Fruilmodel
M109 German Tracks
Friulmodel 1:35 Scale Track Set No. ATL-125
Review by Terry Ashley

The Set:
This new set of tracks from Fruilmodel comes hot on the heels of the two new M109A2 kits from AFV Club (kit #AF351019) and Kinetic (kit #K61006) and is labelled “German Track” as it gives you the German designed Diehl track as used on most European M109s from the A2 onwards. Many other users such as Britain and Canada also fitted Diehl track to the vehicles instead of the standard US T-136 track.

The Diehl track uses a redesigned and larger drive sprocket than with the US T-136 track and the set gives you two replacement sprockets to use with the track. The set consists of 160 cast track links; a further 160 separate rubber pads (in metal), the four sprocket halves and two sprocket axle stubs plus the coil of 0.5mm wire for the track pins.

Metal parts
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Fruilmodel

The links include the main link with guide tooth and the two end connectors cast in one piece with the separate lower rubber pad section that you glue together using cyanoacrylate, one notable feature of the links is most have the end connectors cast parallel with the link with about a dozen or so cast with the end connectors at an angle so they sit flat around the drive sprockets and idlers as they should. While this gives the correct ‘sit’ of the end connectors around the sprockets it means the tracks have to be assembled with the angled links in the appropriate position within the normal links and care is needed to assemble and align these correctly, more on this below.

Two types of links with the straight and angled end connectors.
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Image showing the link with end connectors and separate rubber pad (in metal).
Fruilmodel
The assembled track links ready for assenbly.
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Casting is good overall with just a few small burs needing to be trimmed from each link as well as from the drive sprockets and as the pin holes are only in the end connectors most were fully hollowed out with only about 20% needing to be drilled out. Assembly of the drive sprockets is straightforward but you must file the base of the axle stub flat or it will not glue properly inside the drive sprockets.

Assembly:
Assembly of the links is very quick and easy from here in the usual manner for assembling Friul tracks as the large pin channel (hole) created when gluing the rubber pad sections means the pins fit through easily with just a few of the end connector holes needed re-drilling as mentioned above. The main thing to watch is to fit the links with the angled end connectors in the right positions to mate with the sprockets/idlers and the first and last road wheel after assembly, this also means you can alter the position of the tracks once attached to the kit suspension.

Link assembly
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Use tweezers to 'feed' the wire pin into the links to avoid them bending if hitting an obstruction.
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The assembled track run detail, note I have used a felt pen to mark the angled end connector links
for easier identification when fitting to the running gear.

Fruilmodel
Fruilmodel

The correct spacing of the angled end connector links for both the AFV Club and Kinetic M109A2 kits working down from the drive sprockets is 5 angled links for around the drive sprocket, 4 straight links, 1 angled link under the first road wheel, 24 straight links for the ground contact run, 1 angled link under the last road wheel, 3 straight links then 5 angled links around the idler wheels with the top run of 32 straight links. That makes a total of 75 links needed for each track run with the actual M109A2 using 76 links per track run so with only 1 link different for the metal links means they are pretty much on scale.

Images showing correct placement of the angled end connector links in red numbers.
Fruilmodel

Fitting the Drive Sprockets:
The sprockets assemble easily with the large axle stub but does require a bit of work to fit to both of the test kits and you also need to leave the kit idlers un-glued as they need to be positioned for the correct track tension, so this is probably the trickiest part of the assembly.

The assembled Drive sprockets with large axle stub.
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To fit the drive sprockets (DS) you need to cut off the moulded on axle stub and drill a 2.9mm hole for the sprocket axle stub, but the insides of the kit final drives is hollow on both kits and the DS just flops about as there is nothing to keep the axle stub aligned. You can’t just glue the DS in place as it needs to be movable to align properly with the angled end connector links, so I added an inner plastic tube to hold the axle stub in place.

I used a section of 3.5mm plastic tube with the inside diameter drilled out to 2.8mm (for a tight fit to hold the sprocket in place while still allowing it to rotate). I drilled the 3.5mm hole into the final drive housings ensuring it is perfectly centred, this will also need a small section cut out on the lower front hull plate to allow the axle stub to fit all the way, or you could shorten the metal axle stub a little? The cut-out is covered by the final drive housing so can’t be seen from the outside so isn’t a problem.

Images of the unmodified AFV Club and Kinetic kit final drives and axles.
The axle stubs need to be removed and holes drilled for the metal axle stub.

Fruilmodel

With the holes drilled I glued the plastic tube in place using thicker cyanoacrylate for an instant and stronger bond than with plastic cement so I could proceed with fitting the drive sprockets without waiting for the glue to dry. Just make sure the tube is glued perfectly square with the final drive housing and inserting a smaller drill bit into the tube as you glue in place with allow you to align this correctly. The drive sprocket axle shaft then fitted very snugly holding it firmly in place with allowing the sprocket to rotate for track link alignment.

Modifications to the kit final drives with the plastic tube inserted to take the metal axle as per the text.
Fruilmodel
The metal drive sprockets attached to the kit final drives as per text.
Fruilmodel
The small notch needed to be cut into the lower hull plate on both the AFV Club and Kinetic kits
to fit the metal axle stub, or you could shorten the axle stub by cutting about 3mm off the end if you wished?

Fruilmodel

If you didn’t want to do this the sprockets could be glued in place with cyanoacrylate but at the same time you fit the assembled track runs to ensure the correct end connector alignment, but this does not allow any sprocket adjustment if needed?

As you will need to adjust the position of the idlers wheels on both kits I also added a 1.5mm plastic rod ‘axle’ to the idler and drilled a corresponding hole in the AFV Club idler mounting. The Kinetic idler mounting is in two halves so is hollow inside and I needed to add a larger 2.2mm plastic rod the same as for the drive sprocket axles to fit the Kinetic idler axle.

With the tracks assembled these can now be fitted to the kit suspension taking care to align the angled links properly around the drive sprockets, first and last road wheels and idlers, you will need to adjust to position of the drive sprocket to align with the end connectors and adjust the idler to get the right track tension for the proper ‘sit’ of the top track runs. One problem with using “dead” individual links to represent “live” track is they will behave (sag) like “dead’ track if not tensioned correctly, so it’s important to get the track tension right for the proper top track run sit.

Assembled tracks fitted to the AFV Club M109A2 kit.
Fruilmodel
Fruilmodel
Assembled tracks fitted to the Kinetic M109A2 kit.
Fruilmodel
Fruilmodel

Conclusion:
This is a nice set of Diehl track applicable to just about all M109s from A2 onwards for users other than the US Army with the set providing the tracks and replacement drive sprockets. The links only require minimal clean-up but there is a little more assembly due to the rubber pad sections being separate parts. The links themselves assemble very easily but you must ensure the proper alignment of the links with angled end connectors around the drive sprockets, idlers and first and last road wheels which does make assembling the track runs and fitting a little tricky, but the end result gives to correct sit of the links around the sprockets/idlers.

Fitting of the drive sprockets to the target kit requires the most work as the drive sprockets must remain movable while fitting the tracks to ensure they align correctly with the track end connectors and this also means you can’t move the tracks once fitted to the running gear.

In many respects this is a much needed set of tracks for the M109A2 and later as most users other than the US Army use the German Diehl track on their vehicles.

Rating 8.5/10

References:
M109 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer
1960-2005

Osprey New Vanguard 86
book
Thanks to Friulmodel for the review Set.


Page created April 1, 2013



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