Modelkasten Tacks Tutorial

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Modelkasten Tiger I tracks tutorial.

Posted by TMN1 onMon, Dec 4 2006 2:28 PM

EDIT: moved from techniques forum.

Well here is a thread on how to make a set of Modelkasten Tiger I tracks that I did for anotherforum, thought I would share with everyone here aswell just in case it can help anyone. I will startby showing how to construct the tracks and further down, I'll show you how to paint and weatherthem.

The purpose of this thread is to remove some of the fear that many people has when it comes toModelkasten tracks, and ofcourse give what I believe to be useful hints.

The tracks that I will be building are set number SK-2 Tiger I early model (workable)

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In the box you get a lot of sprues with track links. In this picture its track links from a set of lateTiger I tracks, as i had already cut and cleaned the ones from the early set when I took these pics.




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I start by cutting all the parts from the sprues, clean them and divide them into seperate containers,I keep the small guide horns in an old knife blade container which has a lid.




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Now I can start to assemble the tracks. I start by taking 5 track links and load them into the jig.




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I then insert the pins in the track links.




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I do the same on the other side. I then remove the links from the jig and reload it with new links andrepeat the above steps.

When I have done 3 sets I take the first set and remove the "handles" from the pins.




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With a brush handle I now push on the end of the pins to make sure they are fully inserted andleave the links to cure for a couple of hours.




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You need to do 19 sets of 5 links each, to have enough for one track ... after a dry fit however Idiscovered that I needed to add an extra link or would be too tight.




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Now its pretty simple you just assemble all the small sections of track with some pins.

It is now time to install the guide horns. As much as I love Modelkasten tracks, I have to admit thatI hate doing guide horns. They are small, and there are soooo many of them. But there is no easyway around it. I usually only pour out 10 guide horns at a time, glue them on, take a 2 min breakand then do another 10 and continue in this way until im done ... 384 guide horns later. Folow the

instructions carefully here or you could get in trouble. Don't use too much glue either.




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When i cut the guide horns from the sprues in the begining I didn't clean them, they are just toosmall to handle, so now is the time to clean them for excess plastic.

I start by adding some low tack tape to the tracks to make them more stiff.

I then take a home made sanding stick, which is basicly just a piece of metal with some doublesided tape and a piece of 600 grid wet or dry sanding paper. I gently sand the top of the guidehorns and then remove the tape again.




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I then add some low tack tape to the tracks again to make them more stiff.

I now treat the tracks with MIG pigments. I use a blend of African earth P038, Dry mud P232, Darkmud P033 and Europe dust P028 this mixture is pretty light in color and is just used as a baseweathering, because the secret to good track weathering in my oppinion is to work in layers.Into the mixture I pour some denaturated alcohol or rubbing alcohol as I believe you call it. Andthen I just a apply it with a brush.

After this has dried I take some Dark mud P033 and mix with alcohol and apply it more randomly.Then I make a mixture of Dark mud P033 and Russain earth P034, mix it with alcohol and againapply it randomly. I keep adding these two mixtures randomly until I get the look I want which is a

brown earthy look, I live in Denmark not very far from Germany so I know how the earth looksthere and thats what I was going for.

When it dried I removed the pigments from the tread surfaces with a cotton swab and dry brushedthe wear surfaces with chrome silver. I also removed the tape from the tracks and dry brushed theguide horns with chrome silver.




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Well this is how I did it. There might be other ways of doing it but this one works for me.

Hmm I think this is a first for me .... I finish the tracks before I have finished the model. Hope youenjoyed this.

Posted by wbill76 onMon, Dec 42006 3:02 PM

Straightforward and easy to read, I'm sure this will come in handy for many! MK tracks IMHO offer

a lot of options/flexibility and are well worth the effort depending on the build project of course!




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Bill

http://www.hobbyintel.com

Posted by espins1 onMon, Dec 4 2006 4:23 PM

Thank you very much for your tutorial. I have several upcoming projects with Modelkasten tracks

and I've been a little apprehensive to try them out. Your tutorial is a great help!

Scott Espin - IPMS Reno High Rollers My Reviews

Posted by Anonymous onMon, Dec 42006 4:40 PM

Thomas,

Great Tutorial. Your tracks look spot on for what I want to do.

One question, you base coat with metalizer paints. Are these enamel or Lacquer based? I find the

use of solvent based paints tends to weaken the delicate mounting pins. Please clarify. I want tofollow your advice step by step on my Sturmpanzer tracks. They are already assembled, but I washolding off until I saw your finishing techniques on the LEM.




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I have MM Gunmetal Metalizer paint, but am just scared to use it on these tracks.

Thanks,

Ted

Posted by TMN1 onMon, Dec 42006 6:19 PM

Tinkerer wrote:

Thomas,

Great Tutorial. Your tracks look spot on for what I want to do.

One question, you base coat with metalizer paints. Are these enamel or Lacquerbased? I find the use of solvent based paints tends to weaken the delicatemounting pins. Please clarify. I want to follow your advice step by step on mySturmpanzer tracks. They are already assembled, but I was holding off until I sawyour finishing techniques on the LEM.

I have MM Gunmetal Metalizer paint, but am just scared to use it on these tracks.

Thanks,

Ted

Happy you all find it helpful. Ted to tell you truth im not sure, I think its a Lacquer. I don't use a lotof paint though, so I doubt that any of it even gets into contact with the pins I don't use any solventbased washes either, only the alcohol and pigment mixtures.

But Ted I also have to tell you that I only have experience with the Tiger tracks from Modelkasten Ican only guarantee this method for those tracks.




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Posted by wbill76 onMon, Dec 42006 9:17 PM

Ted,

The metalizers are indeed lacquer based. If you want to protect the pins, lay down a primer coat ofFlat Black and then spray the metalizer by AB over that. I did that with the Elefant tracks and itworked great, no damage to the pins.

Bill

http://www.hobbyintel.com

Posted by matthew9 onMon, Dec 4 2006 11:47 PM

Great lesson! That is one detailed set of tracks! Thanks for showing Modelkasten. I've beenwondering what they were like.

Matt




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Posted by nfafan onTue, Dec 5 2006 5:31 AM

Thanks for the excellent write-up!

Have a great holiday season!

Posted byjvolkeronTue, Dec 5 2006 3:11 PM

Thanks for such a well written and informative tutorial on making those tracks. At this point I ammost interested in the weathering techniques that are being used to make the tracks appear sorealistic. Your tutorial gave me some good ideas and techniques as did the additional discussionabout protecting the pins from paint damage. By the way, putting the real tracks together wasalways a pain when I was a tanker and the weathering was always real! Cold, wet, and muddy!

Posted by TMN1 onTue, Dec 5 2006 4:56 PM

I am happy that you all find my thread useful that means it has served its purpose.




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Posted by Anonymous onTue, Dec 5 2006 5:13 PM

Well, I followed your painting tutorial, and the Metalizer seemed to have little or no effect on thetracks. They are well on their way now and I appreciate the advice.

One note, I did decide to use straight pins to hold my tracks downon a piece of ceiling tile to paint

instead of the low tack tape. #1, I didn't have any, and #2, it scared me .

Regardless, I will begin the pigment phase tonight.

Thanks Thomas.

Posted by TMN1 onWed, Dec 6 2006 5:19 AM

Looking forward to seeing your result Ted !!


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Modelkasten Tacks Tutorial