Tiger I Early
Workable Track Link
LionMarc Model Designs Set No. AW-48000
1/48th Scale
Review by Terry Ashley
Designed
for the new Tamiya 1:48 Tiger I Early production kit comes this set of individual
link resin track that simply replace the plastic link and length track of the
Tamiya kit for a more realistic appearance.
The set contains 220 resin links and 220 brass pins already cut to length and the only cleanup needed is some fine resin film on the links that is easy to remove with a light application of the trusty X-Acto #11.
The details on the track links is very well done and also includes the cut-out holes in the guide teeth which do have some minor resin film to be removed.
The links have pin holes already included and these are completely hollow so no additional drilling is needed and on one end the hole is slightly larger than the brass pin and the other slightly smaller so when the pin is pressed into place friction will hold it tight and no glue is actually needed. I have given the assembled links a fairly good test by flicking about and some rough treatment that they would never get when fitting to the kit and none of the pins even tried to come adrift, which is a good indication you can forget the glue.
When fitting the links together make sure you insert the pin in the end with
the larger hole which is easy to identify and it is imperative the holes in
the two links line up exactly otherwise the pin simply will not slip through.
Thankfully as these links are quite wide with four interlocking sections the
holes tended to line themselves up and the pins went in very easily but remember
if they don’t then do not force the pins as this will only result in
damage to the resin links. If the pins don’t slide into place easily
simple move the links a little to re-align until the pins slip into place.
It took no time at all to assemble a good length of track and this fitted perfectly around the Tamiya kit drive sprocket and the tracks really do have far greater detail definition than the plastic kit tracks.
An excellent update for the Tamiya kit that is easy to assembly with minimal cleanup and well worth the investment.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Leo from LionMarc Model Designs and my credit card for the review set.
Page created 2 February 2005