What 1/35 3D Printed Tracks are Best? | Review Part 1 

Tankraft tracks are no longer in production. Instead I would recommend PanzerWerk Design as the new best option. You can buy those from MBK or HobbyEasy. A few other things to note: -I did test these tracks on a few drive sprockets I had lying around. Tamiya and Dragon kit no issue. -Like I said in the video, check out the other YT reviews of 3D Printed tracks for more opinions: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3PdYoYh17Js.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7s5NCuUhiLI.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VEqzKpXK67Y.html

I just came upon this video review of aftermarket 3D printed tracks, and I thought I'd throw in my experience. I love the look of the TRex tracks, but they are VERY pricey, and, frankly, the tiny pins that they supply are extremely fiddly, in my opinion, making them not nearly as nice of an option as at first glance. Just recently, I ran into the QuickTracks brand, which I'd never heard of before, but the concept intrigued me. I just got the new 1/35 Border Model Israeli Merkava Mk. 2D kit, which includes workable tracks, but one look at the cleanup that would be required for each link had me looking for an easier solution, which led me to the QuickTracks. No cleanup at all, very simple snap together construction, and I did complete a set of these for the Merkava, and I encountered none of the brittle breakage discussed in this video, and they went together very quickly!. In my opinion, these are FABULOUS tracks! I hope they continue to expand their line to cover many more tracked vehicles, and these would be my go-to tracks for any vehicle they cover! Now, while not 3D printed, I still love Fruil metal tracks, Yes, they are expensive, and yes, you have to use pins (lengths of wire) to assemble them, but I love their weight. They had been difficult to find of late, but they now distribute their own product, and so they are now easier to find, once more. So, for me, now, my #1 and #2 choices are QuickTracks and Fruil, respectively.

Really glad Brads stuff (Tankraft) is as nice as it is.

Great video! Very helpful as I’m trying to sort through some of these many companies that have started making 3D tracks.

I really needed this video, it’s a great subject, glad your back .

WOW, great video Evan! Thank you for all the work you put into this. You've helped me determine which ones I would purchase.

Thanks so much for including Tankraft in your review. Glad you like the tracks!

Excellent detailed review!

Great info and for me very helpful as I'm just getting back in to Armor. Thanks for sharing👍

Great review. I haven’t done 3d tracks yet but was very interested in these after seeing this. I will definitely invest in some of those. I’m currently putting a set of Modelkasten late Tiger 1 tracks together and it’s very time consuming with all the little fiddly bits. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Was waiting for this review as i have a trackless tiger 1 on the bench. Knew your attention to detail would be top notch. Thanks

I've been waiting your new video. It's great information. This video must be helpful for every modeler who plans to buy 3D printed tracks. Also, I agree your answer strongly. Anyway, thank you for showing my video. Have a nice week end and stay safe please my friend. Best regards, NOB

Good review, very helpful.

Very helpful video 🙏 Thanks man

Great video sir. Helped me out a lot. See you in the next one.

Great content!

I'm at work, but cannae wait to see this when I get home. This is of great interest to me. Well done.

Nice video, thank you for the great information.

It’s a great help. But I think I will continue with metal tracks. Love the weight. Also nice to see you post again

Thanks for this. I value your opinion, and appreciate your work. I do hate paying as much, or more for the (metal) tracks, than for the kit itself. Your study will help all of us... Ralph

Great video 👍

Excellent thank you sir!

Great array of tracks for a proper comparison between the quality and assembly systems. That is really helpful mate! I haven´t got my hands on any 3D printed tracks yet, but the two panzermeisters and their videos have been a good guide, i won´t buy the bad ones for sure :) Also, i tried to give you a super thanks, but YT just won´t let me for some reason, it is a weird system...but you have my support over on Patreon anyway!

It is cool that we are witnessing a sort of revolution in our hobby

Thanks for this video! Was really tired of trying to find decent tracks ! 3d resin, or metal, or otherwise. It was getting just maddening !

Thank you for reviewing the Hobby Boss, Quicktracks & TRex brands. I’ll look into getting TRex for two different Marder III kits (one is Tamiya Sdkfz 138 and the other is a Sdkfz 139)

Great review! Good to know there are some solid options out there, although I’m not convinced that the pricing reflects actual production/shipping costs, but rather is set based on the cost of existing metal track brands… but I could be wrong.

On the Trex one, there is some fit issues on some sprockets. The friulmodel sprockets do work but its a tad finicky. And some models may have some issues with them stock. The friul sprockets i have do fit bit trying to wrap them is a bit difficult as it seems to be pressing outwards on the tracks.

Wow! How many tracks. In Argentina doesn't exist!! Greatings.

*Thanks for the test on video, printed tracks IF their price is lower than metallic ones can be on good option, more useful that vinyl ones in fact.*

Ooooooh I love extras!

Thanks for the review! I recently bought some T-Rex Pz. II tracks. Great quality given the size of the tracks. The only downside to the tracks were the pins which were rather brittle and also had no retaining mechanism so they had to be glued. Not bad overall!

Great video. I just got the ET Model late Tiger tracks and they are good. No crack issues like you had and look good. When you say you used glue on the other tracks was it regular glue or super?🇨🇦

Just bought my first set of 3d printed 1/35 scale Panther tracks on Ebay. They look great but I have not started assembling them. My first set of Master Club tracks ended in disaster. The metal track links were great quality and looked gerat. The cheap crappy resin pins were the bane of my existence. Couldn't even carefully turn the tracks over to paint other side without them breaking into several parts with the resin pins broke off in the track links. Threw them in the box and swore never to buy Master Club again. And now I have set two. Needed the early non waffle pattern T-34 tracks and only ones I could find were Master club. But I have wire and intend to try and assemble them with wire. I have used Fruil multiple times. IMHO a bit expensive but so far best aftermarket tracks I have used. minus the blood sacrifice from impaling fingers on wire ends they arent too bad. Watched this video to learn more about Quicktracks and T-Rex tracks for a Pz.IV project. Thanks for the info.

Just ordered a set of late Tiger tracks from Tankraft based on your reviews here. Hope they work as good as your review. Not your fault if they don’t though. I have a late Tiger I Ryefield kit to put them on. Great reviews.

Thanks for the review. Out of interest i have just used the TRex tracks for Tiger I (Early) and the outside pins keep dropping out when tilted on their side - their is no positive ‘click’ or feel when pushing them in which i get on the inside pins. Not the end of the world, but interested if others have had this? The quality was otherwise excellent - equal or surpassing Masterclub, who i previously considered to be the best on the market.

I had a pretty good experience with T-Rex Panzer II track. Maybe two thirds of the pins just dropped into place, but the rest had to carefully coaxed in and I broke several trying to force the issue. Biggest advantage is not having to clean up multiple sprue gates per link. Also they look great when painted up. Looking forward to trying out tankcraft track.

I’m going to try the tankraft on the Das Werk Tiger after I finish the Jagdtiger. Thanks for showing these

Excellent review. Personally I'm most happy when a kit comes with link and length tracks and I don't have to add 50% to the price of a model when buying aftermarket.

Nice vid..... 👍👍

Thanks for the great info. Would you consider do some enamel wash test on these resin tracks? Coz I'v had some bad experience on 3d printed parts that some could crack after a wash with enamel thinner.

where can i get these stl?

Good afternoon Have you tried the Yan Models chains? what is your opinion of them? Thank you All the best I love your videos

How do you make your own tracks without pins?

Hi PM36, just wondering if you could recommend a couple of online model stores that ship in Canada, (not just tracks). Cheers, Llew

Thank you Panzermeister36 for the reviews! I recently got a Panzer I set from T-Rex and I must say, unfortunately, they are super brittle and not designed well for assembly. I have broke 3 out of four tracks attempting to assemble them and I am not ham handed. The problem seems to be that, at least on my set, it seems extremely difficult to fit one end of the track's locator hole over the pin of the connecting track. Fortunately, I only have one other set of Panzer II tracks from them. I think the larger track sets, Panzer 3,4, Panther, Tiger, etc. that use two pins to connect to track shoes should be fine. If I try to go aftermarket in the future for the smaller size track, I will have to try and find MasterClub metal tracks. Made out of metal, they won't shatter.

You can't get Friulmodel metal tank tracks, I tried believe me I have, if I can get the other ones that will work with a Panther Ausf G that would be great, but it is very hard getting anything in Ireland here believe me it is.

I looking for ITALERI 1/35 LVT-(A) 1 "ALLIGATOR" track. It was forever to looking for it. Any 3d printer free track?

I enjoy your videos. What is the name of your Canadian supplier for these tracks?

The pins on the Tankraft tracks seemed to drop in to easy, did you need glue on them?

did you have to glue the heavy hobby ones?

I have two sets of Trex one for the Tiger 1 Early and another for the Tiger (P) and they are nice, only the pins are not so good the fall off in 50% of the time.

Hey PM! I wonder if you could help me out? I have Tamiyas newest Panzerkampfwagen iv ausf g and i want to make it a DAK version. I'm interested in QuickTracks but don't know which one would be for the ausf g? They have sooo many panzer tracks to pick from

This is pretty impressive. I didn't even know there were 3D tracks but while I was watching I looked up the Quick Tracks and found out that they do all kinds of tracks for the Panzer III/IV. I think about purchasing their 5C type for a Nashorn kit I have got and want to build in a 1944 version. Do you happen to know how many track links there are necessary for one track? The Geshtzwagen III/IV is longer than the Panzer IV but I can't find any information on the tracks and the number of links.

There is also a company called Faustus models selling printable files! I ordered some of them, quality is quite decent now I never have to buy tracks for the panzer I’ve again xD

Hey guys I'm retired special forces I've found that modeling helps with my TBI. I'm currently building Takom king tiger. Which of these sets would work well with my build? Any Intel would be greatly appreciated.

I've never liked metal tracks - fiddly, inferior molding, crazy expensive. These seem like a much better option but for 3d printing, the price is still pretty steep? Thanks for the review! 👍

Great video 36, I need your opinion, I would like to build my grandson a tank, he like them, but I have never built any armor before, can you recommend a good starter tank, nothing to difficult, thanks in advance.

T Rex Studio makes absolutely perfect tracks, I wish they had the double click as in video 2 then they would be absolutely unbeatable!

where can you buy Adam Mann designs?

Ugh I need panzer 3/stug tracks so bad, my stupid dragon rubber ones just broke down constantly and ripped. BTW i loooove Dragon so not bashing them.

And finding winter tracks for any army is so hard...

Got rfm t34 tracks. Pretty fragile and no locking on pins. Wish I knew about trex or heavy hobby at the time

I am printing my own at home.

I bought T-Rex Panther early tracks for my Panther and they were great. You said in this Video that you bought some of these tracks in Canada? May i ask from what store?? I still try to find a good online Store in Canada to buy these aftermarket items. I mainly buy from BNA in Australia but i would rather buy it right here in Canada.

an you make rc models with these or arent they meant for that?

I'm with @Carlosmarinito on this one. Trex makes some amazingly detailed accessories but the material they are made of is far too brittle. I tried to use the Trex Clamp Tools for German Panzers. Many of the clamps were broke while trying to remove them from the tree (or whatever it's called) and more broke despite carefull handling while placing them on the model. I just received the Trex PzIII/IV tracks and hate them. My experience was that the ribbed pins simply split the portion of the track they slide into. The track material is so brittle that they can't stand even the slight pressure required to friction fit the pins. I saw the review a thought Trex had improved the elasticity of there material based on the lack of trouble in assembly that was noted. NOT SO. They just break! Don't buy them!

u should've have actually put a few links together to show ease or lack of putting them together

I'll just keep my friulmodel tracks for the cost is the same. And sometimes I've found them around 30 bucks., weight, sag is beautiful. I used to have trouble with them drilling out the things but found out how to do it with Christmas ornament wire that punches right though them. Awesome video as always.

Where are the stug III,s

I've been checking out some hobby tools made using 3D prints lately, and I would concur that some of these brands(a lot of chinese ones are especially guilty) use shoddy materials and suffer from cracking/brittleness... To the points where I would've saved more money/time and gotten a more usable tool if I just bobbled something together using popsicle sticks...

Very cool video and good review but you forgot to mention one very important point, namely the factual reproduction of the originals. Here the number one is T-Rex which bases its designs on scans or real track links, or original technical drawings. Unfortunately, most of the other tracks presented in this video have smaller or bigger design errors.

More Trains More Trains....LOL!!!!! .... Hey how's the layout coming along or not?

only I dont like about some tracks they dont say what they fit...buy them for say Tamiya nd dont fit...lol

TRex are absolute crap. Sometimes the pins are loose and they come out as soon as you move the tracks; sometimes toot tight and easily breakable. Never again. Think I´ll try Quick Tracks next time

Oh, thooose kind of tracks. 🤭

I'm more surprised the USA option is that cheap. Considering costs (taxes, wages etc) are high in the States this low price might NOT be healthy for the company. OR maybe this company consists of ONE retired guy with ONE 3 D printer doing a hobby thing in the shed???😉

Most of these look to be resin casted, not 3d printed. Maybe SLA but they don’t look like it and definitely not FDM printed. Picky maybe but there is a big difference in the techniques and outcomes.