Whats the best way to paint tracks

• Wash the tracks in water and soap, rinse carefuly and dry completely


• Apply the primer. Testors and Tamiya make superb primers in spray cans. Let dry for at least 48 hours
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• Prepare the following base coat mix: dark grey + dark blue + red brown. The final result should be more red brownish than blue.


• Handbrush or airbrush the brownish-blue-grey base, let dry for at least 48 hours. Save this mixture for later.


• Prepare the rust wash. Any rust color you want, just make sure you use lots of thinner as this is supposed to be watery. Flood the track with generous amounts of the rust wash and let dry.


• Go back to the brownish-blue-grey mixture you had used for the base coat. Add a bit of metallic steel to it. Use this to dry drush all areas of the tracks. Dry the brush thouroughly before drybrushing, you want this to be very subtle but try to get all the spots you can.


• Now use pure steel to dry brush the most raised areas that receive abrasion from the ground and contact with the wheels. Dry brush pure steel along the edges of the track and get the edges of the guide teeth

Tank tracks tend to rust over as soon as they leave the factory and experience the moisture in the air. Abrasion exposes bare metal but rust remains in the nooks and crannies. In addition, even the exposed areas tend to rust over virtually overnight but the next day they're stripped bare again as soon as the tank gets rolling. Make sure the color of rust is prominent in your completed tracks.

Glad this came up. I'm pretty new to armor myself and am getting ready to finish up three kits and was wondering the same thing.

Same here. I'm going to paint mine metalic grey first and then the wash. maybe tonight or tomorrow...

Like everything else ..... more than one way to skin a cat (or paint a track).

For all metal tracks this is the method I use.
- base coat of gun metal
- dry brush of rust
- dry brush of steel
- burnish with ground pencil lead
- dust with pastels with the rest of the tank to finish

For tracks with rubber blocks
- base coat of flat black
- paint metal parts gun metal
- dry brush metal parts with rust
- dry brush metal parts with steel
- burnish metal parts with ground pencil lead
- dust with pastel to finish

dont laugh at this but i have been doing all my tracks with sharpies. i went an got me a wide tip black and a ulrta fine tip black and silver.the only thing i have to paint is the conectors on the out side of the tracks and i usualy paint them rust. it does leave them kind of shiney but after a coat of dullcoat and weathered with pastels they look great.

I forgot to mention that the dark grey + dark blue + red brown base coat mix should include a fair amount of black as well...the goal is to obtain something like gunmetal (very dark grey) but with a redish tint to it.

As Robert suggested, the answer also depends to some extent on what colors the treads actually were.

I recently discovered that the Germans actually painted their tank treads dark brown. Rust built up on them, and some paint wore off, showing the steel underneath, and of course there was mud and dust too. But the treads at least started off being painted dark brown, and got weathered from there. Weird, huh?

And, of course, I do mine differently than that.

- I base coat them with Model Master flat black (rattle can) and let them dry for AT LEAST 2 days.
- Then was them with a mix of Humbrol leather #62 and artists oil burnt sienna. The redder I want the "rust" the more burnt sienna I use. Let dry and add additional "rust" washes to effect desired.
- Next, dry brush with gun metal, or steel.
- Finally, hit the highest points with a touch of chrome silver.

By the way, Robert, nice rhyme!! LOLOL

QUOTE: more than one way to skin a cat (or paint a track)

Here is a link to great pics of a M60 A3. http://www.primeportal.net/m-60_pics.htm This is a static display so the metal track shows a uniform rust color. The inside where the rubber road wheels run is quite black; the same color as the wheel. I don't know if there is rubber there or it has come off the wheel.

Just finished the tracks to this DML Panther D. This is what I did:

Step1:Primed tracks with gray lacquer primer (Plasti-kote brand in a spray can)
Step 2:Painted tracks with coat of Testor's Gunmetal Metalizer
Step 3:Painted tracks with coat of clear lacquer
Step 4:Washed tracks with an oil-based wash of 50% Cadmium Orange & 50% Burnt sienna thinned with odorless Mineral Spirits.
Step 5:Dry-brushed tracks with Testor's Dark Anodonic Gray
Step6: Paint track with Testor's Dullcote

The Gunmetal gives the tracks a dark metallic look to it. The wash, which looks like a rusty brown color, will dry in the low spots giving the tracks a rusty look to them Then dry-brushing with the Dk. A. Gray will hi-light the high spots with a slight metallic look to indicate wear.

Thats what I'm doing!

Glenn

QUOTE: Originally posted by MOGGIE Here is a link to great pics of a M60 A3. http://www.primeportal.net/m-60_pics.htm This is a static display so the metal track shows a uniform rust color. The inside where the rubber road wheels run is quite black; the same color as the wheel. I don't know if there is rubber there or it has come off the wheel.

Hmmmm.....very interesting Moggie. Thanks for the link. Welcome to the forum!
Any tips for one-piece rubber tracks or do these still apply?