Thanks all,
Painless: the cheapest alternative would be Spyker workshop Delrin tracks. Don't know if those are still available from him? If you can print yourself then you can easily print links in ABS, ASA or PETG. Nylon is good choice as well. Shapeways, Sculpteo or Craftcloud3D are good choices for printing. It won't be cheap, probably at least $500 USD.
Tankme: It is indeed a Dave Spring special. I wanted one from him back in 2009ish. He wanted $3000 USD for the hull as is- with no turret. He was very sketchy about when if ever he would have the rest, so I passed on it. I believe he made 5 in total hulls. Never seen anyone finish one. This one came up for sale when the owner passed away - looks like it sat in crate 16ish years? After dealing with Spring, I made my own scratch build M5 in Alum in 2011-2018, so that helped moving this one along as I had the CAD already done. Most of the craftmanship is very good. But some things are complete garbage and would have been a show stopper to the average builder. The end connectors are major issue, although nicely stamped in steel. The other is lack of bearings in the road wheels and Idler wheel. He used tiny plastic bushing. Which under the weight of this thing would wear out fast. I've replaced all with bronze bushing. The completely welded hull is also very stout, but is a major problem shoe horning motors and drive train in through the turret opening - no other access. He clearly never got to the motor mounting phase. The model also had no spare parts - no extra track pin, end connectors or track link. I spent several hours last summer coming the back yard with magnets when the tracks came apart to find the end connector pieces.
Its been a journey - but most big build's are.
It is a hoot to drive as it very much a mini tank. More progress photos soon.
Best regards,
Bob
