Note: this page covers both printed (DS135005) and digital (DS35005) flavors of T54E1 tracks.
Instructions
Printed T54E1 Track Set (DS135005)
Digital T54E1 Track Set (DS35005)
About the T54E1
The T54E1 is a welded steel link with a raised chevron. Its chevron has sharper bends and less overall swoopiness than other steel links like the T54E2 and T62, and that makes the T54E1 pretty easy to identify in reference photos.
The T54E1 was a very common sight during World War II, particularly in the European and Mediterranean theaters. Scroll on down to see examples.
Design Notes
The T54E1s started as a scale-down exercise from the 1/16 Sherman tracks I designed back in 2024. They quickly got redesigned because past me had even less of an idea of what he was doing than I do, and then got redesigned again when the realities of producing actual printed sets made the press-fit design unworkable.
Lessons learned on every iteration of the T54E1 have also carried through to virtually every other track type, and particularly in handling the chevrons and assembly jigs of the T62 and T54E2 types.
Amid the redesigns, I also got up close with a set of T54E1s at the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum, confirm several dimensions with the 1:1 tracks, and see first hand how slapdash the welds truly were on these things. A far cry from the neat little lines a lot of track producers depict (although…in 1/35, T54E1 welds are absolutely pushing the boundaries of what’ll resolve).
Handy References
Hot T54E1 action below. One characteristic that always jumps out to me is the fresh, exposed metal of the chevrons in most of these images. It’s one of those little details that’s fun to carry into a scale project.
