Help advice on tracks

[carthorse11]

Hi, I am part way through my first tank (panther revell ausf d 1.35) and have no clue about tracks ie. Do I paint the links before joining them, do I glue them as joining them if so when you glue them how do you bend them round the sprockets ?

 

[MystRacing]

Well; being as you haven't gotten any answer yet, I'll tell you a little I know. I would glue them on and paint it all after the fact with glue together tracks if the tracks are still relatively accessible after glueing on. Typically, I would build the tracks in sections and wrap them around the drive and road wheels. Cement like the Tamiya super thin will stay kind of soft long enough to glue a section of 5 or ten tracks together that you can then place on the model.

I think the reason you didn't get much response is there are a lot of ways to do it and pro's and con's to each. If you haven't seen it done before good old youtube has tons of good videos on was to build these models. Probably even some on the Revell Panther.

 

[Pantherman]

Hi, I am part way through my first tank (panther revell ausf d 1.35) and have no clue about tracks ie. Do I paint the links before joining them, do I glue them as joining them if so when you glue them how do you bend them round the sprockets ?

Have to agree with mystracing. I usually leave off any side skirts and mudguards so I can fit the tracks.

I tend to glue top section of tracks first so that I get the droop onto the drive sprocket and the start of the curve on the idler. I made a little jig so it's easier to glue together quicker but you can buy them on amazon.

I usually CA this section to the wheels once it's set overnight. Then I do the front rear curves in the same way. Finally the bottom section. Takes 3 day's but it works for me.

Forgot to say that I remove the dried section, prime and spray it, then CA it to the wheels ready for the next step. Pantherman

 

[carthorse11]

Well; being as you haven't gotten any answer yet, I'll tell you a little I know. I would glue them on and paint it all after the fact with glue together tracks if the tracks are still relatively accessible after glueing on. Typically, I would build the tracks in sections and wrap them around the drive and road wheels. Cement like the Tamiya super thin will stay kind of soft long enough to glue a section of 5 or ten tracks together that you can then place on the model.

I think the reason you didn't get much response is there are a lot of ways to do it and pro's and con's to each. If you haven't seen it done before good old youtube has tons of good videos on was to build these models. Probably even some on the Revell Panther.

Thanks a lot

 

[Modelprofessor]

Another way of doing things is to build the tracks on the vehicle , the trick is to leave the road wheels loose so it can come off as a single assembly . It would also be best to do this before the upper hull is added if choosing this route. You can do this type of assembly 2 different ways , one is to leave the road wheels glued to the track assembly or to leave the wheels loose in the track .

 

[Jakko]

This is why I don't like separate-link (or link-and-length) tracks unless they're workable If you glue them to the model before painting, it's hard to get paint on the hull, the wheels and the tracks. If you paint them before installing them, you either have to glue painted parts together, which is difficult and leads to glue stains and/or run paint, or build them so they can be taken off again, which is a hassle and will probably see you fixing breaks before you're done.

Workable tracks are more work, true, but I find this is more than made up for by the fact that you can build them off the model, paint them, and then put them on after painting without needing any glue. However, I do acknowledge that this opinion is most likely based on me suffering from AMS