I'm new to the HL world and am hooked on the possibilities and potential of these little beauties. Of the three I recently bought, I've found one thing that goes across the board, over tensioned tracks (at least in my opinion).

I've added at least one link to each side on all of them and they seem to benefit in both performance and appearance. With the metal tracks on my Pz IV F1, there's a great sag as well the settling either off the sprocket or idler when stopped (depending on the ground). There's good settling on my StuG, but the plastic links don't have enough weight to properly sag.

Anyone else notice or do this, or have I just lost my mind a bit?

No, you are right on the mark! Some guys do not want to spend the $ on metal tracks and some do not care for the added stress that they put on the drive train. I have to say that I like and use them for the realistic performance that I get and the appearance that they give to my vehicles.

Herman

Yes the metal tracks have a better appearance as they have some sag to them. However this sag can come and back and bite you even on the metal tracks, by jumping the ildler and leaving you a pillbox out in the open. It is a fine line when setting these up.

Yup, metal tracks definitely look better.  But when it comes to IR battling and the stresses I put on my TU's I'd rather run plastic track.  I only have metal track on 4 of my tanks and they are really geared down(103:1) or have slow scale speeds to begin with (Elefant, JT) so whipping out wicked fan shots are out of the question anyways.

Hi Ausf,

The way it looks and the way it fights are two different things. It all depends what you want. Just for an example: If you have the proper track sag on the KV tracks (which looks very cool BTW) it would do very poorly in battle as the tracks would slip terribly over the drive sprockets. It would also throw tracks very easily. The tanks weight is no where near being realistic so the realistic track sag is not feesible.

My limited battle experience is showing.

I haven't used the HLs in our backyard battles yet, so my aesthetic value vs reliability in battle hasn't been tested.

I suspect I'll get a lesson the third Sunday in May...(I'll bring the tools to remove links). [8D]

Don't listen to them ... go metal if you want! Especially if the tank needs and deserves track sag, GO FOR IT!!! Now most of the American tanks had no sag (or not much at all) so it could still enjoy the benefits of metal.

Painting and weathering them is all about fun too.










~ Jeff

I used to believe that metal tracks where a must but as I grew with the hobby now I only use metal tracks on my tanks that are heavily modified and built for metal tracks. In IR battling they can actually cost you in performance. Since the Tamiya stock tracks are so good I never replace those with metal tracks.<div> It sounds like you really found that you like this hobby, so I am suggesting that you should try a Tamiya Pershing or even an HL Pershing.</div><div>This tank no matter which brand you buy needs no upgrades at all. None. They perform excellently. I do however install sealed bearings in all my Tamiya tanks road wheels and idlers. Glad to see you are enjoying your self. This hobby is extremely addictive. </div>

I do have two Tamiyas, the M4 (on it's way to becoming an unissued HVSS Firefly) and the Tiger I, both about 6-7 years old at this point. I recently bought TBUs for my sons and I, but that left one person out and I couldn't see springing the scratch for the Tamiya Panther G right now, so I tested the HL waters.

I fully agree that Tamiya tracks don't need replacing, but I couldn't see the plastic HL Pz III/IV tracks holding up under strain, but then again, I'm a novice to battling. I'm looking forward to getting my hands in a battle soon. To me, tossing a track might be part of the fun, but like I said, I've never been in one bigger than two in my backyard.

I love the mods and tinkering, I would have built a Pz I years ago if it wasn't for the difficulty of make the tracks and wheels. Not that difficult, I have all the equipment for vacuum and pressure resin casting, but too time-consuming for me right now.

HLs are the perfect blank canvas.

In terms of a Pershing, I have a small library of German armor references, so I tend to move in that direction.