PMMS
Armour Workshop
39H Series Workable Track
LionMarc Model Designs Set No. AW-70001
1/35th Scale
Review by Terry Ashley

I have had this set for a while now but only now post the review as there have been some degree of frustration assembling the tracks which put me off a bit and I also tried different methods to get a result.

The set consists of 240 individually cast track links which are quite small even in 1:35th scale and have very fine details such as the guide teeth with only some minor cleanup required which can be done with a quick pass with an X-Acto #11 blade but over all the resin quality was very good but with a few very small air holes in the guide teeth which probably wouldn’t be noticed with the naked eye at normal viewing distances.

Also included are 240 brass pins already cut to length which are used to fit the track links together with pre-drilled holes in the links, these holes are slightly wider on one side than the other so when the pin is inserted friction will hold it in place, that is the theory.

Individual links and pins in the set.
Armour Workshop

The first thing to watch is where the guide teeth attach to the track link as the join is quite small and fragile with a few guide teeth braking off during the assembly process so careful handling is essential.

The main problem surrounds the pin insertion as there is very little room for error with the brass pins themselves having quite sharp angles where they have been cut and the locating holes on the links have to be lined up exactly with each other before attempting to insert the pin.

If the link holes are only slightly out of alignment the edge of the pin with catch the edge of the hole and form a small bur, the more force you use the larger this bur will become with the less likelihood of success.

On the track links which did line up precisely the pin just slipped into place and when seated into the smaller hole held together well, one other links I had to slightly move the links many times to get them to line up sufficiently for the pin to fit and as mentioned do not use anything more than normal finger pressure here or the hole will be burred and that is the end of it.

On a couple of links it took over ten minutes fiddling to get the pin to fit while on a couple I used a little to much pressure and broke off part of the link while on others the guide tooth broke off after spending minutes getting the pin to fit meaning this had to be discarding and start again.

I finally got a length of twenty links together but lost eight during the process to damage and if this attrition rate is carried through there won’t be enough left to make each track run of 112 links.

One solution I tried that worked okay was to file the ends of each pin to a rounded or slightly pointed profile which then didn't catch on the edge of the holes if not lined up precisely, but it quite tedious to file each pin.

The assembled track length unfortunately didn’t fit evenly around the Trumpeter drive sprocket with the guide teeth being at different angles and just didn’t look right no matter how much I tried to align them (see image)

Assembled length of track, note some minor damage leaving pin showing
Armour Workshop
Links around Trumpeter drive sprocket
Armour Workshop

Conclusion:
While the quality of the resin casting is very good the method of assembly was very frustrating and if you didn’t get it right first time there will be considerable problems.

If you have unlimited patience and are extremely careful during assembly these will make good looking H39 tracks but beware as they are very fragile so handle with care during and after assembly.

Recommended with reservations.

Thanks to Leo from LionMarc Model Designs and my credit card for the review set.



Page created 15 April 2005

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