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One way to straighten crooked Dragon DS tracks


DennisTennant

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I was looking for a solution to fix the crooked tracks on my 1:72 Dragon Stug III tank. After reading about how others managed to straighten them using heat, I wasn't comfortable with taping them to a board and putting them in the sun, soaking in hot water, etc. I came up with this holder/jig as a way to precisely control the alignment and to hold the tracks as they are heated and reformed into place. It was a fairly cheap fix in both time and money and the end result worked great for me.



So, here's my step-by-step:



First, go down to the local hardware store and purchase a length of aluminum bar bent into a 90 degree angle, a package of brass bolts, nuts and washers. First, I used a hacksaw to cut 6 inches of bar (two pieces needed), I then filed the ends to smooth them a bit and remove any snags, then clamped both pieces together to drill the two holes for the bolts to go through. I think you'll be able to figure out what I did by looking at this photo:



IMG_2277.jpg




I then carefully placed the single guide horn for the track into the slot between the two aluminum bars and carefully tightened down the two nuts to hold it into place. Turning the holder face down onto a flat surface helped make sure the track run was flush against the surface of the holder.



IMG_2281.jpg



I then took my trusty hair dryer and, with the setting on high, began to play the heated air across the tracks. I slowly increased the heat until it was uncomfortable to hold the metal holder in my hands. When I reached that point, I set it aside. No plunging into cold water, etc. I just turned off the heat and let it cool down on its own.



IMG_2273.jpg



After the holder had cooled to room temperature, I untightened the holder and removed the tracks.



I think it worked nicely. The "before" tracks are at left, the result after being heated in the holder is at right.



IMG_2275.jpg



They definitely are straighter. Spending $5 on this has provided me with a device to straighten all my single-guide horn tracks in the future. It also serves as a great jig to assemble single link tracks for a Panzer I or II.



I have an idea for fixing tracks with two guide horns in the works. Stay tuned.

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