Creating Track Sag
by Mike Kendall
If you want a way to model the track “sag” in armored vehicles without going the after-market, link-by-link route here are a couple of ideas: Try tying the tracks to the upper return rollers with thread. You can get some sag if you pick the right holes in the track to pass the thread through, but you can go crazy getting the thread in there. Super glue will hold painted tracks that don’t have too much tension on them. I use it a lot.
Put a thin layer on the top quarter of the return roller or wheel, and use shims of cardboard or whatever jammed between the track and fender bottoms. This creates the sag and holds it during the drying process. Remove the shims carefully; sometimes a little sag remains.
In cases where the track fenders and return rollers/wheel tops are pretty close together (sandwiching the track), you can put black painted pins above the track between the return rollers, attached to the side of the hull, to hold the track in a semi-sag. The way I do it is to attach the wheels and tracks, stick a pencil in and mark on the hull the limit of the track sag you want, and drill a hole for the pin (I use thin brass rod). Hold down the track sag and insert the pin with needle nosed pliers. If you push the pin in half way across the track width, it’s harder to see. This only works when the tank has a cover over the tracks, of course.
This is why so many armor modelers love the individual track thing. Makes this a lot easier to do, but now you have to glue the thousands of those suckers together, get them draped over the wheels, and hope the ends line up.