Track Links and Drive Sprockets
for SA-6 Gainful & ZSU-23 Shilka
LionMarc Model Designs Set No. CL30009
Review by Terry Ashley

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The set consists of 210 individual track links cast in light grey resin with just some excess resin film to be removed from the drive tooth holes and the two round lightening holes on the outer edges of each link. Also included are the two drive sprockets with separate inner and outer sprocket with open lightening holes and just the smallest amount of resin film in a few of the holes to be cleaned up.

Resin track links

A quick pass with a sharp X-Acto #11 cleaned out the track tooth holes and I used an appropriate sized drill bit to clean out the small holes to ensure they stayed round but there wasn’t any real drilling involved as just a quick twist was enough to remove the film.

The detail on the links is very well done with nicely defined plate details and the small details on the guide teeth are also nicely represented. We should mention here that there are three different styles of guide teeth on ZSU-23 and SA-6 tracks with the earliest type having smooth curved teeth as seen on early ZSU-23s and the next type has a single small rib on the tooth side as depicted on the Lionmarc links and these are seen on late ZSU-23s and many SA-6 Gainful types. The later type has a more complex design on the side of the guide tooth with this seen on more recent SA-6 vehicles and therefore this Lionmarc set is applicable for both the ZSU-23 and SA-6 as indicated on the packaging.

Lionmarc track with image of actual track showing good representation of guide teeth
for this version track for later ZSU-23 and earlier SA-6

Additional images of early ZSU-23 track (left) and later SA-6 track (right)

Back to the links there is a small and large pin on each link with corresponding locating holes of the other side of the link and are designed to just clip together in the same manner as numerous other resin track sets these days.

The pins are quite large as track pins go and the locating holes have thicker surrounds than some making for a very robust track run after assembly but you still need to take care during assembly.

Details of the links showing the resin film to be removed from the tooth and lightening holes
easily done with a sharp blade

This is done by slipping one link over the larger pin and with gently downward pressure on the link “lift” the smaller pin into the location hole, this is easiest done with a pair of tweezers to lightly lift the outer pin over the hole ridge and into place.
You only need the slightest lifting pressure here so as not to damage the links and after a few you will know the amount of “lift” needed and get into a nice rhythm.

Method of clipping the links together which is quick and easy

The assembled track runs have excellent articulation and as mentioned are very robust as far a resin tracks go to make handling easier and they also fit precisely around the resin drive sprockets from set #LM90003 as you would expect.
The links will also fit the Trumpeter kit sprockets but not as snugly as the Lionmarc sprockets and you can forget about fitting the track around the older Dragon sprockets as the teeth are way oversized.

Assembled tracks around the resin LionMarc drive sprocket
and with the Lionmarc road wheels from set #LM90003

The detail on the drive sprockets is also good but there are a couple of minor issues with the lightening holes being fractionally oversized meaning they extend a bit too far into the outer curve of the sprocket hub but have a nice round profile so this shouldn’t be a real problem. The Lionmarc sprockets have the correct six lightening holes included as opposed to the Trumpeter sprockets which incorrectly have eight holes included.
The centre of the hub is a little undersized but unless you carry around reference photos this won’t be at all noticeable and the sprockets give a higher level of detail then any of the kit sprockets.

There is one disappointment in that the circle of bolt heads on the inside of the sprocket discs is not included and this is quite a noticeable omission.

It should be noted that early ZSU-23 sprockets have a smooth tooth disc while the later ZSU-23 types and the SA-6 types have a small raised rim around the outer disc as depicted on the resin sprockets but is overstated on the Trumpeter sprocket.

Lionmarc Drive sprockets and Trumpeter Drive sprockets

Dragon drive sprocket and image of early ZSU-23 drive sprocket

Sprocket image from Concord ZSU-23 book
Actual drive sprockets, note bolt heads on inside of sprocket not included on resin sprockets
Image of late ZSU-23 drive sprocket (right)

SA-6 images from Wings & Wheels SA-6 in detail book

There is a small instruction sheet included showing the assembly sequences but there is no indication of how many links there are per side, so you will have to feel your way to get the right amount of track sag.

Conclusion:
A nicely detailed set of workable track links and drive sprockets with very little cleanup and easy assembly to add a noticeably increase in detail to the target kits, especially the earlier Dragon kits and used in conjunction with the resin road wheels give a good detail lift to the kits.

Highly recommended

SA-6 Gainful in details Present Vehicle Line No.15 Wings & Wheels Publications

ZSU-23-4 Shilka & Soviet Air Defense Gun Vehicles Concord #1039

Thanks to my overworked credit card and Hobby Easy for the review set.

Page Created July 4, 2006