What do you prefer?

QUOTE: Originally posted by shermanfreak Being a Sherman builder, which translates to sag, what sag !!! If given I choice I would always use Tamiya's rubber band tracks. They look as good as indies and are definitely a lot less grief. The biggest benefit to indies IMO is the way they sag, never something I have to worry about.

Robert, sounds like it's time for you to build a German or Russian tracked AFV just to get your hands on some tracks that will stretch your envelope!! lol

QUOTE: Originally posted by Build22 There is also flexible resin from Accurate Armor I've used them a couple of times and I like them alot. Assembly time is nothing - fitting is the only issue and that's not too bad. $10.00- 12.00 for complete set

Hard to believe that Accurate Armor has anything for a resonable price! Most of their stuff seems way pricey to me.

I like indies for trax that have a lot of sag (Tigers, JS-2, etc), and bands for those that don't (Shermans, Abrams, etc).
And within both of those categories, of course I prefer those with the best molds and greatest accuracy.

There is also flexible resin from Accurate Armor


I've used them a couple of times and I like them alot. Assembly time is nothing - fitting is the only issue and that's not too bad.

$10.00- 12.00 for complete set

QUOTE: Originally posted by shermanfreak QUOTE: Originally posted by Captain Caveman I prefer Fruilmodel Tracks after building my Panther tracks, they curved real bad at first but letting them flex about when playing with them has straightened them out, the first track I used the supplied wire but on the second track I used 0.6 Dress making pins (with the plastic balls on the end) to hold them together and the time to make then halved And here I thought you loved the DML indies Jon !!!!

the Dragon tracks are ok but the Dragon Sherman tracks are EVIL but there going to be done after the Panthers finished

QUOTE: Originally posted by Captain Caveman I prefer Fruilmodel Tracks after building my Panther tracks, they curved real bad at first but letting them flex about when playing with them has straightened them out, the first track I used the supplied wire but on the second track I used 0.6 Dress making pins (with the plastic balls on the end) to hold them together and the time to make then halved

And here I thought you loved the DML indies Jon !!!!

I prefer Fruilmodel Tracks
after building my Panther tracks, they curved real bad at first but letting them flex about when playing with them has straightened them out, the first track I used the supplied wire but on the second track I used 0.6 Dress making pins (with the plastic balls on the end) to hold them together and the time to make then halved

I agree with Sherm on this one. If sag is not an issue, those Tamiya Rubber Band Threads and (now also Academy) are already very fine. But when it comes to Russian or German vehicles, indies, I recommend.

I have so far only tried indis once. They do not hold up well when mixed with a 2 yr old and a wood table. As far as the track sag, I have had alot people think I used indis on my stuff when it was nothing more than the kit rubber bands. Guess I have gotten lucky and figured out the sag with them. Plus it takes a bit more patience than what i have for the indis most of the time.

I prefer Fruilmodel Tracks...but they are expensive.

Being a Sherman builder, which translates to sag, what sag !!! If given I choice I would always use Tamiya's rubber band tracks. They look as good as indies and are definitely a lot less grief.

The biggest benefit to indies IMO is the way they sag, never something I have to worry about.

Me like-ah World War II Productions snap together indie treads.

I work in 1/72 scale so vinyl tracks are the norm in the majority of kits. Given the smaller size of the kits I build the newer vinyl tracks are a lot nicer to work with in general, although as wipw said quality varies enough that it can out weigh vinyl vs. individual links.

I prefer indies, even though they take longer to paint, weather, and build. I feel they are a must for track sagging. My Dragon JS II tracks went together like a dream.

Definately indy's. But let me caveat that a little.

It depends on how the indy's are molded.

- Do they have major ejector pin marks on them? If so, are they in a place that's "easy" to fix, or are they between the guide horns where it's really hard?

- Are they accurate? (DML's 1/35 Elefant tracks are beautifully molded with NO ejector pin marks, but they aren't accurate.)

- Are the sprue connecting points real heavy which makes the links harder to remove and clean up? (Some of DML's are HUGE!)

- Once built, are they so delicate they'll fall apart at the least provocation? (Most of us know where Model Kasten's fall into this!)

- Once built, are they straight, or do they curve to the point where they are unusable? I've seen a couple of posts about Friulmodelissemo's Panther tracks about this.)

- How tough are they to assemble properly? As Robert and others have pointed out, the tracks for Sherman derivitives are pretty tough.

I still prefer indy's over all. But some are definitely better than others. Some of the new vinyl tracks look pretty nice, but they often have ejector "pips" on them that are dificult to remove, often are too tight or too loose, are dificult to sag properly, and sometimes don't paint or glue well.

Getting off, now!!

I too like the tamiya's and also do wish there was a choice of either or with the kit,cause frankly indies stink to put together but look better.

I prefer Indy treads, but there have been times I wish I'ld had the option of rubberband type. I like the Tamiya Indy treads in their Tiger kits. They are big enough I can get them together with my big clumsy fingers.