Painting AFV vinyl tracks

i never prepare them. i lay them out on a piece of white paper and slather metallic grey to start followed by a dark brown rust wash (not too red) and a black wash which tones down the brown. i know tracks in use aren't rusty, boy do i know, but i think artistically it presents better. after all that i may dust or muddy color them up a bit and highlight the raised portions with metallic gray.

first wash them in warm soapy water and then air dry. Then paint them in 50-50 white joiners glue and water , leave to dry and then mix up , silver , gloss black and  a rust red brown , it has to be done by eye .  Use this mixture to paint the pre paired tracks. Leave to dry and then add a wash of steely black . they are then ready to use .

For the armor modeler so.Use a oil liquid wash while the tracks are in place on the road wheels.Then use a mix of liquid rust which is aa oil based solution .It will not dry 100% but it will be enough to simulate the effect.