Weathering tank tracks

Thanks for clarifying, I think I will keep experimenting with my vallejo pigments then and use your method to try and get nice results. Maybe I will try the mig pigments if I come across them... they are just more pricey. 

I usually just use one colour of pigments, but have mixed them on occasion. I do the steel dry brush first, if there has been heavy mud build up it will cover the steel anyway, unoless you tyhen go back to a hard surface. I have never needed to go over it with fixer. I even find you can pile up the dust in corners with this method.

I don't always apply heavy pigments to tracks, only if its a muddy scene. I do often just dust the track with dry pigments, this gives a nice light dust effect. I do this last before applying to the base which reduces handling.

I have only used MiG and AK so can't comment on others. But i have a range of colours from dark Russian earth to European earth, dust, sand, brick, rubble and others and just use as needed depending on the enviroment.

Bish

I start ouit with dry brush steel followed by a raw umber oil wash. For pigments i use AK and MiG, colour is depending on where the vehicle was based. I soimply mix my pigments in water with a tiny drop of washing up liquid and slop it on. Once dry i just remove the excess.

 

Ok, so I'm assuming when you mix the pigments you put multiple colors in one mix then add little water to get the consistency of a gloopy mixture like cake batter (or just wet mud) then apply it in to crevasses of the track. When it dries, the pigments are somewhat fixed to the track. Then wipe of the excess pigment from the raised track cleats, and maybe get the cleats with some steel color. Then if the pigments aren't fixed well enough, fix them with thinner or fixer. Right? 

Also T26, the german tanks I build have just metal tracks, but I will keep that in mind when making American tanks.

Last thing is I use Vallejo pigments,  I have the desert dust and European earth colors. I was planning to get light sienna and burnt umber for some more muddy tones (European earth is a bit red). Should I do otherwise and buy mig pigments instead, or any other better brands?

 

Thanks a lot

Kien

 

ok, got ur.

Rubber "coating" is a bad choice of words.  They would be rubber blocks, molded around the metal skeleton -- think of Sherman T51 or T48 tracks.  On a composite track like the T80, the outward face was cast steel with a chevron, and the inner half would have been a rubber slab -- to decrease noise/wear when it was in contact with the road wheels.

 

I didn't know that Roy, about the rubber coating. Would that not have worn off.

^ What Bish says. Also, make sure you research what material was used in the track construction. I've seen modellers put a rusty finish on a track that was supposed to be rubber coated (because they thought the exterior was all metal). Then there are some composite tracks -- with different materials. An example is the T-80 HVSS track used by some Shermans. The exterior face was metal with a clear metal chevron. However, on the inside face that contacted the road wheels, it was coated with rubber. For something like that, you'd have to do two separate base coats and then follow on with a unifying weathering.

I start ouit with dry brush steel followed by a raw umber oil wash. For pigments i use AK and MiG, colour is depending on where the vehicle was based. I soimply mix my pigments in water with a tiny drop of washing up liquid and slop it on. Once dry i just remove the excess.