Bronco 3539 – Sherman T62 Steel Workable Track Link Set
One of the first things that usually goes onto the AM list for a kit with rubberband tracks is new tracks, which up until recently has usually been Friulmodel metal ones due to their being workable and having natural sag. Recently though Bronco started producing a series of workable individual link tracks in injection moulded plastic, including several versions for the M4 Sherman tanks. This set is of particular interest to Kiwi modellers as it is the T62 Steel Track version most often found on Commonwealth tanks rather than U.S. ones
This kit comes in a small open ended box on eight dark yellow sprues that are all the same. These contain a total of 960 parts so you better have your self-flagelation hat on when you sit down to do these. Luckily there isn’t much in the way of clean-up per piece as there are no overdone mould seams or sink-holes to deal with, but you still do get two sprue attachment points per piece and light mould seems to clean off so although clean up is minimal “per part” you do have to multiply that 960 times. ( the rod parts have noticeable seams but are enclosed inside the other parts so don’t waste time cleaning them up unless you really are seriously into machoism ).
Assembly is easy, just tedious, and I wouldn’t do it the way the instructions suggest as they have you put all the links together and then add the end connectors. I found it difficult enough to keep the glue away from the rods to keep these workable without having to then be even more careful with the end connectors. It’s a lot easier to glue the end connectors to all the rods first and then do the assembly. Trust me on that.
Conclusion. These are a damn nice looking set of tracks but you really have to be dedicated to invest the time needed to cut the parts free, spend time on the floor looking for dropped parts, clean the parts up, spend more time on the floor looking for dropped parts, and gluing them all together. If your kit tracks are crap then these are first rate, but only for the true shermanaholic.
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