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Tamiya Ardennes King Tiger 1/35, which AM tracks?

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  • Member since
    August 2010
Tamiya Ardennes King Tiger 1/35, which AM tracks?
Posted by Rick_1138 on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 9:59 AM

Hi all,

Been a long time since i was on here, real life got in the way, but now more free time again after getting first job, and house extension built.  I have to kep myself busy in the cold winters of north-east scotland, and it lets me continue childish pursuits as i reach 30 years of age ha ha.

Anyway, i am pretty experienced modeller, mainly aircraft and wargames miniatures (mostly for painting pleasure rather than playing), however i keep my hand in with armour subjects when i can.

As a result i recently bought Tamiya's King Tiger Ardennes kit, as its one of my favourite tank subjects.

I am looking to super-detail it, with the usual EB and scratchbuilding parts, but i have never made a tank kit since the likes of fruilmodel came into existance.  Having googled fruitlessly and used the search on here a lot, i cannot find an answer.

Can anyone tell me what companies offer aftermarket individual track link kits for the ardennes king tiger?  Looking at Fruil's stuff, there seem to be about 6 different types of tracks that 'could' fit.  including transport and non transport, 6 sprocket type and 11 sprocket type (even though my kit has 9 teeth??).

Can anyone explain which would suit the kit best, all i can tell from the pictures of boxes are that fruil offer kits: ATL - 16,42,21, 22 and 37?????

Oh and for future diorama plans, what other model tanks would be part of the ardennes front offensive, i.e. what kits would work well, i am looking at halftrack, panzer or panther or even tiger 1, but i don't know enough about WW2 tank battles to know what would be part of such a group. (My expertise is more aircraft of this period)

Thanks, looking forward to getting the finished results on here, that is after my 1/48th TSR 2 airfix kit gets a ludicrous amount of "Expensive" AM parts lavished upon it.  (It is my favourite plane) :)

Rick

  • Member since
    October 2009
  • From: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Posted by Njal Thorgeirsson on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 12:15 PM

Just find the tracks that look most similar to the ones that came with the kit. I would GUESS, however, that ATL-37 is what you want. BUT, someone else definitely needs to verify.

And I'm not sure exactly what tank variants were used during this period, though I know certain Tiger 1 tanks were used... I think it also depends on exactly what time during the Ardennes front you're looking at...

FACEBOOK: Ryan Olson Thorgeirsson for pics of all my builds.

"There are two kinds of people in this world; those who put fries/chips on their sandwiches, and those who don't enjoy life."

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  • Member since
    August 2010
Posted by Rick_1138 on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 12:48 PM

Unfortunately, i am buying online (no shops stock these up this far north . So i need to be sure what i am ordering as i can't open a box and see.

Depiction wise, i am looking at the start of the ardennes front battles, the first big push back by German forces utilising the king tiger, specifically a group commander tank, with 2 other tanks in the diorama.

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Western North Carolina
Posted by Tojo72 on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 1:55 PM

Sorry I tried some research,but I can't figure out which ones are needed.But check out Pacific Coast Models in Santa Rosa,only $32.95 for all friuls which is pretty good.

  • Member since
    January 2015
  • From: Katy, TX
Posted by Aggieman on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 2:06 PM

I just recently built this same kit and used a Tamiya AM track link that I bought here:

http://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Detailing_and_Display/TAM00035165/product.php?pg=1&ppp=24&sb=stocknumber&so=a&kw=Tiger&man=TAM

 

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Western North Carolina
Posted by Tojo72 on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 2:14 PM

Aggieman

I just recently built this same kit and used a Tamiya AM track link that I bought here:

http://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Detailing_and_Display/TAM00035165/product.php?pg=1&ppp=24&sb=stocknumber&so=a&kw=Tiger&man=TAM

 

Those tracks that Aggieman is referring to look to be the equivelant of Friul ATL-16 if I am not mistaking.

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Piscataway, NJ!
Posted by wing_nut on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 3:51 PM

Anthony is correct... ATL-16

Here are the Tamiya tracks mentioned above painted and weathered

KingTiger505 (1)

Marc  

  • Member since
    August 2010
Posted by Rick_1138 on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 4:19 PM

Cheers folks,

looking at the kit and better online pics i have found atl-16 seems the way forward.

Out of interest, does that tamiya links kit come with a jig or is it awfully fiddly to glue them all togethe in the right shape?

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Budd Lake, New Jersey
Posted by BeltFed on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 4:26 PM

You can buy Modelkasten tracks form rzm.com if that helps

  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: Piscataway, NJ!
Posted by wing_nut on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 3:35 PM

Rick the best way to do the Tamiya tracks id the same way as Dragon Magic Tracks, if you've seen those.  Take a look at the tutorial by our own doog...

http://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=1737

Marc  

  • Member since
    August 2010
Posted by Rick_1138 on Thursday, August 5, 2010 3:16 AM

Thanks guys,

I stumped for the Friul tracks ATL-16, seemed like the model tracks. I also got the aber PE set and zimmerit tools from Tamiya.

I know Ardennes tanks were mostly seen without zimm as it was later in the campaign, but early King tigers had the coating, and i wanted to display a command tank that had been on the front for a few months and the coating was starting to flake off, along with an ambush scheme coloured Jadtiger and possibly a standard Halftrack or kubelwagen in the scene.

Looking to do melting snow in a forest surrounded mud road, this may become a large diorama lol!

I also received all my resin and PE sets for my 1/48 airfix TSR 2, expect a build report soon.

  • Member since
    May 2009
Posted by Levon on Saturday, September 11, 2010 11:48 AM

Rick, are you going to use the nylon mesh that came with the kit for air intake cover?  Or did you buy PE parts for that?  If you used the nylon mesh, how did it work?

  • Member since
    August 2010
Posted by Rick_1138 on Saturday, September 11, 2010 3:29 PM

Hi,

 

i am using photo etch parts, but nylon mesh is pretty easy, best thing to do is cut it to the shape shown in the instructions, then snip the corners at a 45' angle and then fold along the lines \edges of the part so you can get an edge and have depth to the mesh, its kind of hard to explain without showing etc.  But Tamiya show the instructions quite well.

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