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Vorcha
09-23-2010, 04:40 AM
Hi everyone!

This is a tutorial on how to build movable tank tracks for very high performance, high speed and reliability, (relatively) fast and possibly most easy and with minimum cost!

The base for this is my (to this moment) ongoing project of a Terminator-HK-Tank-modification. To this moment iīm finished only with 1 of the 4 drive sections, but this single one is built with a

movable track that allows you to drive it like a matchbox-car with a speed you would normally use to kill a fly in your kitchen... :)

If you donīt believe me, watch this:

EM6vDBWHxkc

Now iīll tell you how i built it and what issues arouse in the process, so that after this you will be able to build even better tracks for whatever model you are working on and that needs good tracks which allow you to drive it with the speed you desire...
(or your destructive children are able to achieve...:):):) )

...and most important: almost completely out of cardboard and paper... almost.


So lets start!


I began with cutting out all the track links... together! I didnīt cut them out one by one, thatīs an idea i got when i saw "klebegold" building his track for his "DET 250" in a german modellers forum, he had glued all his links on two paper strips... and so i thought: "if i cut all the links in the position theyīll have in the track without separating them this will reduce the sources of instability and wrong assembly MASSIVELY, a problem i had, when i tried building movable tracks years ago...

so i cut the tracks out as a block with two additional strips on the sides...

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2858/dsci1193.jpg (http://img153.imageshack.us/i/dsci1193.jpg/)

the important thing is that i let out spaces between the links that would be filled with... steel rods, build out of straightened paperclips.

Next i cut out the spaces...

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/5058/dsci1195i.jpg (http://img375.imageshack.us/i/dsci1195i.jpg/)

... you will see, that iīve done this not very good, the spaces are all different, which means, that your tracks will be much better than mine... :)

Now comes the really important part: How is the whole mechanism assembled?
I painted a very simple drawing in Paint, which will give you a very good overview...

Vorcha
09-23-2010, 04:40 AM
the red lines are paper strips,
the red dots are the pieces of the straightened paperclips and
the black lines are the track links...
yellow is the glue (I used "UHU" universal glue)

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3753/anleitungg.png (http://img25.imageshack.us/i/anleitungg.png/)

The thing you donīt see, but is the most important part is that you put on one link 2 strips of paper, while you put 1 on the next, positioned between the two...

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/6857/dsci1196.jpg (http://img704.imageshack.us/i/dsci1196.jpg/)
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/1503/dsci1197.jpg (http://img27.imageshack.us/i/dsci1197.jpg/)
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1331/dsci1198.jpg (http://img709.imageshack.us/i/dsci1198.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(Of course you glue all the stripes on the back...)

the reason behind this is that this allows you to put in the steel rods, held by 3 paper strips, 2 from the one side and 1 from the other, while one link holds 2 strips to both sides, while the next holds 1 to both sides open, which makes it 2 times faster to make and 2 times more stable...

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/9901/dsci1201.jpg (http://img713.imageshack.us/i/dsci1201.jpg/)

...and here i made the next big mistake: you can imagine, that if one link holds only one strip, it would become unstable to the sides, which you can avoid by making the middle stripes bolder and the side-ones thinner, making it more stable in the event...

...or you compensate the spared time and make it with 5 instad of 3 holding strips, making your life to hell, but achieving the ultimately strong track with no unstability and looking more realistic as well...
:):(:):(:)

Donīt forget to push the steel rods in the spaces, which should be a little bit wider than the rods, allowing them to move freely later...

Vorcha
09-23-2010, 04:42 AM
Next you fold the strips all to the center of their track link, so that 2 hold a rod from the one side and 1 from the other...

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1793/dsci1202.jpg (http://img641.imageshack.us/i/dsci1202.jpg/)

...and now you can see the next mistake i made: the spaces between the stripes are too big, while they should be there, to allow the links to move, but not that big, which makes my tracks even more unstable...

Ok, if you survived till this stage, you are almost finished... you can see that the glue has made these typical lines everywhere, you can see the glitter on the surface... thatīs not a problem, unless they connect the stripes of two different links, or worse, the little space between folded stripe and the next link... :mad:

Donīt be too eager to remove them though, wait till the glue is hardened a little bit and then cut them with your cutter-knive or your scalpel very carefully to not cut the paper...

When the glue is hardened enouth you can go to the final stage: cutting out the 2 card stripes... But be careful: if you worked good the steel rods should be still free in the little tubes of paper stripes, so (if you worked really good) they could fall out to the sides... Well i didnīt work that good and saw the problem later: i had put little amounts of glue on the rods, which glued to the paper and after beginning to move the whole thing gave free the rods,
creating therefore an even better anti-friction :), but because of the fact they didnīt fall out in the beginning they therefore began to go out constantly later. If you saw the video you didnīt see the whole story: i had to press the rods back in the tubes after every single take again and again and again...

Avoid this by gluing additional little stripes of paper on the little holes on the sides... a thing i just hadnīt the patience to do anymore, i had worked on the track about 7/8 hours to this point and just wanted to play with it... ;)

Vorcha
09-23-2010, 04:45 AM
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/1853/dsci1203.jpg (http://img707.imageshack.us/i/dsci1203.jpg/)
:D

You should now wait, till the glue is hardened completely, let it lay down overnight or so to not damage the still wet paper...

And now, finally: The final stage!

After you close the last paperstripes over the last connecting steel rod, you have a perfectly rolling tank track... that rolls out of your tank almost immediately. So choose the form of the little parts in the middle of the track that hold the track on the wheels according to your preferrance/the look they have on the original model...

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9693/dsci1248.jpg (http://img202.imageshack.us/i/dsci1248.jpg/)
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/7840/dsci1247.jpg (http://img825.imageshack.us/i/dsci1247.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us/)

Actually, you could have applied them in the beginning, but then you couldnīt tear them off so easily, if they just donīt work...
I tested 3 different types of these parts till i got the final ones...
:mad::mad::mad:

And the last thing: These parts are all of cheap cardboard, with the bigger parts thatīs no problem, but these brake into their layers constantly, actually after every yard or so of rollying i have to glue the layers together again on 3 of them...
:mad::mad::mad:

EM6vDBWHxkc

In total i worked 9 hours or so on this track, but not én bloc, iīm shure you will succeed in less than 4 hours after this tutorial!:)

So good luck and a lot of patience!

Vorcha

PModel Rookie
09-23-2010, 05:56 AM
WOW,Gotta try that! A good guide for beautiful tracks(err,movable...but its still beautiful)!

Vorcha
09-23-2010, 07:02 AM
WOW,Gotta try that! A good guide for beautiful tracks(err,movable...but its still beautiful)!

Hahaha... :):):)!

Rubenandres77
09-23-2010, 07:08 AM
:eek:
Wonderful, and inspiring.

Knife
09-23-2010, 07:22 AM
Thanks for sharing your ideas with all of us. An excellent tutorial.

Vorcha
09-23-2010, 07:24 AM
Thanks for sharing your ideas with all of us. An excellent tutorial.

thank you!:)

Mirco
09-23-2010, 09:15 AM
Now I feel really inspired :).

Thanks for sharing.

peter taft
09-23-2010, 10:00 AM
You my friend are a paper mechanic ! The level of accuracy and sheer determination to get those tracks running smooth as silk is outstanding. The video is great also. Top dollar Vorcha

Vorcha
09-23-2010, 10:30 AM
You my friend are a paper mechanic ! The level of accuracy and sheer determination to get those tracks running smooth as silk is outstanding. The video is great also. Top dollar Vorcha

Thank you! :)

outersketcher
09-23-2010, 10:35 AM
I'm impressed.
Now, if you could just get started on creating a functional paper spring... : )

B-Manic
09-23-2010, 10:50 AM
Very COOL - thanks for sharing.

Fargo
09-23-2010, 02:18 PM
brilliant! If one day I tried to project and build something with tracks, I surely would think about this solution! your tutorial is simple and clear :) BRAVO!

Vorcha
09-23-2010, 02:50 PM
I'm impressed.
Now, if you could just get started on creating a functional paper spring... : )

Acually this is a good idea... seriously...!:):confused::):confused::)

iligan3pm
09-23-2010, 03:47 PM
Very impressive idea for the tank tracks.

peter taft
09-23-2010, 06:56 PM
Acually this is a good idea... seriously...!:):confused::):confused::)

A few forms of the SPRING to keep you busy.... 1} A spring that RETAINS {i.e pulls two parts inwards} 2} A spring thats used under COMPRESSION {i.e pushes two parts outwards} 3} A spring that FLEXES {i.e a leaf spring} all of which would come in very nicely in several areas of our hobby ;)

John Wagenseil
09-23-2010, 08:29 PM
Thank you for the elegant example of paper engineering.
Not cutting all the parts free until they are assembled is brilliant. It saves having to mess with an impossible number of fiddly bits.

If this can be applied to the Polish 1/25th tank models I might try building one. I have put off trying one because the tracks scared me off.

Now that I think about it we have been suffering from collective blindness, I bet at least 1/3 of the forum users are wearing an example of the track right now: your link style watch band!

Regarding springs:

Here is an untested concept.

For compression springs: sand wood dowel smooth and varnish it, or paint with acrylic floor wax, and re sand until very smooth.

Roll dampened glue lightly glue soaked paper strip around dowel and let dry. I have found wood glue works best and gives very strong paper glue-composite material. Dowel should slide freely in paper tube.

Pull dowel 1/2 way out of tube, stuff tube with chopped rubber bands.
At the opposite end of the tube from the end with sliding dowel, plug end of tube with short length of dowel, glue this plug dowel in place or better yet cross drill tube and plug and fix in place with pin made of a segment of steel pin or a bamboo pin (cut from skewer or chopstick, both available at your food mart in Asian Food section).
The completed spring will consist of tube with sliding piston which squishes the rubber band bits stuffed in tube.
Tube wall can be strenghthened by wrapping it with glue soaked thread.

This compression spring should give a small amount of buffered movement.

Maybe some one will be brave enough to try to build one and see if the concept actually works.

Tension spring is rubber band segment under tension. Eash end of the Rubber band could be attached to eye of small fish hook and stretched between parts that need pulled together. Don't forget to take file to fish hook point or you might have nasty surprise one day.

Leaf springs that look right are easy just stacked curved paper strips soaked in dilute carpenters glue so they set ridgid and strong.

Functioning leaf springs would be hard. Maybe alternating layers of heat formed curved plastic and paper strips, or layers of paper and rubber band, or a stack of paper strip-paper clip segment sandwiches. or alternating strips of curved paper which have had nylon thread glued to the tension side of the curve. For the truly obsessive something could probably be kludged out of an old wind up alarm clock main spring.

I know rubber bands eventually go bad, particularly in smoggy or humid eniviroments, and I suspect rubber bands with their hi sulpher content might rot paper they are in contact with. Does anyone have experience with long term document storage, where documents where bundled with rubber bands and put away for a long time?

Zathros
09-23-2010, 09:57 PM
I think this thread should be a sticky. It is excellent.

For a completely different reason I used liquid electrical tape to simulate rubber on some paper tires I made for a paper toy car for my son. While it was still tacky I rolled them on a textured surface and when dry, they looked just like real, little, but real tires.

Art Deco
09-23-2010, 10:36 PM
Vorcha, that's a terrific idea! Sadly, because I'm living in China I can't see your video or any of the images (:mad:), but it sounds ingenious!



Now, if you could just get started on creating a functional paper spring... : )
Heavy card (~200gsm) is pretty stiff and to some degree resists folding. You can fold up a strip "accordian style" to multiply this force, it will push back after being compressed. You can control it by placing it inside a "square tube" housing. Functionally it will act like a jack-in-the-box or a shock absorber.

imavingalaughaswell
09-23-2010, 11:09 PM
I'm impressed.
Now, if you could just get started on creating a functional paper spring... : )

sorry to interrupt on this thread ..

i built a working paper spring for a project a started but failed to finish last year ...
thread here Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 Build - Zealot Hobby Forum (http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167378&highlight=11200)

in the pic below is the second design at the spring/damper ,changing it from square to round.. the project got shelved due to other commitments..

ok lets explain the pic ...

Grey=internal paper tube
Yellow=external tube
Green=end plates
Red=end stops
zig-zag line=spring

so we start buy rolling the internal tube(grey),in my example the internal diameter was 6mm,then we rolled an end stop(red) around one end of this,glueing in place,then we rolled another end stop(red) around the internal tube but without glueing it,then we rolled the external tube(yellow) around the outside of the end stops(red),glueing the external tube to the previously rolled,but not glued end stop.this should create two tubes that slide on inside the other ,but will not fall apart because of the end stops..

next to the spring itself,thats simple,a strip of 5mm card/paper(depending how springy you want it) folded in a accordian shape,this should be about twice as long as the overall length of the two tubes when extended.

to assemble the working spring/damper you start buy sliding the two halves together so the the end stops touch.DO NOT GLUE!.then glue an end plate(green) onto the external tube,slide in the accordian spring,compress the assembly an finaly glue the other end plate in place .. hold until dry,then release..if you made it right you should have a working spring/damper....

hope i explained all that ok ...???

Vorcha
09-24-2010, 12:32 AM
sorry to interrupt on this thread ..

i built a working paper spring for a project a started but failed to finish last year ...
thread here Liebherr LTM 11200-9.1 Build - Zealot Hobby Forum (http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167378&highlight=11200)



Thatīs a great Idea! - I saw that you even had steering on your axels!

Vorcha
09-24-2010, 05:27 AM
:)................................................ .......

John Wagenseil
09-24-2010, 07:22 AM
Hmmmm.

Regarding prior posts about springs. I am probably going against the spirit of paper modeling philosophy, since I am seeking permanence in models built with impermanent medium. I look upon paper modeling as using paper and raw materials scrounged from around the house or cheap items that are easily obtainable and have been re-purposed (tooth pics, straight pins, paper clips, chopstix and bamboo skewers, ect.) Using cannibalized dried up ball point pens as scribers seems to be a universally accepted usage in paper modeling.
These pens also have another valuable internal component, the SPRING.
If the spring from clic type ball pen was used instead of accordian fold paper in posting above, would be perfect simulation of a car's shocks.
I would make one addition, run drill small holes in each end of the shock. put a big stopper knot on one end of thread, run it through the center of the tube/spring assembly, and pull tight until desired amount of pre-tension was present and tie off.

The next challenge beyond working tracks and suspension using home made and scrounged components, would be a power source. Two possible ways to do it, a pull back an release where a stretched rubber band or compressed spring gives the vehicle an initial kick, or a real rubber band motor, where twisted or stretched rubber band drives the axle. Does this set up need a step down transmission, reinforcement so the tensioned rubber band does not tear the paper model apart, and a clutch so it can free wheel?

There once was a commercial paper model of a Mercedes that had a rubber band motor. It was rather pricey, so I did not buy one, and now they are OOP and unobtainable. Does any one have the plans that show how the model was powered, that they could share?

I remain impressed with the tread links, somewhere in there is the potential for an amazing office desk toy.

silveroxide
09-24-2010, 08:47 AM
I have tried to make the links individually but your method is ingenious. The Warhammer Chimeras have a track similar to that and it would look great. Thanks, you got me over thinking again with the possibilities.

Vorcha
09-24-2010, 09:08 AM
The next challenge beyond working tracks and suspension using home made and scrounged components, would be a power source.


yeah, my most insane idea was about a paper-based burning-fuel-motor, using plain flour as fuel... :eek:... the question would be how to isolate the burning chamber/ the cylinders from the rest of the model...

but as a fuel for homemade jet-engines, built of metal and implemented in a papermodel plain flour would be great, the isolation would be much easier and in the end you could even use some kind of RC, for examle of an disassembled mini-monstertruck... and fly as long as the fuel is over or the model catches fire... or you just get gasoline...:):):)

Paladin
09-24-2010, 09:42 AM
Vorcha, that track is awesome.:eek: Now I am truly inspired to build a tank with real track treads.:) Thanks so much. I may even put these on a RC tank made out of paper.:cool:

Vorcha
09-25-2010, 05:16 AM
Speaking of Springs...
Ro2tFC7U-S0

cgutzmer
09-25-2010, 07:27 AM
Engineering genius! :)

carlos filipe
09-25-2010, 08:00 AM
Thank you for sharing. Very interesting concept and very clear tutorial.

Best regards
Carlos

Vorcha
09-25-2010, 08:00 AM
Engineering genius! :)
thank you very much!

damian
09-26-2010, 03:53 AM
awesome tracks - i have no intention to build a tank - way too many parts - but loved the video and your work.

adyokehpunya
11-25-2010, 04:14 AM
Thanks for the tutorial, this is what i need to know, i was surfed and i didn't find the right n simple thing like this. Thanks a lot for the inspiration. :)

Vorcha
12-22-2010, 06:07 AM
Thanks for the tutorial, this is what i need to know, i was surfed and i didn't find the right n simple thing like this. Thanks a lot for the inspiration. :)

Iīm glad i could help you!

bigbenn
12-22-2010, 10:01 AM
Hi,
I thought about a procedure which allowed me to build scale tracks for card and paper tanks I built in 1/15 for r/c and after much experimentation decided that the materials were too weak to be effective for very long.
I then decided to go with Tamiya tanks and more recently a much cheaper alternative which was available on e.Bay - the r/c ones.
All I had to replace was the upper hull and gun and use the existing Tamiya lower hull and running gear to make a completely new tank.
I had some problems with getting the scale right, but as long as the running gear was the same for the new card model upper hull I created from the existing plastic r/c tank, my problems were solved.Tamiya r/c tanks, I have King Tiger, Leopard A1, Sherman - other much cheaper brands, I have Walker, KV-1a, Tiger 1 and another, I forget what it is - all r/c.
All I need now is the time and motivation to be creative and get some new tanks out there.
BigBenn

Nik0lai
01-04-2012, 09:11 AM
I wonder if I could apply it ...:eek:

bigbenn
01-05-2012, 09:41 PM
Hi,
I think anyone who comes up with a solution with "tank tracks" is very clever, however, I am basically a lazy person and I like my models to be radio controlled, so they come back to me on r/c demand and paper and card tracks just don't work for me and I've tried. They lack the durability I require.
What does work for me, is for me to buy on e.Bay, r/c tanks which are already complete in 1/16 scale (like Heng Long) which I like because they are big and I can easily see them, and from which I can remove the superstructure and replace the superstructure (hull and turret) with another completely different tank, which has the same suspension, which I build from a Polish or Russian paper kit which I have purchased and photocopy enlarged.
Thus, the running gear of my old and new tanks is a Chinese commercially created lower tank hull and running gear, with r/c installed at factory, to which I add one, or several other upper hulls and turrets I have made by hand, to fit (one at a time).
I notice on e.Bay, that it is possible to buy just the lower tank hull and motors, running gear etc for around A$46.
I have 7 x Tamiya & Heng Long 1/16 r/c tanks on permanent display, any of which I can dismantle easily, down to the lower hull and rebuild in numerous other configurations if I wish - tanks for which otherwise, there are no models available.
For the time being, my interest is with card kits of the Livadia and IJN Yamato which I am slowly building, so my tanks have taken a back seat in "regeneration" also as something else, for the forseeable future.
BigBenn

Vorcha
11-09-2012, 08:13 PM
I wonder if I could apply it ...:eek:

of course you can x)

TheZombie99
08-21-2019, 02:26 PM
Hi vorcha, can you submit the images again?