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Masterbox has produced an excellent set of British Mk.I & Mk.II rhomboid tanks. Their detail and molding is on par with the best in the industry.
Sadly the same can not be said regarding the tracks. Masterbox dropped the ball on these by molding them in a flexible rubber-like plastic. Though their detail is quite
acceptable,
getting them stay on the kit is a real pain due to their resistance to any glues. Replacement sets are available, and I reviewed the set from W^D Models
here. Now we have another replacement option available, this time from JK Resin.
This set from JK Resin is designed as direct replacements for those abominable Masterbox kit tracks. Inside the box are three casting blocks containing 12 track lengths,
and another three casting blocks containing 30 grousers/spuds. There is a small instruction sheet. It provides a part list and directions on how where to place the
track lengths and how to modify them to fit the grousers. Unfortunately they do not provide any direction on spacing the grousers. My research
indicates that the normal spacing was every 4th link.
Track Dimensions from Reference [2]
| Real
Measurement | 1/72
scale | JK Resin
Measurement | JK Resin
actual scale |
| Link Length | 215mm | 3mm | 3mm | 1/72 |
| Link Width | 520mm | 7mm | 6.5mm | 1/80 |
Track Dimensions from Reference [3]
| Real
Measurement | 1/72
scale | JK Resin
Measurement | JK Resin
actual scale |
| Link Length | 222mm | 3.1mm | 3mm | 1/74 |
| Link Width | 520mm | 7mm | 6.5mm | 1/80 |
| Masterbox
Measurement | Reference [1] | Reference [2] |
| Link Length | 3mm | 1/72 | 1/74 |
| Link Width | 7mm | 1/72 | 1/72 |
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As you can see from above, the JK set is slightly under-size with regards to track width. Though I'm unable to try them on the actual Masterbox kit, I suspect that
the narrowness of the JK set will be readily apparent with a lack of overhang with the side plates.
The length of each Masterbox rubber band style tracks is 233mm. When you total the length of the segments for one side of the JK Resin set you get 240.5mm. The
difference of about 7mm over the Masterbox set looks to be JK Resin's correction for the under length Masterbox tracks as reported in the review found at reference [3].
The thinness of the track segments (picture below left) is my major quibble with this set. I'm sure this was done to make them flexible enough to wrap around the
front and rear horns without
breaking, but their thin profile will most likely sit them directly on the top of the hull side plates, which appears to be the case upon close inspection
of the box top photo. What they should do is sit a bit proud of body as can be seen in the below photograph of a preserved example at Bovington.
The track spuds/grousers are in my opinion the best feature of the set. They exhibit exquisite detail and very much look the part of a rhomboid grouser.
They are somewhat fragile (one spud in my sample was damaged in transit) so extreme care is needed in removing
them from the casting block. But not to worry if a few get broken; most every period photograph of a rhomboid tank with grousers that I've seen shows an
incomplete set, so it won't be a serious issue if there are a few absent along the track run.
Conclusion
I'm somewhat ambivalent regarding this set. The detail is excellent, especially with respect to the grousers/spuds. On the other hand, the narrow width and thin
cross section detract from the overall value. But regardless of their shortcomings, they'll still be a definite step above the out-of-the-box rubber band
tracks offered by Masterbox.
References
[1] IPMS USA (Masterbox Mk.I kit review)
[2] Tanks Encyclopedia
[3] The Miniatures Page (Mk.IV track specs)
[4] Armortek
Preview sample supplied by Jiří Kremer of JK Resin.
JK Resin products are available at
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