I think I screwed up my Firefly....

Jeff, I gave up and used Friuls on mine. They worked great and look good, too. I was worried that they would sag too much for an allied tank because of their weight, but that wasn't the case. Robert's advice on them was that once I got them aligned the way I wanted them, to super glue the lengths together. I tried that on a limited basis but still gave up and went with the Friuls. If you look at the inside of the DML edge conectors, you will notice that the holes are different sizes (just slightly) and aren't aligned perfectly with each other. That probably has a lot to do with why they work so poorly.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help fellas... I am so frustrated by this kit that I had to put it down. I have built the Dragon Panther series and had no trouble with those link to link tracks. This is my first go at their Sherman tracks and they are just awful, or maybe I'm gettin' old and just don't have the patience.I routinely use RHPS tracks with no problems, maybe I'll try those-once I get over the urge to throw it against the wall.
Happy Modeling...
Jeff [8

Here are the pics I was talking about. The first is of the Formations Firefly upgrade kit for the DML Firefly. I didn't get one of these kits, but wish I had. I have a 2nd edition kit that I might get it for. (Make sure you click on the picture to enlarge it.)



You can see in this one what I meant about the bolt strip. It's a bit overlit, but the strip shows up pretty well.



And here is another shot after painting.

The ones for the new (3rd release) of the Firefly are particularly bad. Dragon has taken the instruction sheet from the 2nd (1st??) release and tried to update it for the 3rd release. There were many parts retooled for the new release, but often, the old part numbers are called out. It's really confusing. If you seem to be missing a part, look for the same number on a different sprue. As I recall, many of them are on sprue V. Also, there are some parts that mount on the side of the hull behind the bolsters that aren't even mentioned in the instructions. They change the mounting slots for the bolsters to round holes. They aren't too hard to figure out, if you know they are there.

One other "gotcha" is the way they show the bolt strip between the lower hull front and the transmission cover. It should be relatively flush with both of them. Every Firefly model I've seen done with this kit, including mine, have it at an angle, sloped between the two pieces. I think it results from the piece being drawn basically backwards in the instructions. I'll post a couple of pictures of how one should look and how mine came out. Good luck.

QUOTE: I'm alittle disappointed with the instructions on this kit as I think they are the worst I've run into in awhile.

Ahh, Dragon instructions. Dont'cha just love'em??

Provide some photos please. I would love to build that kit, but I hate the trial by fire.

G

Thanks Guys,,,,
I cut about an eighth of an inch off of the shaft as recommended and that did the trick. I'm alittle disappointed with the instructions on this kit as I think they are the worst I've run into in awhile. Thanks to all for the help.

Happy Modeling,
Jeff

Just to make things even more confusing, I built my idlers as per the instructions, and they fit correctly! I did have to cut the shafts on the sprockets to make them fit properly, though.

Jeff, you are absoluetly right. They got the idler wrong too. If you build it per the instructions, the idlers will be too high and the track won't fit under the sponsons. Check out Dwights thread from a couple of months ago. We got into a bit of a discussion about the. (Swap the ilder mounts side for side on the hull from what the instructions show and you'll be closer.)

Maybe Dwight will be able to help you...

Jeff have a look through the Sheman GB there might be something in there:

http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11560

its a long shot but you never know