"Rubber" Track Pads for Bulldog

[philipat]

After reading several posts and wandering through a local hobby store, I had an idea for how to make a rubber track pad for my HL Bulldog. Several folks have already tried the stuff for adding rubber handles to tools without success. I saw a post somewhere where someone made some from foam (like the stuff used to make the big fingers at sporting events). And I started that, but the effort of cutting to just the right shape became very tedious and they weren't hard enough to inspire confidence in their longevity.

So, I found this stuff in the hobby store. It's a rubber-toughened CA glue, Bob Smith Industry's IC-2000 (http://www.bsi-inc.com/Pages/hobby/ca.html). Using a toothpick, I basically painted on the glue to each of the track pads on my Bulldog (clean the tracks first, of course).

It appears to offer some slight improvement in traction with no real change in driveability. The appearance is awesome, though. It looks black and like rubber. It also has a slight rubber texture. I haven't done an extended test on how it holds up against concrete or asphalt, but the initial tests look good. (Video link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo3-fQVt0vM)

Disclaimers: I'm using a standard HL tank (plastic gears, tracks, etc). I haven't done any metal upgrades yet.

It looks like this might be a good way to add that rubber appearance to all of your tracks. The glue is supposed to work on metal, too; so, it should work on the metal tracks as well. If you want more traction, my other idea is to get some (small can for touch-ups) of the polyeurathane used to coat truck beds and paint that onto the tracks (stuff like Rhino Lining). That may be well-suited for metal tracks. Be careful with the additional torque that you would need, though.

One note: make sure that your work area is well ventilated. Of course, I learned that the hard way.

Also, here's the link to the RCUniverse thread with some comments from those that have built Bulldogs.  http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8274796/tm.htm

Here's some pictures of the finished product. I haven't taken any post trial photos yet.

[wibblywobbly]

Ingenious! Its amazing how some people can solve a problem with a bit of thought. Your tracks look great!

Rob G

[philipat]

thanks

[fv432]

Hi phil sorry mate for not replyin to your e-mail ref bulldog metal bits got a bit tied up in christmas festivities

ive got your list of needs and will start as soon as i can and let you know the rest


kind regards Rob

[philipat]

No problem.  I know the feeling.  I'm using the holiday to a little work of my own on the Bulldog.  I'm breaking in the steel gears and accompanying motors - Speed400s, I think, and trying to upgrade my springs.  I should have looked at your build one more time before working on the struts, though.  I ended up breaking a set of road wheels before I got stuck and looked up how you got the springs off.  :-\  I guess that falls under the category of "measure twice, cut once".    Oh, I also replaced my 13 with a 14 board and fried the first one in the process - wired the board to the switch wrong, which I could have avoided if I had ignored HL's colors of wires (who mixes black and red wires on a switch?  and why didn't I catch it the first time?) and compared it to my PzIII that I tweaked a year ago.  :-[

Anyhow, I've made some mental notes and learned a few things.  One other note:  look at the wire before buying at Radio Shack.  Solid core is not what you want, stranded is easier to work with. 

By the way, I dropped a line in your Bulldog build.  Thanks for the help.