Tread Wear and such

cferrero

Welcome to the treadhead world!

As far as tracks go there are many many many ways to get specific looks and everyone has there own way for the most part. Personally I start with a simple coat of flat black or dark brown. Then I have a canister of Iron Oxide pottery glaze that I apply to the tracks with a brush then polish them till it looks good. (This product makes the paint into more or less steel as it is finely ground rust) After this seal the powder with a coat of clear flat acrylic (I use Gunze brand) Wash the tracks with various shades of dark brown and tan oils. Add some mud to the tracks or leave them clean for a road marched vehicle. Last step is to take a soft pencil and highlight the guide horns and the contact surfaces of the tracks. Now obviously for tracks with rubber blocks you would only treat the steel like this, the rubber portion gets the same oil washes and mud just not the oxide or pencil. If your tank has been running on pavement drybrush the contact points of the treat with a slightly darker gray, but not black as these get scuffed pretty clean on pavement.

As for the decals, I undercoat with just Model master clear gloss acrylic....decal then overcoat with a mix of the Gunze flat and MM Clear gloss. I mix them about 60-40 heavy on the flat. I don't like to have a dead flat paint. Also right after decaling I like to go back and "fade" in the decals with a VERY light overspray of the base color.

I hope this helps a little ....like I said this is just my way..there are countless techniques. Just experiment a little.

Good luck on that MLRS

Kenneth





(Do have a special brush that is used for nothing else for this product, it stains the brush for life)

Aw Nuts....

That line at the bottom was supposed to be up there with the Iron Oxide stuff!

Thanks!
That Iron Oxide actually sounds like a great idea, just gotta go get some now! (I also have just the brush in mind...)
I was thinkin about the finish just after I posted the question and decided to go with a semi-gloss/more-on-the-flat-side (did that make sense?) finish. We shall see how it comes out....

Thanks again,

Carlos

Another method Carlos is as follows:
1 - base coat for metal tracks I use Model Master Acrylic Gun Metal
2 - heavy dry brush of Model Master Acrylic Rust
3 - light dry brush of Model Master Acrylic Steel
4 - burnish entire track with ground pencil lead (use your fingertip and don't be shy)
5 - final weathering with pastel chalks with the rest of the armour kit.

Like Kenneth said in his post .... there are many different ways. Find one that suits you best.

Hey Carlos, glad you made it.
Depending on the vehicle...
I prime then paint them a dark grey. I then apply a black wash. Once this is dry then I dry brush a lighter color, then drybrush model master steel, hit the areas with pastels (black and white with some orange for rust then pick out highlights with silver.
Any rubber pads I treat like I would tires.

I told you this forum was a well of talent and knowledge. These guys are some of the most knowledgeable, friendly and talented I've run across. But you also get the advantage of tapping an international talent pool.

See ya at the meetings,
Mike

Mike!

Yeah, you weren't kidding! I've posted a couple more questions in different groups, and even through in my two cents for a couple of other folks' questions, and am honetly amazed! Even went and picked up the last two issues of FSM from Space Coast Hobbies. I'm really impressed!
Thanks for the info!

Carlos

My cousin is a mechanic in the Canadian army, and i have talked to him about this very subject. He has worked on our C1 Leopard tanks. He says that the constant movement of the vehicles treads keeps them scraped clean of rust. So, i would say don't worry about pastel rust or the iron oxide, just dry brush and wash the tracks.