trouble using treads

[Michele_Cioccarelli]

I am trying to design a tank using the lego digital designer but, despite a few days of trial and error, I could not figure out hot to use treads.

Unfortunately it isn't just something I can leave out of the project, as it is a tank, so I have to learn how to attach them to a wheel.

Is anyone capable of helping me?

[SylvainLS]

The treads don’t connect to the wheels / sprockets / gears.

You need to “scaffold” them in place (use other, temporary parts to move them).  It’s a PITA.

Hmm, I thought there was a tutorial somewhere but I can’t find it 

 

[Michele_Cioccarelli]

thanks for the answer, sorry if I reply now but I am in italy and it was quite late.

I've found some tutorials about how to do it but none of them shows you how to actually begin attaching the treads

[SylvainLS]

17 minutes ago, Michele_Cioccarelli said:

thanks for the answer, sorry if I reply now but I am in italy and it was quite late.

It’s okay, this is a forum, not an chat / instant message 

 

18 minutes ago, Michele_Cioccarelli said:

I've found some tutorials about how to do it but none of them shows you how to actually begin attaching the treads

You don’t “attach” them.  You just move them into position.

Start with putting a couple of treads flat on the ground.

Then construct a “scaffold”: temporary bricks that you can move and connect easily.  For instance, you put a small tile on a large plate, you select your treads AND the tile, then you move the tile on the big plate.  This way, you move your treads too.  And as you’re “holding” the tile, LDD tries to connect it first.

You can use a part with a clip on a bar for small adjustments.

You place your treads under one of your sprockets/gears.  You adjust them the best you can.  Then you add other treads and hinge them to envelop the sprocket/gear.

It’s tedious work because it’s trial and error and you often need to adjust previous rotations.  You also sometimes need to adjust the other sprockets/gears (rotate them).

And it’s especially grating when you want to place the final tread: you see it’s a little too short or a little too long and you have to readjust the whole thing.

[Calabar]

On 6/9/2020 at 12:32 AM, SylvainLS said:

Hmm, I thought there was a tutorial somewhere but I can’t find it 

Maybe this one? Click and Click and Click. 

Same topic, different posts. The topic needs a deep revision, but unluckily no availability to do it.

[SylvainLS]

Yes and no: there are pictures and template files but only the video is a tutorial.  I thought there was a step by step picture tutorial.

You also need to watch the video in slow motion to understand, especially the beginning.  It shows very well what a pain it is though as the builder deletes big parts of the build to start again and again 

[Michele_Cioccarelli]

I've found a video 

which explains how to do it and I managed to kinda reproduce it

[Calabar]

Templates available are not suitable for a direct use? That would save a lot of time.

[SylvainLS]

Sure, but templates don’t explain how they were made. 

“Give a man fire, he’ll be warm for a day.  Set a man on fire, he’ll be warm till the end of his life.” — (almost) Terry Pratchett