Fixing Tacky Tracks

Flat black spray paint will do the same thing on the old monogram / revell kits. In the past I would wash the tacky paint off in paint thinner and repaint the tracks with acrylics.  For my monogram tacks I use Tamiya Flat black that I air brush on the tracks. 

Jesse - Thanks for the info on MM paints!  Good to know that it's the material/paint combo that caused the tackiness....thought it was something really wierd!  I"ll tuck that away for future use.  As for Castrol super clean, the tracks were loose...no sprue/runner so I can't test first.  I think I'll try Rob's pigment trick first, but if  that doesn't work  I'll try stripping and repainting.

rbaer, Rob - Thanks for confirming that the M48 tracks are wider....and yes, I was referring to left to right.  AFV Club tracks are my last option as 1) I want to build the kit with no AM parts if possible  2) I suspect the kit drive sprockets will have to be modified to fit the tracks due to teeth pitch/teeth size/sprocket width, etc. and 3) they will take a good long while to assemble!!  However, if the kit tracks prove to be unsalvageable I will take this route.

And.....HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!  HAVE A FUN AND SAFE HOLIDAY!

While they use the same tread pattern, he's right, they are wider (from left to right), but I'm not sure if they are wider (front to back). If that makes any sense.

And, yes, the M48 used tracks that were considerably wider than the M47.

According to Testor's Model Master Technical Quide, it states that Testor enamels are "also not recommended for rubber or flexible types of vinyl, because it will not dry on these surfaces; it will remain tacky to the touch". 

I've found this to be true on some of the older rubber tracks.  It doesn't seem to have this affect on newer flexible tracks.

I would recommend stripping the tracks using Castrol SuperClean and painting them with acrylics.  If the tracks came attached to a runner (sprue), I would test the SuperClean on that first to see if there is any type of bad reaction.

-Jesse

Thanks Rob!  Weathering pastels seems like a very viable solution!  I've got some pastels in the right colors that should work!  I totally forgot that AFV Club has M48 tracks.  Question:  I've used their tracks for Italeri's M47 kit and they look quite a bit smaller.....are M48 tracks significantly wider than M47 tracks?

I've used weathering pastels to try to absorb the stickyness with some success. Since the Monogram kit is 1/35 scale, the AFV Club M48/60/88 tracks should work: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=AC35005