Great review, Evan, and I'm glad you posted it. These types of reviews are probably the best. Good closeups, plenty of info and non-biased. I've been considering trying these, but it looks like (for me, anyways) they would be a bit more work than I want to deal with. Large sprue gates, lots of mold seams... I would go nuts! LAL. Well done, amigo!
Perfect timing on this video, my friend. I need a set of tracks, someone recommended Panda and shared your video link. Nice to know what to expect!! Perfect.
Love how those use a friction-fit. I still have nightmares about the old 1990s Dragon Sherman tracks. Nothing holding them together but glue. Definitively a pain to assemble.
Nice review! I've used this excellent products on most of my Sherman builds. Nice to say, they are nicely detailed and come in a variety of types except for the EZ8 style. Glad to see their are a dew companies out there that are stepping up and making a simple alternative to some of the horrendous multi parted kit tracks for M3/M4 style tracks.👍👍👍👍
Evan - question for you. why don't model companies make slide-molded tracks in two halves? So you'd have the bottom layer and then a gap with the top layer with the proper sag - a ying yang shape if that makes sense. Why doesn't anyone do that? If you can get the really amazing detail and they look the business then why don't they make them this way? Or an after-market company? I get that some like the therapy of assembling multi-piece tracks and so on but most will agree that there is a huge potential time saving there.
Thx a lot for this review. They look really nice and similar to metal ones from Masterclub. I have the experience with metal only as they were used on my Firefly. I'm curious how the comparison would turn out? I know that plastic is not the same as metal, but maybe you had the opportunity to compare?
Master club are my favourite for tracks! The detail and just the quality in them compared to fruilmodel tracks is just unbelievable really! They hype of fruil I don't like them much now after seeing what master club produce for same price the quality in them is just fantastic!
Say, I have a quick question. The M12 seems to be based on the Sherman frame (I'm building the Academy kit which has the typical rubber band tracks which appear to be the all metal version that you talked about in the video). So the question is would the M12 have used the all steel tracks?
Hey Dan. Sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable with Shermans and their variants so I can't answer that for certain. More importantly, when reading reviews online I saw one person say these Panda Plastics tracks were too wide for Academy sprockets (at least on an M3 kit), so they had to add a spacer ring to the kit sprocket. You may have the same issue with your kit, I'm not sure. Just a heads-up. Hope that helps!
Cool tracks! I am taking a little break from tank kits building and priming a UFO kit and anime figure rise standard from bandai. But I have some nice Italeri kits, CSM Romfel panzerwagen and the new Tamiya Panzer IV waiting in my stash. I am looking wery forward for the new Tamiya Panzer IV.
hey off topic, but have you ever assembled Academy brand kits? I'm thinking of getting a 1/35 scale helicopter and im curious how their kits and instructions are? Are they like Tamiya and Takom easy to understand orr are they disaster like Dragon? Also if you have worked on Academy kits how do their parts fit? Kitty Hawk used to be leader in helos but they went out of business probably due to their poor part fitment and over complication so i'm left with Academy for 1/35 scale
Academy get a bad rep and i think this is largely undeserved - their recent stuff is really good. Tamiya type fit, good instructions, lots of options, nice PE included and really really good value for money. Their Hetzer is probably the best in the scale.
Yes I have! It's the upcoming Trumpeter kit but without interior so it looks very good. Arguably better than the Das Were 1/16 kit, but it's also much more expensive...
Great thinking for the track armor! Looking forward to seeing more of this M10 if you get a chance to film it. I have seen a lot of burned out reference where the rubber is melted away and gone as you showed and didn't know this company existed- let alone that they made these burned out tracks- and for only around $20 a set? Awesome!
Hey bro have you seen miniarts Alket stuff on there FB page today? See it has the flat fender braces good sign no Zimmerit or the rear stowage it's a 1943 model ausf G wouldn't it gave had the Zimmerit?
Hello. Yes I've seen it, but no it does not need zimmerit. Zimm was only applied starting in September 1943; the Miniart kits are February and March 1943. But I imagine they will also make later versions in the zimmerit period.
Bought them and there amazing. The detail is awesome. Just don't piss them off in texting them and there's a miscommunication because they get rude fast. And you can't call to fix it.
I have 2 sets of these in the flat block & rubber chevron & agree they are some of the best Sherman tracks. Easy assembly & a minimum # of parts for this design. Also not flimsy & tend to stay together. Not sure what you mean with the communications but I did not try to contact them.
@@MrKnotical I wanted to buy some tracks with duckbills but there separate. One was 27 the other 18 so I just sent the 18 expecting the duckbills but they sent the money back and said WE SAID IT WAS 27 FOR THE TRACKS! Oops ok haven't bought any since don't need the problems. Just need ways to contact companies to clear problems up. I'm to old to be typing all the responses live. Haha.
The never-ending quest for good tracks to use on a Sherman!, that is my personal story. I too prefer metal tracks however, Friulmodel are getting more and more expensive and the process of drilling out every link is tedious. I must try those MasterClub tracks. I have a Rye Field Sherman Firefly and I am not sure I want to build the multi-part per link assembly of the kit tracks. Thanks for your reviews, they help tremendously.
Thanks for the comment! I am glad you like the videos and find them helpful. And I agree, Friuls are getting ridiculously expensive. Maybe we will get some 3D printed Sherman tracks soon...
@@Panzermeister36 Have you tried T-Rex Studios 3D printed tracks? I bought a set for the very old (1971) Tamiya Panzer II. They are VERY fragile and prone to breaking, the pins also do not stay in the links! I will not be using them in the future. I like those MasterClub tracks you have. I hope you will post a review on those because I am looking at getting a set for my Firefly kit. Thanks again for your channel, I really like it. German WW2 armour is my favorite modeling subject
I have not tried the 3D printed tracks from TREX. Only their 3D details/accessories. But I'll try theirs soon I bet. I will show those masterclub tracks in my M10 build video :)
I've been looking around for a 1/35 stug kit and they are all out of stock or on ebay a astronomical amount especially dragon kits wondering if you knew a site I could order one from thanks keep up the great content
@@Panzermeister36 The tracks I have (I actually have two old sets left) no clean-up needed in the connector holes. The molds they're using are so old they're getting "flash" in the plastic. But that happens when when these cottage industries change hands. I think Tank Workshop, and Harper castings models have changed hands a couple times.
@@Panzermeister36 Here is something that may be usefull. I used to communicate with David Harper before he passed away. His father was a marine corp tanker Co.A 1st Marine tank Bn. in an M4A1 during the New Britain campaign. I asked him one time what was the second camouflage used on the M4A1's used there, a lot of sources say it was red brown. He told me his father said it was black. You can't get any better information than from someone who actually was in a tank there. So the lighter color in the black and white photos is the OD and the darker Black, not the darker being OD, and the lighter Red brown.
@@Panzermeister36 I like sharing these types of stories. I had a friend of mine who had a military history store, sold everything, books, models, etc. He could speak German, and would go to Germany once in awhile. He would talk to German vets. Some of the stuff these vets would tell him...wow.
Very interesting! I had not heard of this brand before and usually those smaller companies don´t go all out and make their plastic injection molding tools and rather go for resin, 3D printers or metal. On the other side, they only seem to have Allied/Sherman tracks so far. That is heresy! :D
They will be coming soon. I have a number of projects almost ready for video editing. Sometimes I just end up in a dry spot so I post some reviews instead.
The tracks look good and don't seem overly fiddly. Personally i don't like metal tracks. The worst tracks are Hobby Boss T-26 ones, with individual pins supposedly workable - I found those impossible to assemble and I have like 40+ years of modeling experience...
Great review, Evan, and I'm glad you posted it. These types of reviews are probably the best. Good closeups, plenty of info and non-biased. I've been considering trying these, but it looks like (for me, anyways) they would be a bit more work than I want to deal with. Large sprue gates, lots of mold seams... I would go nuts! LAL.
Well done, amigo!
Thank you Brett!
Perfect timing on this video, my friend. I need a set of tracks, someone recommended Panda and shared your video link. Nice to know what to expect!! Perfect.
Thank you Rick :) I'm glad you found the video helpful
Love how those use a friction-fit. I still have nightmares about the old 1990s Dragon Sherman tracks. Nothing holding them together but glue. Definitively a pain to assemble.
Nice review! I've used this excellent products on most of my Sherman builds. Nice to say, they are nicely detailed and come in a variety of types except for the EZ8 style.
Glad to see their are a dew companies out there that are stepping up and making a simple alternative to some of the horrendous multi parted kit tracks for M3/M4 style tracks.👍👍👍👍
Evan - question for you. why don't model companies make slide-molded tracks in two halves? So you'd have the bottom layer and then a gap with the top layer with the proper sag - a ying yang shape if that makes sense. Why doesn't anyone do that? If you can get the really amazing detail and they look the business then why don't they make them this way? Or an after-market company? I get that some like the therapy of assembling multi-piece tracks and so on but most will agree that there is a huge potential time saving there.
Thx a lot for this review. They look really nice and similar to metal ones from Masterclub. I have the experience with metal only as they were used on my Firefly. I'm curious how the comparison would turn out? I know that plastic is not the same as metal, but maybe you had the opportunity to compare?
Master club are my favourite for tracks! The detail and just the quality in them compared to fruilmodel tracks is just unbelievable really! They hype of fruil I don't like them much now after seeing what master club produce for same price the quality in them is just fantastic!
I love masterclub too. I look forward to using their set on this vehicle :)
Say, I have a quick question. The M12 seems to be based on the Sherman frame (I'm building the Academy kit which has the typical rubber band tracks which appear to be the all metal version that you talked about in the video). So the question is would the M12 have used the all steel tracks?
Hey Dan. Sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable with Shermans and their variants so I can't answer that for certain.
More importantly, when reading reviews online I saw one person say these Panda Plastics tracks were too wide for Academy sprockets (at least on an M3 kit), so they had to add a spacer ring to the kit sprocket. You may have the same issue with your kit, I'm not sure. Just a heads-up. Hope that helps!
@@Panzermeister36 It did, thanks man.
At first I thought wtf this is way too much work for saving a little money. And then I saw your point, totally agree with you. Cheers
Great review. I had not heard of this company . Nice detail and explanation. As usual a great job!!
Cool tracks! I am taking a little break from tank kits building and priming a UFO kit and anime figure rise standard from bandai. But I have some nice Italeri kits, CSM Romfel panzerwagen and the new Tamiya Panzer IV waiting in my stash. I am looking wery forward for the new Tamiya Panzer IV.
hey off topic, but have you ever assembled Academy brand kits? I'm thinking of getting a 1/35 scale helicopter and im curious how their kits and instructions are? Are they like Tamiya and Takom easy to understand orr are they disaster like Dragon? Also if you have worked on Academy kits how do their parts fit?
Kitty Hawk used to be leader in helos but they went out of business probably due to their poor part fitment and over complication so i'm left with Academy for 1/35 scale
Academy get a bad rep and i think this is largely undeserved - their recent stuff is really good. Tamiya type fit, good instructions, lots of options, nice PE included and really really good value for money. Their Hetzer is probably the best in the scale.
@@djchrismorgan6011 thanks for the feedback
Panzermeister have you seen the new Heller 1/16 Sturmgesutz?
Yes I have! It's the upcoming Trumpeter kit but without interior so it looks very good. Arguably better than the Das Were 1/16 kit, but it's also much more expensive...
*Thanks for the review, another tracks sets but these are really impressive!*
Great thinking for the track armor! Looking forward to seeing more of this M10 if you get a chance to film it. I have seen a lot of burned out reference where the rubber is melted away and gone as you showed and didn't know this company existed- let alone that they made these burned out tracks- and for only around $20 a set? Awesome!
Thanks! I will be doing a video series on the M10 :)
@@Panzermeister36 awesome!! Consider me tuned in 😁
Hey bro have you seen miniarts Alket stuff on there FB page today? See it has the flat fender braces good sign no Zimmerit or the rear stowage it's a 1943 model ausf G wouldn't it gave had the Zimmerit?
Hello. Yes I've seen it, but no it does not need zimmerit. Zimm was only applied starting in September 1943; the Miniart kits are February and March 1943. But I imagine they will also make later versions in the zimmerit period.
Bought them and there amazing. The detail is awesome. Just don't piss them off in texting them and there's a miscommunication because they get rude fast. And you can't call to fix it.
:-) American service...
Thanks I'll keep that in mind :D
I have 2 sets of these in the flat block & rubber chevron & agree they are some of the best Sherman tracks. Easy assembly & a minimum # of parts for this design. Also not flimsy & tend to stay together. Not sure what you mean with the communications but I did not try to contact them.
@@MrKnotical
I wanted to buy some tracks with duckbills but there separate. One was 27 the other 18 so I just sent the 18 expecting the duckbills but they sent the money back and said WE SAID IT WAS 27 FOR THE TRACKS! Oops ok haven't bought any since don't need the problems. Just need ways to contact companies to clear problems up. I'm to old to be typing all the responses live. Haha.
Democrat-run city, I expect.
The never-ending quest for good tracks to use on a Sherman!, that is my personal story. I too prefer metal tracks however, Friulmodel are getting more and more expensive and the process of drilling out every link is tedious. I must try those MasterClub tracks. I have a Rye Field Sherman Firefly and I am not sure I want to build the multi-part per link assembly of the kit tracks. Thanks for your reviews, they help tremendously.
Thanks for the comment! I am glad you like the videos and find them helpful. And I agree, Friuls are getting ridiculously expensive. Maybe we will get some 3D printed Sherman tracks soon...
@@Panzermeister36 Have you tried T-Rex Studios 3D printed tracks? I bought a set for the very old (1971) Tamiya Panzer II. They are VERY fragile and prone to breaking, the pins also do not stay in the links! I will not be using them in the future. I like those MasterClub tracks you have. I hope you will post a review on those because I am looking at getting a set for my Firefly kit. Thanks again for your channel, I really like it. German WW2 armour is my favorite modeling subject
I have not tried the 3D printed tracks from TREX. Only their 3D details/accessories. But I'll try theirs soon I bet.
I will show those masterclub tracks in my M10 build video :)
The rye field Sherman tracks are very good but quite fiddly. I certainly want something better for the one Asuka Sherman I have.
@@morssdn I have the "El Alamien" Asuka Sherman in my stash. I was surprised when I saw the rubber band tracks in the kit.
I've been looking around for a 1/35 stug kit and they are all out of stock or on ebay a astronomical amount especially dragon kits wondering if you knew a site I could order one from thanks keep up the great content
Try the TAKOM one - they do a Blitz edition of an Ausf G which is very good. Not too expensive either, available about $30-ish.
@@djchrismorgan6011 awsome thanks I've done a few didn't realize they became so scarce and expensive its crazy used to see them all the time
Great update, thanks for posting, although I'm not a 1/35 Model maker I build 1/56 28mms afv's and find your videos helpful.
Great review
Exactly like RHPS Models tracks, look like the same molds. I bought them about 15 years ago, maybe longer. They are nice tracks.
I believe that is the case.
@@Panzermeister36 The tracks I have (I actually have two old sets left) no clean-up needed in the connector holes. The molds they're using are so old they're getting "flash" in the plastic. But that happens when when these cottage industries change hands. I think Tank Workshop, and Harper castings models have changed hands a couple times.
@@Panzermeister36 Here is something that may be usefull. I used to communicate with David Harper before he passed away. His father was a marine corp tanker Co.A 1st Marine tank Bn. in an M4A1 during the New Britain campaign. I asked him one time what was the second camouflage used on the M4A1's used there, a lot of sources say it was red brown. He told me his father said it was black. You can't get any better information than from someone who actually was in a tank there. So the lighter color in the black and white photos is the OD and the darker Black, not the darker being OD, and the lighter Red brown.
Very cool information! Thank you for sharing :)
@@Panzermeister36 I like sharing these types of stories. I had a friend of mine who had a military history store, sold everything, books, models, etc. He could speak German, and would go to Germany once in awhile. He would talk to German vets. Some of the stuff these vets would tell him...wow.
Great Review
Excellent!!!
This PPP M3/M4 build M10 will get a full video series once I get properly started on it :)
Very interesting! I had not heard of this brand before and usually those smaller companies don´t go all out and make their plastic injection molding tools and rather go for resin, 3D printers or metal.
On the other side, they only seem to have Allied/Sherman tracks so far. That is heresy! :D
Not only Sherman but only VVSS Sherman!
I love panda Plastics
Nice!
I am waiting for a tank build...please......
They will be coming soon. I have a number of projects almost ready for video editing. Sometimes I just end up in a dry spot so I post some reviews instead.
Great review!!!!
Thank you Mike!
Nice one
The tracks look good and don't seem overly fiddly. Personally i don't like metal tracks. The worst tracks are Hobby Boss T-26 ones, with individual pins supposedly workable - I found those impossible to assemble and I have like 40+ years of modeling experience...
They're a little bit of work but not too much to be frustrating or anything.
Now fortunately I don't have any HB T-26s in my stash :)
@@Panzermeister36 I actually bought a Zvezda OT-26 which has Link and Length tracks as a donor.
Hey that’s were I’m from
Hello
Hello
Do I see a JagdTiger?!!!!
What, no, of course not :)
But there are even more hints at future projects visible in that shot...