Pz.Kpfw. III/IV Tracks Type 3A

Eduard 1/35 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Summary

FirstLook

Eduard has recently entered the individual track-link market, and one of its early offerings is this set of 1/35 scale Panzer III/IV, Type 3A 3D-printed tracks. These should be suitable for any mid-war Panzer III, Panzer IV or their variants.

The set contains 240 individual 3D-printed resin track links, printed onto two bases of 120 links each.

Each link is a single piece – no tiny track-link jigsaw puzzles here. 

The guide horns are hollow, while the shallow cleats on the road-contact side of the tracks look excellent. The edges of the links are printed with convincing representations of the track pins. The level of detail really is impressive.

The individual links are attached to the bases with super-fine attachment points. The main printing blocks can be broken up into smaller sections, right down to a short strip of 12 individual links. This is a nice way to keep track (if you'll pardon the pun) of the various components during assembly.

Printing quality is perfect. I could not find a single blemish or imperfection on any of the individual track links in my set. They are also very easy to work with. If you break the printing base into 12-link sections, all that is required is to roll your thumb backwards and forwards over the links, and they simply drop off the base.

To the naked eye, it appears that no further cleanup is required. Under magnification, however, you may see some genuinely minuscule attachment points. I will simply use a sharp hobby knife or a medium-grit sanding stick to eliminate all trace of these tiny remnants.

The instructions for assembling the tracks are summed up in three words, printed in large red capital letters: DO NOT GLUE!

With that important information in mind, I proceeded to press the individual links together. It is a little difficult to describe in words, but essentially one side of each track link is inserted into the next link and pressed until it clicks into place. Try it yourself. It is not difficult, and it gets easier as you go along.

I have already assembled a short run of 24 links, and there were no particular problems along the way. 

Eduard's Type 3A Panzer III/IV tracks are among the easiest individual-link tracks I have ever assembled and are certainly right up there with the very best in terms of detail and printing quality.

I would expect that it would take around three to four hours to assemble two complete track runs. That would seem to be an excellent investment of time for the resulting combination of superb detail, accurate appearance and ease of assembly.

Eduard's Type 3A Panzer III/IV tracks combine superb detail, excellent printing quality and easy assembly. The clever click-together design means there is no gluing involved, while cleanup is minimal. These tracks are a pleasure to work with and represent a significant improvement over many conventional individual-link alternatives. 

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample www.eduard.com