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K Childres While working on a new project I was dreading using the track links in the DML kit because of the cleanup time normally associated with them... Using a #11 blade to cut out the links which have a rather large attachment point on each, almost always leaves you with a little sliver to clean up. Also building and shaping the links while keeping them strait and together can be a pain so here are some simple tips to make them more enjoyable to work with... Because they are after all fairly detailed and best of all don't cost 40 bucks... I started by throwing out the exacto (figuratively). I had bought a mat board knife a while back and I though I’d give it a whirl because the blade is half as thick as a #11 and it cuts so clean... This turned out to be the best thing I ever did. That mat cutter sliced all 220 links out in less than 30 min with no cleanup needed on 99% of the links...    Years ago before I used workable tracks I built this jig to assemble indi links on and after searching around I found it and kicked the dust off it... I just lay the links in there then flood the joints with liquid cement (I use Testors) Then let the run lay there for 20-25 minutes and start to set... You need to be able to pick it up and shape it without them falling apart... A strait razor was used to carefully pry the run off the jig then I shaped them around the tanks chassis.   I made two runs (top and bottom) that meet on the sprocket and the idler. Now remember the glue on the tracks isn't tacky anymore so the track doesn't stick to any of the suspension at all. It’s crucial to be able to pull them off to paint. So after letting the track set in place for a few hours with the proper sags and curves in place you can pull them off and you’re ready to paint... This track does have the sprocket still in it in the picture but it'll be popped out to paint. The track have plenty of flex to be shaped back around the road wheels and such then glued in place after they are painted....  This exercise gave me a new outlook on using the kit supplied DML links so I imagine I’ll use them more often in the future...  copyright©2006 ausfwerks |