February 2023 Preview: Panzer I and Panther II workable single tracks

New design: Tracks for the Panzer I Ausf. A, Panzer I Ausf. B, their variants and Maultier truck.

Release date is the 5th of February 2023. Warning! The difference between the new standard STL-Tier and the former, (now early-bird), is implemented into preview from here on! 

This section is available to both early-bird and standard STL-Tier.

Newly designed Panzer I tracks based on a 3D scanned original this channel does own.

When I started out designing tracks 2 years ago, the Panzer I was a case study, it's the smallest link within the range of German WW2 tracks and therefore the hardest to print. A lot changed since than, with 8k printers taking over and 3D scanning capability for this channel, it is time to start over and design the one we are going to keep.

In order to get the best possible data I bought an original track link, I was lucky to find one with 2 original pins included. I 3D scanned it with latest iteration of 3d scanner available to consumers and redesigned it from ground up.

In total we look at 3 different variants:

Initial Type Panzer I track:

This variant does come with a triangular shaped, open, guide horn. It can be found on various Panzer I Ausf. A vehicles pre- and early-war phases.

Standard Pattern Panzer I track:

The main variant has a bowl shaped closed guide horn. It was used on all Ausf. B and subsequant variants of both Panzer I Ausf. A and B.

The third variant is a variant of the standard pattern, It features additional ice cleats extending from the diagonal bracing. (Render pending due to ongoing testing with main pattern)

Fit testing: I tested them on Dragon, Tristar = Hobby Boss, and Takom as well as Italeri. All four do have a perfect fit. (Picture pending)

Accessories: Gabelstollen

(Render pending due to ongoing printability testing with main pattern)

These are additional ice cleats that mount to diagonal braces on the sides of each track. Gabel does mean fork and releates to the way it attaches to the track link. We Germans can put nouns together to get a more precise new one... Stollen does mean ice cleat. Knowing this you won't ever get confused  with Hammerstollen for the Panzer III/IV and Gabelstollen for Panzer I/II : )

There are variants showing a single or cross blade. I've captured both in my design. These can be printed as standalone version to be added to your diorama or you can use the pre-supported version and fuse them to your track link in your slicer. (Instruction video is provided together with the release).

These Gabelstollen should fit the Panzer II link as well (at least the original does) Nevertheless I've not designed a Panzer II link yet, therefore I can't say for sure if the 1/35 scale variant will fit as well.

Additional Content:
I'm working on a "Panzer I Ausf. A NSKK driving school in 1944" tool layout for my current build and video project. Contents are tba when the video is finished.

Rework and Reissue Section:
This section is available to all standard STL-Tier members. Early-bird backers of the previous release (April '22 Panther II and October '22) will receive these updates as well, a PM with the link is pre-scheduled for those of you who are still active!

Technically this is a variant of the King Tiger's transport track. The part, making contact to the road surface (bridge link) is identical to what we see on the King Tiger. The two secondary links however are more of a snap-shot from the King Tiger's development starting in 1942 - Panther II itself was a concept realized as a chassis only around mid-1943. This type of track survived together with the Panther II chassis and is displayed at Fort Knox.

I did put a good 20 hours into bringing the previous design up to spec. (The work done did include the King Tiger pattern and an new early variant, to be released at a later date). I'd would be too long to list all new features, bottom line they are almost a new desgin and do reflect how the quality and quantity of data grew since the initial release.

To round up this overhaul, I added two more options for joining the links into a track.

New click system! It does allow you to snap the links together without any pins or wire. To be fair, how well this works highly depends on your resin and print settings. It is a mid-thing between non-workable and workable tracks in practical terms. I'd recommend to glue it in place after you're done posing the track. It is not meant as a toy to play around with.

New wire system! Some of you, including myself, do still prefer using a wire instead of track pins. The wire system does improve both guidance of the wire during assembly and printability on older machines. Use wire around 0.35mm diameter, I use copper motor core wire. (AWG 26~28 should be fine.)

Perfect fit! The design is tested for fit with ICM/Revell, Dragon and Amusing Hobby. I've used mainly King Tiger (Jagdtiger) kits to confirm the fit. The Dragon Panther II Kit should be using derived geometry from their old Gunze/Revell molding, and fit as well.

This is my 2nd choice for reissuing tracks this mounth: Panzer III / IV family Type 5. They come with all January 2023 updates: Improved geometry, increased hole diameter for pins, smaller fixes to surface-to-surface transitions.

Pins are now supported heads up in addition to the previous heads-down version. Of course, I implemented the two additional options for joining them together as well: You can use a wire now without losing detail Or print the click-together option.

I hope this release does meet your expectations. Feel free to comment below.
Thank you very much for your support.
Kai