Stuart M3 Tank Tread

Don Stauffer

Are you sure it is rubber and not vinyl?  In either case I have not had good luck painting either with enamel or any other paint.  What I do now with flexible tracks is weather with pastels.

For those using pastels, if you are not aware of jeweler's rouge look into it.  It is real rust- iron oxide, ground superfine.  It is used for polishing metals.  It is much cheaper than hobby pastels on a gram by gram basis, though you are likely to have to buy it in quantity, like a pint or so.  It applies like any other pastel.  I do have a hard time finding a very dark gray pastel, which is a color I like for base on treads.

 

 

So i thought somewhere i saw in the directions that they are rubber but now dont see it. Maybe i saw somewhere online in a description of the model. But the directions say can be painted with plastics paint....  And colors are called for.  They bend like rubber and look like rubber - i dunno.  Can a vinly material have those characteristics?  Anyhow I used Tamiya acrylics so we'll see i iguess.  I do expect some flaking or cracking - who knows.

Tamiya “gluable” tracks are some kind of strene mixed with rubber or vinyl, kind of like Dragon’s DS tracks.  A friend reported long term cracking and splitting of Tamiya tracks and tires when enamels and oils were used.  He said to use only acrylics to paint and weather them.

My Sherman probably had the old polyethylene material that has been used forever.  It won’t hold paint well, but I found that pastels mixed with alcohol or Tamiya’s acrylic thinner holds on enough to withstand minimal handling.

Ok, got started. 

Are you sure it is rubber and not vinyl?  In either case I have not had good luck painting either with enamel or any other paint.  What I do now with flexible tracks is weather with pastels.

For those using pastels, if you are not aware of jeweler's rouge look into it.  It is real rust- iron oxide, ground superfine.  It is used for polishing metals.  It is much cheaper than hobby pastels on a gram by gram basis, though you are likely to have to buy it in quantity, like a pint or so.  It applies like any other pastel.  I do have a hard time finding a very dark gray pastel, which is a color I like for base on treads.

Nah, no worries - freehand it! I would suggest painting the rubber blocks first since they are the most exposed part.  Then do the end connectors and guide teeth.  Hide all wubbly marks with a dose of dirt/mud!  Keep it fun.

so mine calls for rubber and dark iron for the treads and spikes.  Did you tape or just free hand it?  I was going to try the different colors but wondering about how to mask it off or what?

I painted my Tamiya M4 Sherman "rubber band" tracks with enamels for the basic colors, then used pastel washes to finish off.  I just snapped the tracks on when they were done.  I did get a little chipping, but you could touch up (or ignore them like I did).