Testing Tracks!

 

In my last post I ended by saying the tracks were not playing ball. The photo above shows what I am dealing with - very small pieces that are fragile and awkward to handle. The tracks are what is termed as 'workable'. That is they should click together and be free to move just like real tracks. Whilst there is no doubt someone at MiniArt who can put these together blindfolded and then use them as some form of towrope to rescue a real tank stuck in mud, for me, the reality is that they just don't work. Might be my ineptness at putting these together but an internet search does show I am not unique in having problems with these particular tracks. You need to be very careful how you remove them from the sprue as you can end up with the hole that is supposed to receive the peg on the joining track link being compromised. Use too much force and the link snaps in two. I have reverted to my old dodge in this situation of building up short lengths of track on a strip of masking tape and then running that around the running gear on the tank itself and lightly gluing the track links once in position so that they in effect become one track. I do this in sections so that I am at least gluing a loose length of track to a solid length to give me some chance of getting it all to sit right on the tanks running gear. It takes days to do as you need to await the glue drying for each section but it does at least allow you to maintain your sanity. Certainly a testing time!

The pictures below show the progress on the rest of the tank. Note that the upper hull part does have a bit of a fit issue at the back but nothing that some elastic bands at the gluing stage can't sort out - hopefully! You might note the magnify glass in the background which has come in very handy with this kit.