Panzerwerk Design- T-55/62/72/90 rMSH type Tracks

Panzerwerk Design has been a welcome addition to the companies our Crew works with for reviews. Three sets have been previously reviewed here and I thought to add this set to my current Trumpeter build I am doing of a wrecked, burnt out T-72 tank. The 3D printed RMSH Type Tracks work for the T-55 and T-62 tanks after 1972, as well as the T-72 family and T-90. As is the case with all their products, the links and pins are bagged and placed into flip-top plastic containers. A one sheet instruction sheet tells you all you need to know to get started- the track pins have double ridges near the wide end which help to friction fit the tracks together and lock the pins in place- and you will need a pin in each side of the track links to complete construction.

I spent my lunch period at school fitting together a length of tracks to get the gist of it. No special tools or glue are needed- and there was no remnants of any flash or imperfections in the links I have used so far. I was able to get a length of 15 together in a matter of minutes. My main test bed for these is the Trumpeter T-72B/B1 MBT (kit # 05599) which calls for 95 links per side of the kit's indie links. This set includes 200 links and 400 pins so you have about 10 extra sets in case some don't work out for you.

The twin ridges on the pin are visible here which lock them in quite well.

When I got home, I tried fitting them around the Trumpeter kit sprockets and found there were some fit issues with this particular kit. The lengths do have a little stretch to them so they can be made to fit, but then you run the risk of having the tracks slightly twisted. I happened to have a Das Werk T-72M and the old Tamiya T-72M1 kit in the stash so I took the sprockets out and tested the tracks on them as well. The Das Werk kit had a slightly better fit than the Trumpeter sprockets, but by far- the Tamiya fit was pretty much perfect. In the end though, my tracks will be off of the road wheels and loose on the return rollers as a wreck so they will be just fine! I asked Przemek which kit these were designed for and he got right back to me to say the Trumpeter and Tamiya kits- so it's possible the variant I am building may be slightly different.

Trumpeter sprocket:

Das Werk sprocket:

Tamiya sprocket:

Conclusion

In the end, like the other sets we have reviewed so far, the 3D printed tracks from Panzerwerk Design are a no-brainer to step up your detail on your kit builds. They are so easy to assemble, fully workable, and adapt to pretty much any kit of the T-72 you have in your stash. Care will be needed on the Trumpeter kit, but in my view- they are much more preferable to the kit's individual links. Tracks were always my Achilles heel when that part of the build came around, but no longer with these. When I plan a new build, my first step lately is to check out what Przemek at Panzerwerk Design has to offer.

Highly Recommended for builders at any level.

Thanks goes out to Panzerwerk Design for this review sample.

Reviewed by Michael Reeves

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