Speaking of Tank Track Threads

[Tattooed Steve]

Here's a new handy dandy how to!

We would all love to use metal tracks from our favorite suppliers for every build we do. But we don't have the money to buy their assembled tracks or the talent/patience to assemble them. So we use the tracks in the box or have just enough money to buy a heavier vinyl tracks. Then you go to connect them and either you risk over-melting them or go through as many glues as they make trying to get one to work. And if one holds you run the risk of it snapping after the joint becomes a brittle mess.

Well, worry no more! Just take a sewing needle and invisible thread - carpet thread turn the tracks inside out and whip stitch the ends together, then flip them back and do your detailing/weathering. If don't know how to do a whip stitch YouTube it or ask anyone that sews. And it keeps the connection flexible along with hidden.

You can even do adjustable sagging the same way between the top and bottom tracks and hide the thread behind the edge of single wheels or between paired up wheels. The best part is you're not risking glue on your wheels and can adjust the tension just by pulling the string tighter and working it around the wheels or through the bottom track. If you're not happy with it just cut the thread.


The little white dots to the right are the knots that get hidden with weathering.

 

[the Baron]

Nice tip! It reminds me of working with the soft plastic tracks on my Airfix armor kits when I was a kid. They used the usual method of pegs and holes at the ends of the tread, and melting the pegs flat with a heated screwdriver. When that join would fail, I used a needle and thread to tack them together.

 

[GaryG64]

Here's a new handy dandy how to!

We would all love to use metal tracks from our favorite suppliers for every build we do. But we don't have the money to buy their assembled tracks or the talent/patience to assemble them. So we use the tracks in the box or have just enough money to buy a heavier vinyl tracks. Then you go to connect them and either you risk over-melting them or go through as many glues as they make trying to get one to work. And if one holds you run the risk of it snapping after the joint becomes a brittle mess.

Well, worry no more! Just take a sewing needle and invisible thread - carpet thread turn the tracks inside out and whip stitch the ends together, then flip them back and do your detailing/weathering. If don't know how to do a whip stitch YouTube it or ask anyone that sews. And it keeps the connection flexible along with hidden.

You can even do adjustable sagging the same way between the top and bottom tracks and hide the thread behind the edge of single wheels or between paired up wheels. The best part is you're not risking glue on your wheels and can adjust the tension just by pulling the string tighter and working it around the wheels or through the bottom track. If you're not happy with it just cut the thread.

View attachment 87844
The little white dots to the right are the knots that get hidden with weathering.

Awesome advice!!!