Panzer IF Tracks

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charliec

Active Member
rockpaperscissor said:
Charlie, that looks fantastic! Very realistic. Appears to be labor intensive, but I'm sure much less so than building each link individually. Thank you for the post. It's going in my favorites so I can refer to it when I tackle the tracks on my Modelik Panzer II (thread is in here somewhere, eventually I will finish it).
Regards,

Don

Thank you all for the positive responses.

It isn't as labour intensive as you might think. I found that if you do the same cutting out task repetitively you get very fast and accurate at it and the only challenge then is handling the boredom. It's quite important to hone the #11 blade used frequently - the cutting out becomes hard work when the blade loses its edge.

This technique certainly beats trying to piece together individual links and has the advantage that adding surface detail on the outside of the track doesn't require a lot of rework of each link. I have seen people on this forum saying they'll never do another tank because of the time and effort required with individual links.

If someone attempts to build tracks with this technique please report your experience - it will help to improve the technique to handle different track designs.

Regards,

Charlie
 
J

Jim Nunn

Charlie,

An excellent solution for small track links and your weathering really looks great.

One suggestion I use the #17 small chisel blade and cut them to the exact width for those small straight cuts. By using a plunging cut you are less likely to over cut the line and it seems to take less time. I actually keep a range of these trimmed blades in .5 mm increments they are very handy for small cuts and trimming.

Now lets see the rest of the model the PzKpfw IF is on my to do list.

Best Regards

Jim Nunn
 

charliec

Active Member
Jim Nunn said:
Charlie,

An excellent solution for small track links and your weathering really looks great.

One suggestion I use the #17 small chisel blade and cut them to the exact width for those small straight cuts. By using a plunging cut you are less likely to over cut the line and it seems to take less time. I actually keep a range of these trimmed blades in .5 mm increments they are very handy for small cuts and trimming.

Now lets see the rest of the model the PzKpfw IF is on my to do list.

Best Regards

Jim Nunn

I did try using chisel blades trimmed down to appropriate size but I found that
the #11 blade was faster on the fiddly stuff. I guess it was a difference between punching through the card versus slitting the card. After a few hundred of these cuts you tend to get quite accurate with a #11 blade. I did use a chisel blade on trimming the outside edge of the links - it worked really well on this task.

The weathering (oddly) looks better in the images than in reality - must be one of the few cases where a digital camera makes something look better. I found that using a stiff, spiky brush helped applying the paint - there are a lot of crevices and holes to fill with paint.

I guess I've got to build the rest of tank now - I've got a reasonable set of tracks at least. It's a pretty comprehensive model - WAK says it runs to over 2000 parts so it's in the Halinski range. Pity WAK chose to model something belonging to SS Division "Prinz Eugen".

Regards,

Charlie
 
J

Jim Nunn

Charlie,

What works is always the best way.

Now the next time you get up to Southern California I want to sit down and a have pint with you. Any one who STARTS with the track links on a model is someone I want to know.

Jim Nunn
 

Amazyah

Senior Member
I love that "rust and dust" look, Charlie!
That has to be one of the most authentic looking tracks I have ever seen!

Great track and fantastic weathering!

If you're ever in my neck of the woods, I want to through back a pint with you also!
Of course it would have to root beer though, I quit drinking a year ago.:twisted:

Russell
 

Jim Krauzlis

Active Member
charliec said:
Back both sides with baking paper - make sure you get good surface coverage with the glue of choice. I used slightly thinned PVA glue and brushed it on.

When the glue's dry cut out the inside of the track and the hinge lines of the inside of the track. If you try to cut the hinge lines on the inside of the track without the support of the baking paper it will almost certainly fail.

Charlie

Hi again, Charlie!:)

Just one question...in post #3 you say to cut the hinge lines of the inside track, which is before the baking paper has been glued to the printed sheets (underside, of course). Then, in post # 4 you say to cut the hinge lines of the inside track, commenting as you do above about how doing it before gluing the baking paper will cause a problem. So, do you cut the hinge lines on the inside track parts before gluing the baking paper or after...or both?

Your finished track looks just superb! Can we all come visit with our tracks and work on them under your guidance with pints at the ready?:-D

Cheers!
Jim
 

charliec

Active Member
Jim Krauzlis said:
Hi again, Charlie!:)

Just one question...in post #3 you say to cut the hinge lines of the inside track, which is before the baking paper has been glued to the printed sheets (underside, of course). Then, in post # 4 you say to cut the hinge lines of the inside track, commenting as you do above about how doing it before gluing the baking paper will cause a problem. So, do you cut the hinge lines on the inside track parts before gluing the baking paper or after...or both?

Your finished track looks just superb! Can we all come visit with our tracks and work on them under your guidance with pints at the ready?:-D

Cheers!
Jim

Sorry - that's a mistake - it should have been the "outside" - I've fixed it.

In summary the sequence is:

- Cut out the inside of track and hinge lines then reinforce with baking paper.
- Cut out the outside of the track - reinforce with baking paper
- Cut the hinge lines on the outside of the track - reinforce with baking paper
- Then cut the track sections out of the parts sheet, etc

I think you'd find the 14 hours flying from the US West Coast a bit of a drag -
but you'd certainly be welcome. Australian beer is a bit too strong to drink in pints - it has about 3 times the alcohol content of US beer.

Regards,

Charlie
 

rmks2000

Member
Thanks Charlie. I'll have to see if I can apply it to my GPM firefly or Modelik Scorpion, Both of which are at the bottom of my pile due to my dread of treads.
 

charliec

Active Member
I've just found this out.....

If you are building a long length of track - when you get to the step of glueing the two track halves together the best way to do this is to start glueing at each end - glue about 3 or 4 links - let the glue dry then glue the middle.

What seems to happen is that with all the cuts across the track there is a small extension in length - this isn't reproducible. So getting the ends lined up correctly and glueing the middle later forces the track links back into alignment.

I have a question - where are the Smoky Mountains?

Regards,

Charlie
 

Amazyah

Senior Member
Hi Charlie,
I know you are referring to me.
The Smoky Mountains are on the East coast of the US.
They are also called the Appalachian Mountains.
They are home to the Cherokee Indian Tribes.
I live near where they shot the movie, "Last of the Mohican's".
I live in the Northwest corner of South Carolina.
This area is like the beginning of the Smoky Mountains which runs from North to South from Pennsylvania to South Carolina/Georgia area.
Here are some pictures showing how they got their name.

cadescove3xl7.jpg


Even on a clear day, mountains off in the distance take on a smoky look.

wayah6gg9.jpg


A picture at sunrise...

gatlinburgsunrisega0.jpg


gsmokymnts01bigdm5.jpg


Russell
 

charliec

Active Member
Amazyah said:
Hi Charlie,
I know you are referring to me.
The Smoky Mountains are on the East coast of the US.
They are also called the Appalachian Mountains.
They are home to the Cherokee Indian Tribes.
I live near where they shot the movie, "Last of the Mohican's".
I live in the Northwest corner of South Carolina.
This area is like the beginning of the Smoky Mountains which runs from North to South from Pennsylvania to South Carolina/Georgia area.
Here are some pictures showing how they got their name.

Russell

Thanks for that - sounds like the Blue Mountains behind Sydney although that blue is due partly to the eucalyptus oils from the trees.

Regards,

Charlie
 

charliec

Active Member
Just to wind up the thread and to prove that a complete set of tracks can be built with this method. Here's the track set for the WAK Panzer IF.

The camera picked out a couple of places that need to be touched up.

Regards,

Charlie
 

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Jim Krauzlis

Active Member
That's quite an impressive set of tracks, Charlie! This really shows how one can create a very impressive detail on an AFV model. Great job!

Thank you again for sharing this technique with us...I will be sure to try this one out!

Cheers!
Jim
 

charliec

Active Member
paper warrior said:
WOW, but, can wax paper be used too? Or is baking paper the same?

I think we're getting into the old "different countries different products problem".

What I call waxed paper is a fairly heavy paper which has been waterproofed with wax - it probably wouldn't work.

I think rice paper would work ok - something like the old "onion skin" paper that typists used to use. All you need is a paper which is thinner and tougher than copy paper. It might even work with some tissue papers especially the type used in packaging.

regards,

Charlie
 

Amazyah

Senior Member
charliec said:
Just to wind up the thread and to prove that a complete set of tracks can be built with this method. Here's the track set for the WAK Panzer IF.

The camera picked out a couple of places that need to be touched up.

Regards,

Charlie
It did????

They look fantastic, Charlie!
I need to go shopping again, to see if I can find some paper suited for this.
A great technique with equal results!8)

It never seems to fail that someone on this forum astounds me every single day!
These tracks are no exceptiion, Charlie! Take a bow!:wink:

Russell
 

Tirta

Member
charliec said:
Just to wind up the thread and to prove that a complete set of tracks can be built with this method. Here's the track set for the WAK Panzer IF.

The camera picked out a couple of places that need to be touched up.

Regards,

Charlie

Wow Charlie, your finished tracks are awesome. :D :D
Thanks for sharing your secret with us,
I really appreciate it very very much.
And I will try to incorporate your method into my next tank build. :D
 
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