After a long break from modeling I have started building again. I picked up the premium edition of Dragon's T-34/85 kit and have been having a lot of fun building it. However I have two questions that I was hoping to get some advice on (one specific and one general):
1) The idler arm is unkeyed and can face any direction. I have very poor references for T-34's so I can't tell which direction it should face (down or perpendicular to the lower glacis or ?). If the tracks were the band type I could use trial and error but since they are magic tracks it seems it needs to be in place before I fit them. Any help here is appreciated.
2) Speaking of magic tracks, this is my first attempt at them. I have looked through the majority of builds on the site for methods, but most seem to take it for grated that you have used them before. Can anyone point me at tried and true method for or discussions about these guys?
Thank you in advance for any help.

Hi there.this is a link to the features here on armorama,if it does not work ,look at the top of the mainpage,;
http://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/84
the topic there is making track,or use the search machine
try to get the idler in the position that the drawing says.if its a little bit off don't worry,all you need is a extra link of track,thats all

greetings jeroen,.

Ok, now I feel like an idiot, sorry I missed the search box before. I looked all over for it on the forums page.... Thanks Jeroen.

The track tension idler arm points roughly downward on wartime Soviet vehicles, though it was obviously adjustable. The top of the idler wheel is then roughly even with the tops of the road wheels.
In Egyptian service in the 1960's, it was swung forward and upwards to raise the idler's position a bit and theoretically improve the tank's performance climbing slopes.

Thanks Gerald, I appreciate the help.

hi i have a little dificulty with my new dragon kit too any advice on why after 3 attempts i cant get the fuel tank straps to completely close i have failed at this three times ruining the etch every time it seems they are just not long enough does anyone know a trick to this ,i have done everthing else photoetch on the kit but these fuel straps and brackets are not working well ..i have used the eduard set and the new dragon set ,to match references of the t34 straps on photos it seemes the are not long enough !!! what is the secret someone please tell me [img]http:// C:Documents and SettingsdaveMy DocumentsMy PicturesPicture 025 [img]http://SettingsdaveMy DocumentsMy PicturesPicture 028

thank you gary i guess my interpretation of the t bolt lookinh thing on the end was wrong thank you for your info !! i will attach rod ..of course our friends at dragon and eduard dont exactly explain that!!! not to mention i have all this reference.....