Tamiya's T34, former shelf queen WIP

RESlusher

RBaer:

 

 

Russ,

I might be wrong here; but take a look at this track.  It looks to me like there's a bit too much sag before the track meets up with the road wheel.  You might need to take out a link or two?  I'm not 100% though.  See what the experts say.

 

I have pulled two links (minimum I can pull due to to different type links) and the track is way too tight, even with the idler moved all the way back, this pic is with the idler all the way forward. I have another T34 in progress, exact same issue. Believe me, I have worked this one. Also, the track appears loose at the front, tight at the rear, because of how I turned the model to get another pic. If I "pose" the tracks with the same slack at the front and rear, it looks a little better. All said and done, I would like them a tad tighter, but with the way the Tamiya idlers are mounted (super simplified, since this was originally a motorized model) this is what I'm stuck with. Tracks this loose are sometimes seen in pics, seems the Russians weren't too picky about it, or had the same issue with the real thing that I did with the model.....yeah, that's it.....

p38jl

wow.. thats looking knarly dirty...! nice

 

ps.. dumb question.. is the item just behind the headlight a horn ?? is it on backwards ??.. hard to tell from the pic.. but??....

No dumb questions here.....it's a horn, and from what I can tell, it's supposed to be on that way. Makes no sense to me, either.

RBaer

p38jl:

wow.. thats looking knarly dirty...! nice

 

ps.. dumb question.. is the item just behind the headlight a horn ?? is it on backwards ??.. hard to tell from the pic.. but??....

 

No dumb questions here.....it's a horn, and from what I can tell, it's supposed to be on that way. Makes no sense to me, either.

RBaer

I have pulled two links (minimum I can pull due to to different type links) and the track is way too tight, even with the idler moved all the way back, this pic is with the idler all the way forward. I have another T34 in progress, exact same issue. Believe me, I have worked this one. Also, the track appears loose at the front, tight at the rear, because of how I turned the model to get another pic. If I "pose" the tracks with the same slack at the front and rear, it looks a little better. All said and done, I would like them a tad tighter, but with the way the Tamiya idlers are mounted (super simplified, since this was originally a motorized model) this is what I'm stuck with. Tracks this loose are sometimes seen in pics, seems the Russians weren't too picky about it, or had the same issue with the real thing that I did with the model.....yeah, that's it.....

It still looks great though!  That's what's important!

That really looks nice.

I used Friuls on a T-34 and had the same problem.  Take outthose 2 links and too tight. I ended up increasing the sag on the top a tiny bit to take up some of the that front slack.  Aslo, pushing it forward on the table to have that extra bit of sag come off the back looks a bit better too.  Sorry, no pic of that.

wing_nut

That really looks nice.

I used Friuls on a T-34 and had the same problem.  Take outthose 2 links and too tight. I ended up increasing the sag on the top a tiny bit to take up some of the that front slack.  Aslo, pushing it forward on the table to have that extra bit of sag come off the back looks a bit better too.  Sorry, no pic of that.

That's it exactly! Nice T34, btw.

The problem you have isn't the tracks they are supposed to be tight when the idlers are full foreward. But with the idler axel retaining bracket the way it is designed you will need to add either shims or a metal washer to the bottom of the bracket to keep it from tipping back and keeping you from keeping the axel sitting where you set it.

Now as for your Friul tracks best thing to do with those would be prior to assembly set your idle to full foreward and keep it there till assembly of the tracks is finished and then change the idler bracket to whatever setting you wanted. 

So RBaer if your going to do another Tamiya T34 are you going to pick up the Tank Workshop interior (with resin turret included) for the Tamiya kit?

RBaer

RESlusher:

RBaer:

 

 

Russ,

I might be wrong here; but take a look at this track.  It looks to me like there's a bit too much sag before the track meets up with the road wheel.  You might need to take out a link or two?  I'm not 100% though.  See what the experts say.

 

 

I have pulled two links (minimum I can pull due to to different type links) and the track is way too tight, even with the idler moved all the way back, this pic is with the idler all the way forward. I have another T34 in progress, exact same issue. Believe me, I have worked this one. Also, the track appears loose at the front, tight at the rear, because of how I turned the model to get another pic. If I "pose" the tracks with the same slack at the front and rear, it looks a little better. All said and done, I would like them a tad tighter, but with the way the Tamiya idlers are mounted (super simplified, since this was originally a motorized model) this is what I'm stuck with. Tracks this loose are sometimes seen in pics, seems the Russians weren't too picky about it, or had the same issue with the real thing that I did with the model.....yeah, that's it.....

Mikey, the Tamiya kit doesn't actually use idler brackets, it's a metal axle that runs inside the front of the hull, so I've got a little less to work with. Two links out with the idler all the way back is too tight, and the opposite, as you see, is tracks a bit looser than I like. I have a Maquette kit with more correct idler mounts that I may try on the next one......

The next T34 is another Tamiya kit. I have a stash of them, some for just parts, two in progress. The one furthest along uses the Tamiya turret Model 1943, and the one to be worked on after that I have a resin Uralmesh stamped turret for.

Wow,I have not checked in for awhile,thats looking real good.

Thanks, Tojo. Still trying to gut up to do the figs......did get them off the shelf, big step.

Thats looks great!  Like how you have the dirt caked up with different colors of dirt.  Well done

PANZERWAFFE

Thats looks great!  Like how you have the dirt caked up with different colors of dirt.  Well done

Thank you, sir. It was a bunch of fun, especially since I rarely dirty them up that much. Still looking at the box of figs....and remembering how to type......

Sag or not, it turned out very well.

i just started this same kit a couple weeks ago. almost all oob. havent built a kit in 5 years and i started on this bad boy. lol

Thanks, Eric.  It was fun.

RF, it's a decent kit, good fit for its age.

I did get a better pic or two:

I actually opened the box of figs yesterday.....