Ow, what a pitty. 
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Wow! I wasn’t expecting this until around the Autumn; slow boat from China? More like a hydrofoil and then some. The downside was that my wife was present at delivery – we were both working in the front garden when the van turned up. Ooops. My wife is not what one might call “Stash-savvy”(!)
Anyway, monster tank in a monster box – see paint jar for comparison:
I’ve only just opened the box, which as you would expect is rammed full. I’ve glanced through the instruction booklet which all looks fine, save that the individual track links look as though they are in 6 parts each. Hmmm. Friuls anyone?
](https://forums.kitmaker.net/uploads/default/original/3X/c/f/cff8632f6340c3a3e3e074a39c44bfd79394d5b8.jpeg)
‘Not too sure when I’ll get around to this one; the Dragon one is also in my stash. With a fair wind I can use the Takom one as an aid to improving the Dragon one – up to a point I expect. We’ll see.
Hats off to the vendor: well packaged and protected and so quick it’s all rather caught me out. Cost was 53 pounds but with postage 64; not too shabby at all I thought.
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Always wanted to build the 103 but your description of the track construction stops me in my “tracks.”
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Yeah - looks like a bit of a flog; there’s a jig of sorts but even so, at 80 links a side that could be a lot of effort. I’ll see whenever I start it - probably not this year - I really must complete the half-completed stash of shame
I susepct that “normal;” M48 tracks would do; I’ll have to check - perhaps AFV Club’s efforts? I don’t know just yet.
Anyway, I’m glad I’ve got it. Whether or not it’ll help me with the Dragon kit I don’t know. Either way it’ll be interesting to compare the two.
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'Forgot to mention: I also received a decent Commander figure (for the M103A1) a couple of days ago:
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Hi Brian,
I find these sorts of tracks are best tackled over a number of modelling sessions, a handful of links at a time. Do this as a “warm up” to each general session, and you’d be surprised how soon they are done!
I’m not sure “standard” M48 rubber-band tracks are long enough for the M103.
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Gorgeous figure. I love the wintercap
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Now that’s what I call a tank! I’m fancying one of these also at some point. Too many projects on the go at the moment though. Your idea of comparing it to the Dragon version and improving that one seems to have some merit, but I don’t know how bad the Dragon version is.
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I’m sure you’re right Tom - that’s the way I tackle Friuls; I wasn’t thinking about rubber band type, just something less broken down ie 6-7 parts(!) If I wanted to track-bash to this degree I’d have joined the Royal Armoured Corps (there was definitely an upside to being a Clerk!).
I was thinking along the lines of the AFV Club ones; they’re also quite generous in the number of links they provide so I shouldn’t have a problem there. I’m assuming - and I fully admit that I haven’t checked the compatability for the M103 yet - that this set might do the trick:
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http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m103heavy.html
Tracks are compatible, ONLY 5 parts per link instead of 6 parts,
that’s a reduction in parts count by a whopping 16.7%
The only “problem” with the AFV-Club tracks is that the center guide
is fixed to a link so that it can’t move the way it should when the track
curves around the idler and the sprocket.
This may, or may not, be an issue depending on eyesight.
The center guide will look wrong when it tries to poke out of the track.
Cutting the links apart and repositioning the center guide at the correct
angle works but that is also tedious.
I would rather use the 6-part Takom tracks
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Well, it’s pretty bad - there was a comprehensive “fix” on this site some years ago, and boy, was there a lot to do, including major surgery. However, I have it in the stash so I’ll do something with it; I hate bailing on a kit, but then, I have a perverse streak. A couple of models of the same tank won’t hurt, see for example my 2 x Conquerors, well, they’re a Mk 1 and a Mk 2 that’s true, but to meet the Soviet threat back in the 50s/60s, the US and the UK produced some serious heavy metal, so I see them as all grist to the display tables’ mill.
Remind me of that in a couple of years when I still haven’t built them(!)
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The AFV track should fit, but you may not get enough links in one box - the M103 has seven road wheels instead of six on the M48…
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I’ll need 80 per side and the AFV Club set comes with 186 - which is very generous of them, especially with fat fingered duffers like me - so I should be OK.
I’ll obviously give the kit ones ago first; the tracks on the Dragon kit have sort of dried out and crumbled in any case so for that I’ll need a set of the AFV Club ones in any case…
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I think you may need 81 or 82, see the link I posted above
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I hate to rain on your parade, but unfortunately the DEF Comet Mantlet Cover is not very accurate. The sagging material under the co-axial MG and sight is simply not how the real thing looks - it is generally much tighter. Also, the rectangular pockets along the top edge held metal bars that kept the cover from falling between the mantlet and turret front plate, which would cause problems. So having them follow the contours like Def has done is not correct.
The T-Rex cover is a bit better as the fabric is tighter around the MG and sight, but it still misses the bar on the top and sags even worse between the mantlet and turret front.
I love DEF stuff but this is the first I have to say I’ll pass.
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No, sure; I was just going off the Takom instructions which indicated 80 per side.
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My quest to learn to paint military figures continues…
About a week ago, I ordered an ICM model of the G4 (W51) staff car with German command staff figures. The above reference book was cheap so I purchased it to help with the eventual build, which probably lies far in the future.
German Infantryman was purchased to help me understand and paint German equipment. Unfortunately, the book contains very little useful information on that subject. The few color pictures are small and basically useless, even with reading glasses. It falls into the very large category of reference books that try to cover too much in too few pages. Oh well.
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Brian, there is likely less work adding Takom’s extra part than fixing the knock out marks and sink marks on the AFV Club set. I had two sets of these and the links were terrible. Here is a close up of what they give you:
Also, removing the parts requires a fine saw due to the fragile join between pads, plus the plastic they used rejects most glues.
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The correct number will be established once you get the tracks on the model
My experience with AFV-Club tracks is at least 30 years old by now but it was
the same as described by @petbat with the addition of end connectors falling
off. When I tried to glue them they split instead. I ended up using CA but they
were still more sensitive than the shells of rotten eggs.
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Well, they’ll probably be the only game in town for the Dragon version given that the kit tracks have broken; for the Takom one, and I must stress when I get around to it (hence the relatively sudden delivery today catching me out - I thought I had at least a 3 months or so) I’ll see how I get on with the kit versions.
I’m no stranger to AFV Club tracks given that I used some Abrams one for my now, dated MBT 70, and I agree, endless sanding and trying to get the things to stick was a real trial, but I ended up more or less with something that was workable - apart from a few sink marks on the pads that I’d missed.
I won’t be commencing builds of either kit for some time (although given my penchant for tangents who knows?)
Thanks to all for the interest and advice.
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