Metal track question

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DasPanzer
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Metal track question

Post by DasPanzer »

Hey guys I just bought the metal double sided rubber pad tracks for my Abrams. Will those tracks rust by chance or are they made out of pot metal? I like the rusty track look and wanted to just soak them in water for a while lol


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abramsky
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Re: Metal track question

Post by abramsky »

Hello
You can soak them in water for weeks and nothing will happen. After a few weeks/months after mounting, they will change their color from silver to gray at most ... This metal is probably an alloy of zinc and aluminum (Znal = Zn+Al). Or it may be so-called "New Silver" (Chinese alloy, copper, zinc and aluminum). I have Mato Leopard metal tracks, but I have never tried to paint them - I decided that a few runs in the mud / dirt would do the trick :). Watch out for silicone pads (they're not rubber) - you can quickly lose them in the field. Superglue and rubber glue won't work. I'll let you know when I stick mine with a new, very strong glue that I'm testing right now.
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DasPanzer
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Re: Metal track question

Post by DasPanzer »

Awesome thank you my friend!!


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abramsky
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Re: Metal track question

Post by abramsky »

I just noticed that you haven't written what manufacturer your tracks are. If it's DKLM, as far as I remember, they produce steel one for Leopard (but then they use stainless steel). I don't know about the Abrams version ...
However, if it is Mato or another Chinese copy - see my previous post.
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DasPanzer
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Re: Metal track question

Post by DasPanzer »

I believe they are henglong


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abramsky
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Re: Metal track question

Post by abramsky »

But Heng Long doesn't, as far as I know, produce a metal version with "rubber" pads. Show me the link what you bought, it should explain (I suspect a Chinese copy of Mato tracks for around $ 89).
...
What Heng Long offers as metal tracks for the Abrams are in fact full metal tracks for the Leopard and Challenger which are a 1 to 1 copy of the plastic version of these tracks. Using them in the Abrams is not a very good idea as they differ in several important dimensions ...
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DasPanzer
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Re: Metal track question

Post by DasPanzer »

https://www.ebay.com/itm/293524980457


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abramsky
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Re: Metal track question

Post by abramsky »

They look exactly like these:
https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/32988509 ... 2e0eIsDTHO
So like a Chinese copy of the Mato version ( they copy themselves haha ) ...
They look quite good (although they do not faithfully reflect the shape of the rubber pads), but I do not know their quality - I will wait for your opinion/review ;)

But. If I was considering buying tracks for Abrams, I would probably choose these one:
https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/40010342 ... 6062%23358
Or looked for an aftermarket version of Tamiya...
If I had to spend over $100, I would look for the most faithful representation of the shape.
But this is my opinion and I believe that your tracks will fit perfectly and will reflect all the realism of shape and movement in such a well-rebuilt model. :thumbup:
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DasPanzer
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Re: Metal track question

Post by DasPanzer »

Thanks bud. I should get them next week. I’ll let you know


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Henglong Tiger 1 Early Production
Henglong King Tiger in progress
Henglong Jagdpanther almost complete
Henglong Panzer 4 fresh out of box
Henglong Sherman almost complete
Taigen Tiger 1 Late Production custom build with ELMOD hopefully.
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