| Building
an M36B1 from Tank WorkShop |
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FINISHING THE KITNote the title here is not "The Finished Kit." That's because I'm now in the painting and weathering phase and I don't want to delay this report any further. I'm still reserving the option of adding the Kirin sandbag set, but at this point the kit is looking pretty good. There are ample photos of M10 tank destroyers with sandbag armor, primarily on the nose. I've even seen one frame from a film that shows an M36B1 with sandbags atop a makeshift armor roof. So I figure that it would certainly be possible, if not likely, that the M36B1 could be suited up in sandbags, too.
After a couple of months I finally got my hands on the M4 Sherman VVSS T48-Track. This is apparently out of production and I was afraid I'd have to settle for their plain pad version which I had on the shelf. I prefer the robust look of the beefy chevrons to complement the heft of the tank. Unfortunately, this means cleaning assembling 158 individual links and their end connectors—and the ubiquitous extended end connectors. So I'm putting those together right now. And it's like eating Brussels sprouts or spending the weekend with your in-laws. It sounds worse than it actually turns out. I mean, you can live through it. But now I can take advantage of the flexible suspension with indy links that will be more pliant than the rubber band tracks. So I'm thinking of putting this TD on a terrain that will show the suspension to its best advantage. And I have to say that the AFV Club tracks assemble about as easily as can be hoped for this type of track. There is a raised ejector pin mark on the flat pad of each link; I didn't carve them off the top run of track since they can't easily be seen. I did clean up the flat pads that face up. The end connectors vary as to how snugly or loosely they grip the pins on the pads. I dip the pins in white glue before inserting them in the connectors. Even after the glue dries, the run of track retains some flexibility, and they can be bent carefully without the end connectors dropping off. However...When you glue the "duckbill" to the edge of the link, you don't have much of a surface to glue the two pieces unless you get some on the open ends of the pin receptacles, which has the effect of solidly fusing the pieces and immobilizing them from flexing. So for the time being I am only gluing the duckbills to the top, straight run of track. The rest will be affixed when I get the model positioned onto the uneven base surface. I understand the kit is short on the EECs, so I'm leaving empty spaces here and there, since the duckbills actually broke off the tanks in real life. |
Making
Tracks 
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