Any other way to connect rubber tracks?

[hamasaki]

Hi guys! New to model building and I'm working on a Tamiya 1/35 Pz II Ausf F/G. I'm having fun and getting familiar with my tools. Anyhow I came across the part where I have to put the two ends of the rubber tracks together and the instructions say I have to put a nail head to a candle and flatten the pin head. Is there any other method to do this that doesn't involve flame or possible burns? Can I get away with just using cement? Any tips are appreciated. Thanks guys!

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[Kaczor]

In most cases flexible CA glue will be enough (i.e. Loctite 4850).

[jarndice]

I will not take the blame if she finds out but you could always use the electric iron to heat the nail head.

[RobW]

I used to use a kitchen knife & gas ring for heat. Blame Dad. Mum used to leave us to it as long as we cleaned the knife.

[hamasaki]

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll use the CA glue for now but I think I'll practice doing the nail thing on rubber bands so I can mess up and not necessarily break my tracks. Thank you all!

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[Meter rat]

Stapling them together, and hiding the join at the top works.

[Son of a gun-ner]

Stapling them together, and hiding the join at the top works.

I have also done this, along with heating up a small screwdriver over a match, instead of making up a tool.
You don't need to overly heat up whatever tool you use, the melting temp is quite low.

I was 12/13 when I did this, and never had any problems.

[hamasaki]

So I attempted this with a flat head screwdriver and was successful with one of the tracks. The other one snapped off and I couldn't put the flat pinheads through the holes anymore so I just cut them off and used gorilla glue which didn't work really well at all. I ended up just using the gorilla glue to attach the tracks to the front sprocket for a little more surface area and it seems to be holding for now. Learning a lot and I'm glad I'm encountering this stuff on my first model.

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[jarndice]

You could always get around the problem and buy a pair of Metal Tracks from http://www.friulmodel.hu for about £30
Not a lot in 1/16 but 1/35 is very well covered including the PZ11
Just a thought.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I have done all of the above, but "back then" (w-a-a-y back) I insisted that the tracks had to move, so I avoided the staple or glue-to-the-suspension method. Now that I have ripened and even started rotting a bit, I take a mature attitude: I WILL NOT EVEN BUILD a static kit if the tracks cannot be made to move.

Try a product called E6000. Follow the directions, giving it time, and you should get good results. Also run a search for "E6000" using the search box up top right. There has been some helpful discussion of Shoo Goo and E6000.

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