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09.21.2006 » Modelkasten Type 74 Tank Tracks

For this build I'll be using the Modelkasten injection plastic replacement tracks for the Tamiya 1/35 Type 74 Tank. Product SK-52. I chose to use these since the vinyl tracks that come with the tank are just not good. They have soft detail, are warped, and do not have that natural sag that the Type 74 track displays. The Modelkasten tracks are "workable" meaning that they will bend and sag with their own pins and such in a realistic fashion.

The tracks come in a nice cardboard box with a black and white decal wrapped over the top. Inside the box are around 90 small sprues of the track plates (inside and outside pads), hundreds of connecting shafts, 2 idler wheel axels, and a "jig" for laying out the tracks when building them.

The instructions come with both english and japanese text and are well-printed and easy to understand.

The first step is to cut the "inside pad" sections from the sprues, sand the nubs, and place them onto the jig. The jig holds 10 track sections so I've been doing this 5 sprues at a time since each sprue contains 2 tracks. Next cut out 10 of the connecting shafts and sand their sprue nubs. Place them into the jig on top of the inside pads.

Next we cut the outside pads from the 5 sprues we cut the inside pads from. Sand the nubs as usual. The next part took me a few tries and different glues to get right. I decided on the Testors liquid cement since it is thicker than the Tamiya Extra thin, Thinner than the Tamiya Cement and comes in the perfect applicator bottle for this task. Grab an outside pad with some tweezers by the outside tread. Apply one drop of glue to each inside tab (see below) and apply over the connecting shafts and inside pads. Press down to set glue and repeat. Wait a few minutes to remove the whole 10 track sections from the jig.

Now just continue making sections of 10 tracks with 5 sprues and 10 connecting shafts at a time. Place the prior sections of built track at the ends of the jig to connect them into a strand of 78 tracks.

Below you can see some detail comparrison shots of the Modelkasten (brown) versus the Tamiya vinyl (black) tracks. Note the great bend the Modelkasten tracks have.

09.22.2006 » One Side Done

I managed to finish one whole side (78 segments) of track so I snapped some images to go over a few parts that may be of interest. When I got to the end of the strand I realized that I won't want to connect the two ends together just yet as that would make placing them onto the tank later a pain. So I opted for a solution that would leave 3 segments of track non-bendable. This isn't a bad solution though as I'll made sure this section is on the ground so that it doesn't need to bend. On one end I glued the inside pads to the connecting shaft. On the other end I glued the outside pads to the opposite connecting shaft. This way I can glue them together in the final assembly and they'll be unnoticible. See images below.

I also placed this section of track onto the road-wheels and sprockets to see if there was good sag. It's perfect! My only concern is that I might need to add one more segment to get the sag after adjusting the suspension to lift the back-end of the tank up on the base. I'll have to test that later. I'll just make/paint/weather an extra connecting shaft (for each side) with inside and outside pads on opposite sides to lengthen it by 1 if necessary. Better safe than sorry later.

09.23.2006 » All Done!

Whew... it was a lot of work at approximately 30 minutes/10 segments, but the tracks are all done. I even had plenty leftover to make a section of spare track to replace that supplied by the kit. Below you can see what was leftover. That'll go into the spares bin to use as detail parts or sci-fi stuff. I'll post the painting and weathering of these on the JGSDF Type 74 painting and weathering page.

10.03.2006 » Painting and Weathering the Tracks

I was going to post this in the painting and weathering page, but it seemed better to keep all the tread info in one place.

First I primed the tracks in a Dark Gray primer. You could prime them in light gray as well and paint them dark gray later. Afterwards I airbrushed them with a reddish brown color to simulate the rust. Obviously this looks too rusty, but it's cool since it'll be covered up later. Be sure to bend the tracks to get inbetween them. After the red-brown dried I airbrushed on a predust shade of Tamiya Acrylics similar to my groundwork dirt. I mixed this 50/50 with Flattened Future to thin it. This simulates the dust the tracks would collect.

After the predusting dried I applied a thick wash of MIG European Earth on both the front and back of the tracks. After that it was time for some mud. I mixed equal parts of ground talus (A), dry plaster of paris (B), MIG pigment powder (C), and a little static grass thrown in as well.

I combined these in an applesause container then removed half for later. I made too much dry mix, so by removing some I can use it later for another kit. I took my mixture and mixed in a slightly larger volume of Liquitex Acrylic Matt Gel Medium. This is the same as the gloss gel medium I use for water, but dries flat instead of glossy. I wanted it flat to simulate drying mud. I stirred this up well with an old brush until I got a nice muddy consistency. This will dry about the same color as the mix. Pigments usually dry lighter, but this in my tests did not.

Using some old brushes I applied the mud on the outside/ground-side of the tracks. I worked it into the tracks with a stiff brush then took my finger and wiped them flat so that the edges of the track did not have mud... only the crevases. When the mud had dried I took some MIG Gunmetal and rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger. I then rubbed it on the edges of the tracks that would contact the ground and get worn. I applied it onto the spokes and where the road wheels would hit the tracks as well.

Below you can see the finished tracks. Be certain to bend the tracks while the mud dries so that they don't dry in a solid unmovable lump!

Type 74 In-Progress Sections »

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