Help!...a tank

[abhovi]

That is a great help Ken, thank you. But it still does not answer the question how the designeer of the kit has imagined how the parts should be stuck together.

Texman: perhaps this works, sorry for the earlier one. enlarging a small picture seldom leads to more sharpness....

[kentyler]

the core of the track link is the 2 pieces, 25b and 25a, that sit side by side on the bottom of the flat plate that makes up the top of the link

the front of these pieces is bent first in, then back out, so that the nose section is narrower, 25c joins together this narrower nose section and is the bushing that the track pin will go through, this bushing (in the real tank) would have a hole in it that the track pin goes through

the narrower nose section between between the end part of 25b and 25a on the track that this track mates into

so the trick is that one end of the track is narrower 25c and on the other the 2 pieces 25a and 25b just have holes in their sides for the track link pin, because they are NOT bent in, the narrow nose section of the next track can fit between them

the small rectangle pieces 25f are glue to the tops of 25b and 25a, they both provide an illusion of solidity and act as a brace for the bend inwards in the nose section

the pieces 25f are of 2 sorts, they are the end caps that go over the back ends of 25a and 25b to represent the ends of the track pin that would go thru and fasten the track that follows... the sight of these end pieces as little squares confirms that the designer did not design in a pin, or the holes for it to go through the track... this is common in "polish" style tank models, I can not remember one that i did not have to drill for pin holes (the more detailed models, like those of haliniski, are an exception)

hope that helps

[abhovi]

Thank you Ken for the explanation. I am not quite sure the designer planned a real pin, as there are no pins in the list of small metal parts...

I will give your suggestion a try and come back to you.

[kentyler]

i often find it useful when building these tracks to make an outline on a piece of cardboard that represents the the whole of one length of track
then, as i assemble the track i fasten it to the outline (often by sticking a pin thru it) and then stick the pin thru to fasten it to the next link

this helps with 2 things
it keeps all the track plates at regular distances from each other, as sometimes there can be some "drift" in how the 2 pieces that hold the pins are glued onto the bottoms of the track plates

it also insures that when it is finished the track will be straight... sometimes the track can acquire "windage" as multiple pieces are added and drift off to one side

when you are assembling the track onto the tank, the big thing to remember is the way it "sags" between the return rollers

looking at pictures of the real tanks helps here

this "sag" is the biggest thing that makes the track look "realistic"

even if you are not painting the model, you might consider painting the track,
a base color and then a color to represent the worn places will make it look much more realistic... and the coat of paint will unify the different pieces that make up each link and make them look much more like something that was cast as one piece

have fun

ken

[kentyler]

ah, i forgot
the other thing i find works well for pins is thin, triangular strips of bamboo
the triangles slip thru the paper holes more easily, and you can easily cut a "tip" on the bamboo pins that has a little point to help push it thru the holes you made in the track
the paper has enough give in it that it will "turn" around the bamboo with no problem
the bamboo is also easier to glue to the track links, although it is usually not necessary to glue the pins at all, the friction of pushing them thru the holes in the tracks usually holds them quite firmly

[Texman]

Ken, thanks for the help.

[abhovi]

This is great Ken, thank you very much.
Just by coincidence my 20-years old miniature power drill gave up on me and I immediately ordered a new one. It will take a few days, but in the mean time I can make some more links.
Keep you posted...

[kentyler]

sometimes instead of drilling, i just cut a small cross with the sharp tip of a blade
the little cross works like a center punch and you just poke the pin thru
this works especially well with the "bamboo" version of the pins

[abhovi]

That's indeed a good way to do it, but cutting a cross in a 1 mm thick circle with a diameter of 2 1/2 mm is not something you really want to do, especially not if you have to do it about 240 times. In cases like this I prefer to make a small dent with a sharp steel tool and drill the hole next. That's how I do it for deadeyes for my ships and it works quite well.

[kentyler]

i was thinking that track links are the "deadeyes" of tank building, usually there are about 100 or so of them