What 1/35 3D Printed Tracks are Best? | Review Part 2
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- Today we will look at a second batch of 3D printed tracks from various manufacturers. Between this and the first video, I have reviewed the following brands:
TREX Studio
Tankraft
RochM Model
Heavy Hobby
E.T. Model
Quickwheels
Chino Model
DEF Model
Minor Model
RyeField Model
PanzerArt
Panzerwerk Design
The best so far are Panzerwerk Design, Tankraft, and TREX Studio. DEF Model I also really like but they're expensive. Minor Model and E.T. Model get honourable mentions.
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DISCLAIMER: I am not paid to promote any specific products or brands; I just use the products I find work best for me through my experiences. There is no reason for me to promote a bad product, as then I would not enjoy using it, not like the result on my model, and not be proud of publicizing it in a video. There's also no point in me doing this to keep up relations with a company if the only benefit would be getting more of the same products that I didn't like. I have not used every product out there, but from what I have used, I keep using the products I like, and that's why I use them in my videos. You can use whatever other products you would like to and you can feel that they are better - that is your opinion, and is perfectly fine by me, thus I hope that feeling is reciprocated. - Jak na to + styl
I would recommend PanzerWerk Design as the best option (Tankraft tracks are no longer in production). You can buy PanzerWerk Design tracks from MBK or HobbyEasy.
Thank you so much for covering and comparing this all in detail! One would think that those 3D printed tracks are quite similar, but they actually are not to my surprise.
Those TKS tracks though, damn!!! I´ll go with the tracks of the kit for sure, can´t be as terrifying as those printed ones.
Indeed, the TKS set is terrifying 😂
A person goes through all that assembly insanity and expense of purchase, then covers the tracks in mud…🙂
Thank you so much for all your work. I have just come back to the modeling world (last model was in 1973-74...) and am amazed every day with all options available today, not to speak of the so-much-better quality of the kits! Just FYI, the technique used to make the Minor Model tracks is called "print-in-place", where the tolerances around moving assembled part are accounted for in design.
Another great track review! These videos are great. They truly are helpful in wading through all the different 3D track manufacturers out there.
Much appreciated!
I just received my first set of 3D-printed tracks yesterday (T.REX TR85025, Pz. III/IV tracks type 6a w/cleats) and they are BEAUTIFUL!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to show and compare all those different brands. Your videos were very helpful.
Thank you, I'm glad my video has been helpful to you!
@@Panzermeister36 I watched all three of them several times! 🙂
This is golden age scale model
Im quite impresive with chino because they can made workable tracks in printed
Tried the T-Rex...Go together very well but they are VERY BRITTLE. Pins fall out easily and break as well and track links break EASILY as well. Gonna try Action Model tracks IF I EVER decide to try 3Ds again.
I second that
Very brittle
Probably something to do with geographically where I am
I do like the quick tracks
They do work very well
Even the smaller sizes like the Pz I, II and III
Great review Evan. Thanks for doing all of the work needed to give us a broad look at all of the track options out there.
There are certainly some good options available, but it seems that price is as much of a factor (or more even) than quality. It seems some manufacturers expect 3D printed tracks to sell for as much as metal tracks, which makes no sense. Plus add shipping and the cost to the modeller quickly gets to the point that they become unreasonable. I know the manufacturers don’t get any of the money from shipping, but they need to account for the all-in cost to their customers when developing their pricing strategy.
Anyway, great review. Looking forward to more.
Thank you for the video, much appreciated!
An excellent, comprehensive review.
Thank you!
Great video, I've purchased the Chino Model Sherman tracks, and they are the best 3d Sherman tracks I've experienced so far. They have the guide horns printed separate with the inside horns printed with the pin and they are spaced on the print base the exact distance needed to just slide the track pad on. Then you just need to slip the outside guide horns (or duckbills) on the end with a snug fit and you now have a workable track. Although they may be a little pricey I think its worth it to not mess with cutting wires.
Great and informative video.
I just ordered the Tankkraft Tiger 1 early for the Dragon Tiger 131- thanks for the informative videos!
Hope you enjoy it!
Great video Evan. I purchased two sets of RFM 3D printed tracks about a year ago, and found them to be very brittle, and a nightmare to put together. I don’t know how many tracks and pins that I broke, but in the end I gave up and purchased metal tracks from R-Model. These are excellent tracks and a breeze to put together. I am very wary of resin tracks now, but a few of the products that you’ve shown us look worth a try. Thanks for the upload, and greetings from Australia 🇦🇺!
Thanks Gary. Yes, the RFM didn't impress me too much here. R-Model is an excellent option though!
Looking forward to part 3
Based on your reviews I used Tankraft 3D printed tracks and was quite happy with them.
Very interessting comparesion. Thanks for shareing Evan.
Thank you Kai. I have to set up my printer so I can just use your designs. That is the cheapest way :)
@@Panzermeister36 Not only cheap, my current stuff doesn't need to hide at all ; ) Nah, honestly there are a lot of good products out by now and I very much enjoy watching you comparing them because I don't buy 3rd party aftermarket anymore, would be kind of pointless investing time to design my own and than spend money on top to buy others xD
There are interessting solutions: printed workable doesn't work for example the trade-off with the quality loss due to supports make it pointless, Pins and wire is the way to go atm since resin gets britle over time the click stuff will fall apart in a few years down the road (my first 40k minis I printed 3 years ago are now slowly developing cracks for example.) For your TKS tracks: I have R35 tracks, they are not much larger - require a evening with good mood to be assembled xD TKS I was asked to desgin and declined - can't be made to assemble even 20 of them just to take the pictures xD
Awesome video as always Evan👍. I'm VERY interested in the halftrack ones. I'll DEFINITELY be looking for your build on those forsure. Magic tracks aren't so Magic in my book. I have a ton of those things I buy Friulmodel tracks when ever I find them some what cheap. Last time I found a variety of them for 30 bucks bought all ten sets. But unfortunately none were halftrack. Anyway awesome video. Looking forward to your next one.😁 God bless
Thank you Clayton! The Minor Model halftrack sets are very impressive indeed :)
Very interesting. Great video thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video, I appreciate you sharing your experiences with these 3D printed tracks! I recently used a set of TRex tracks and I thought they were very good.
I found TRex too brittle. I had to drill out all the tracks like with Friul tracks to keep from breaking the pins. I won't buy them again.
Thanks for putting these videos together! It seems the 3D market is getting more and more saturated considering modelers working up their own designs in Tinkercad or Blender and then 3D printing them at home. I'm sure for those of us with 3D printers, the number of .STL files available for download like you showed are only increasing. I had never considered how some trusted 3D printing brands can still have bad designs too depending on the track- but it makes sense considering how different some of these track styles and their construction can be.
*Thanks for this very interesting video, the quality is really impressive as the price is high (too high as far as i'm concerned). Friul tracks are about 25-35 € for a box, they are really realistic and the shagging is perfect.*
Great track link review as always !. After watching this, I would go with Panzerwerk track for my happy modeling.😄👍
Chino model's type 7 track might be the first track that does not refer as "light weight track".🤔
Great video,I recently picked up 1/35 Revell leopard tank and only came with rubber tracks so I will defenatly buying one of tracks that you showed
Thanks Joe! Glad to be of help 😊
Great review Evan.I had the RFM ones and hated them,i gave them away to a friend. The Panzerwerk ones look really good and i think i'd go for those over the others. The Chino ones look way too complicated,glad i saw this as i was on the verge of ordering some from them. I've got some 3D printed 1/35 buckets and grab handles from Chino,and i'm really impressed by the quality of them..I ordered them directly through FB,their website is way too complicated..
Another great aftermarket preview video Evan. I'll stick with Friulmodel and rubber band tracks. With my CTE shaking and trembling I'd destroy those tracks
good honest review
Thank you!
With regards to availability in my area I'll stick with T.REX, but I must admit that I would check out other brands as well. Maybe not Chino though, but DEF Models would be interesting if they had more different Pz. III/IV track types. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Hi, love your channel as a hobby model kit builder I don't spend as much time as u on my model hence I find your channel a fantastic source of information and tips. I presume not many in Ireland are building model kits lol... One question I have - I have purchased an aftermarket set of tracks for an 'old' Panther D I was restoring and found the hard way that the tracks I bough didn't fit the sprocket wheel of the Panther which is an old Panther model. Not something I was expecting as I thought the size and spacing of these sprocket wheels would be the same regardless of the kit brand as I assumed they were modeled from the original full size wheel. But it seems I was wrong... I there a way to find which tracks work for various kit brand?
Very interesting review. Thank you for sharing. So far, T-Rex Studio and Tankaft are bit twin tower in my mind but I I could find some new good track.
I can get some tracks reasonably in Japan actually. Anyway, we may find more new 3d printed new tracks near the future. Also, we'll confuse to choose.
Is it a good problem ? lol Have a nice week end and stay safe please my friend. Cheers, NOB
Thank you for your insightful comment as always. For me, the Panzerwerk Design tracks are up to the same level as T-Rex Studio and Tankraft. But I guess depending on where you live in the world, it will cost more or less to ship certain brands (T-Rex are from China, Tankraft from USA, Panzerwerk from Poland), so that may make different brands more attractive.
Thanks for the reviews , personally, I'm a bit heavy handed, will stick with metal tracks or link and length for now.
The Minor model tracks look like SLS prints from shapeways. That's vinyl powder hardened with lasers.
Yep, I agree. That's how some of the FC Model Trend stuff is done too and it doesn't produce smooth results on small details like clamps. On these tracks, it's not perfect but it should be good enough!
I ordered *panzerwerk* *design* tracks for panther ,late Type..I never seen such good product...they're easy to assemble and the quality is astonishing.
Edit: i was looking for the friulmodel tracks ,but the company lately quit it's business...so i spoke to the community for some advice? Most of the people suggested the panzerwerk so i give them a try.
I am glad you enjoyed them! They are great.
@@Panzermeister36 I enjoyed them, and im going to buy thier products for future projects.
Thank so much very informative and well put together tutorial! ✌Canada✌
Thanks James!
Hey man I know you follow night shift can you let him know I think someone has corrupted his account. I recieved a text saying I won something and to contact on telegram. His trademark night shift logo is there and when you research says active for a month. I dont think he will read my notice to him but from you he might. If you dont want to I understand .✌Canada✌
I have some t-rex 3d tracks & I find the track pins way too delicate & I've broken a few off during assembly. Maybe the other ones are better but I prefer to the metal friul tracks because I"m clumsy & they're more durable.
I appreciate the review. I had been wondering if the RFM 3D printed tracks were worth 2x the cost over the plastic version - and that would appear to be a resounding "no". Definitely interested in checking out the PanzerWerk Design options.
Yes, I don't know why the RFM ones are so expensive. And RFM usually gives workable plastic tracks in their kits to begin with...
@@Panzermeister36 I've used their Tiger handed tracks twice, one set was perfect and the other set I had to drill out every hole. Ouch
In all reality they’re way to expensive! Some costing the same if not more than the kit
Panzerwerk a la lista de favoritos, gracias por el v{ideo, muy ilustrativo
Thank you!
When do we get to see the Pz III in the Tropen 1 camo that teazes us in the promo
It has been taking me longer than I planned to progress on weathering it. But in a few weeks I should have the videos on it all done up ☺️
Hi one question how do you measure your panzer sprockets
Ive had an issue with RMF stug drive sprockets exploding Trex tracks. Alot of Ammo 3d stuff is re packaged FC stuff
Interesting. I have a set of TREX Type 6 tracks that fit my RFM StuG without issue. Might depend on the set.
The Ammo 3D Printed tracks are not FCMT, but rather done by "Modest Modeler" on Facebook.
Hi I am working on a Academy Flakpanzer Wirbelwind what tracks do you think would work on it
I have tried Quicktracks. They are cheaper, easy to assemble, but don't have a natural sag. You need to be more careful putting them onto the model so links don't come apart since they are snap together. Also, I've been waiting a month to get my order...might be lost in transit. If it arrives I'll buy more. I wish they had a US distributor.
I hate the pins for RFM, I end up using styrene rods cut to lengh, works much better.
How can the type of track for pzIII/IV be selected?
I just built RFM's Panzer III and styrene single link tracks were included. That was a nightmare. I used metaltracks at the end....
I was making PzIV, I I can second this.
@@LazyKalor thew PZIV isnt that bad, its just all pins
I've done 3 sets of RFM PzIII/ IV workable plastic tracks. They work great!
9 links on the jig, pin both sides, lightly glue the end of pin, remove from jig, in an hour slice off attachment points to the pins with a single edge razor blade.
Folks often use too much liquid cement or a big brush. The Tamiya Extra Thin brush is perfect. Wick away most of the LC. Touch brush against the inside of the bottle neck. There will be LC to do 4 or 5 pins.
What is your opinion on accuracy? How well do they represent the actual tracks?
They all look good to my eye, though the Panzerwerk Design ones are probably the best.
One thing that's really frustrating with these T-Rex tracks, aside from the incredible brittleness of the pins (I think I've broken 8 just starting now, being as gentle as possible, and that's to assemble 15 tracks...) is that there's nothing in the way of instructions in the package or on their website.
For $40 I would hope there would be a little more effort on their part to say which pins are meant for what side of the track, and maybe a rough count of how many track links per side. The aftermarket parts market can be a bit frustrating.
Tried out a set of Trex recently for the first time and was startled by the quantity of pins that would fall out of my length of assembled tracks. Quite contrary to the statement of “no gluing necessary” on the tiny sheet of non-instructional paper included. I now leave the heads of inserted pins exposed a tiny bit and apply glue before pushing them all the way inside the track section. Does not cause any problems with track flexibility as long as you don’t over load the glue. They look great when finished, but the assembly is tedious and time consuming. I would think Trex could try and provide some hints or suggestions with their product on how best to approach assembly, especially considering first time users.
I have not had that experience with the TREX sets I have assembled, but I imagine that some sets may simply have had the pins printed slightly undersize and therefore require gluing. That is unfortunate as it greatly slows down the assembly time.
@@Panzermeister36 For sure. I'm definitely not mad about the purchase at all, since every other kit I'd tried had it's own set of issues to work around.
I will keep an eye on them and try to give them another shot. I'm hoping by the time I finally finish my T-55, they will have a set of T-80 tracks out and I can give those a shot.
@@thomasharrison4554 Agreed. They have a great foundation that will become even better with a little extra work on their end. Any instructions would be great in the packaging, and then hopefully on the next batch, they will have the quality sorted out for the printing so there aren't so many pins that drop out. But, as you said, they look great, and once I got them together and painted, I was really pleased with everything.
any link to purchase the minor model?
www.minor-web.com/Tracks.html
How is ordering direct from T Trex just ordered the Das Werk 1/35 Panther Ausf A early would like to try pre printed tracks.
I generally either buy these things at a show, or I buy from a retailer like Sprue Brothers (USA) or Super-Hobby Store (Poland). Shipping direct from T-Rex Studio was too expensive.
@@Panzermeister36 thanks for the quick reply I had looked at Sprue Brothers and others and noticed that they were all out of stock.
Panzer art tracks for Ferdinand was also terrible. I had same issues like you, it was required to; clan left printing sports, then drill all the tracks to bigger size of a hole, then even bigger drill was required to drill a hole for the element of pin which should kick in. If we're looking about pins, in the kit as you saw is one bag with them, but there are two types mixed and they no in the same number. I connect the producer why they does it like this? They answer me: no one care of the shape of pin, so what's the problem ? For this price is complete waste of money, I will newer buy this tracks again.
Thank you for the insight.
14:42 or amusing hobby tracks 14:42
What track would you recommend for type A track for panzer IV ausf B?
You're going to want "Type 1 long horn" which is available by TREX, and Panzerwerk Design should have those soon.
@@Panzermeister36 I think there must be a taxonomy of panzer iii/iv tracks somewhere that I'm not aware of? I see both T-rex and Panzerwerks refer to type * tracks, but have no idea what their reference is. Do you have a pointer to that? These videos are great! Thanks for putting the effort in to produce them!
"Panzerketten" book by Schwartzmann came up with this system which has become standard. But that book is entirely in German.
I wonder if the Minor SdKfz 10 tracks would work on the SdKfz 7?
They also have sets for sdkfz 7, 251, etc.
@@Panzermeister36 Awesome...Thanks a lot!
@@BarbosaUral I think there was a misunderstanding. Minor currently doesn't do Sd.Kfz. 7 tracks. To answer your question: the tracks are not interchangable, in other words each German softskin halftrack from 1-ton to 18-ton has its own type of track.
You can put a Sd.Kfz. 250 track on a Sd.Kfz. 10 and vice-versa, although the latter one is slightly longer because the running gear has one more roadwheel on each side.
The tracks of a Sd.Kfz. 251 can be put on a Sd.Kfz. 11 and they also have the same lengths.
@@jczeus Ok...thank you very much.
Which tracks are the "Definite Best" ?
PanzerWerk Design in my opinion. After that would be Tankraft but they're out of production at the moment. Then T-Rex Studio, then E.T. Model.
Thanks for responding what Panzerwerk tracks would you use on the Ryefield Stug Late@Panzermeister36
Type 6 with cleats....and I'll have to verify the guide horn type. There's solid and "pinched" ones.
@@Panzermeister36 I checked my reference and i see the cleats but no pinched guide horns.
@@Panzermeister36 Miniarts box art shows the pinched horns.
“FC Modeltrend is usually garbage”
I’ll up that to its always garbage, I’ve never seen something good from them…
I have one set of StuG III F & F/8 tool clamps are are alright. I used the cleaning rod clamps on my Pz III N conversion. But everything else I have bought from them has been horribly printed.
@@Panzermeister36 I bought a package of sundry upgrades for the SOMUA. Varied from unusable, laughable, or OK-but-worse-than-kit-part. Basically the polar opposite as my experience with DEF Model where every time I buy something I smile.
Def model is a Korean manufacturer
Yes they are....did I say Japan in the video?