimeter of white metal.

Cheers!

Jurjen

I have built both tracks several time and I have to say both have its advantages and disadvantages.

My opinion: (comparing to the same type of tracks)

Advantage
MK is more accurate and clear in detail
MK is cheaper

Fruil is more sturdier and have a good weight quality
Fruil (new version) is easier to build

Disadvantage

MK is extremely fragile
MK is more complicated to build (panther have 5 parts to one link)

Fruil is more expensive
Fruil (old version) is also fragile and hard to build


At the end of the day I prefer Fruil just because its easier to build and the details are very nice. However, I will not wrtie off MK product because some of my best models are built with MK tracks.


WC

So far I have built several sets of Fruils (panther, tiger 2, Elefant and currently working on sherman brit chevrons) and 2 sets of MK (Cromwell and Panzer II).

I agree with the comments that the MK are probably more accurate as far them being fragile I agree but neither set (and they were pretty delicate) broken on me. I did however keep the oil washes away from them.

The Fruil Sherman tracks are ... umm interesting to assemble. So far I am not sure I like them will see once I have a run assembled if they look right because I think in the case of the Sherman they are going to have sag I don't want (live track on Shermans doesn't appear to sag noticably in most photos I see) due to the weight. Also having to drill out every single link is tedious.

My next project is a Tiger 1 (Tamiya kit not the DML one) and I have a set of MK in the closet so I will be using those. Should be interesting to see how those stack up against the Fruils for the Elefant and Tiger 2 for assembly and looks.

I am lucky enough to have a friend who prefers the MK track, so he buys Frui for me in trade for all the sets I collected. One advantage with the Frui track is the quantity. One set of Panther tracks has enough extra links to cover the turret sides with track. On a tank like the T-34, the weight of the Frui makes it slump over the road wheels easier. Both types look very nice finished.

I think that the article is well done giving both opinions to us beginners.

What I would like to see is the easiest option that is the most accurate... Not necessarily either of these two tracks...

Cheers, MSW

I have tried to used DML indies on my Elefant and then tried the Fruil tracks. Very little work to get them assembled, hardest part was figuring out a technique for the assembly. but now I have no problem with them. The Fuil will weigh more per inch than any plastic ones. Hardest part on the Ferdinands was adjusting the idler so the track hung correctly, since DML designed the idler so it could be adjusted.

I agree! One thing I might add is sometimes there is too much "play" or "space" between links in the Friul tracks which can make them unrealistic.

I just wish MK made their pins a bit differently, maybe making them longer or even turned metal (but that would be expensive) to give more strength to the assembled runs?

Cheers,

Christophe