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The idler wheels were cleaned up and stuck onto the axle posts. It was now the turn of the main wheels and each consists of a pair of wheels with axles moulded in place. All were assembled and checked for being square. It was intended that the wheels would be painted off the model as the arms that hold them could be sprung to accept and release them. Unfortunately four sets had the axles either missing on one side or to short. This was corrected by drilling the wheel set out and the arm which held it. The wheel set was then eased into place and the new axle pushed through from the outside and fixed in place with adhesive. When dry the excess was removed and the surface cleaned up.
The next job was fitting the tracks which are link and length and a study of pictures of the 35T show the tracks had no sag so this made it possible to use the kit tracks even though each has a knock out mark in the centre of each. I thought this could be overlooked as when weathered it should disappear with mud and grass on the tracks.
The drive and idler wheels when assembled were not attached but just pushed onto the axle so they could be adjusted as the track was built and then fitted to the teeth on the wheel.
The tracks were cut out and using the exploded view assembled, the top run first. The single links were assembled and glued on a board and left for a few moments for the adhesive to dry then wrapped around the drive sprocket. From there it was a simple matter of adding lengths of track till it was complete and also assembled for the other side.
By this time I had decided that as the main running wheels were fixed I’d do the same with the tracks and paint everything in place, something I don’t normally do and which I may regret.
The fenders were then cut from the sprues and the larges attachment points cleaned up. After some adjustment it fitted and was glued into place. Filler was required on the font inside of the fender to hull joint. This was put aside to cure overnight.
The joint was then cleaned up and liquid glue brushed on to seal the filler.
