how to paint vinal tracks?!?!

Hi again, Roo.....first,..BOOOOOOOOO to vinyl tracks!!!...OK, now that I got that outta my system...Well, it depends on the manufacturer you're dealing with. The newer Tamiya tracks hold paint pretty well, but the old Italeri tracks are really like mental torture devices...as are Revell's...I NEVER paint tracks in any sort of metallic greys; that just looks too unrealistic. Real tracks almost never look like that unless they're right out of the factory. Dirt and dust is gonna get nthe crevices as soon as that baby goes offroad!  I usually airbrush a dark brown color, (tan for dusty conditions if approp., or a dark rust if an abandoned/damaged tank) then hit them with first an oil wash of raw umber or black (black for newer tracks). I'll add one or more washes of raw sienna(a nice rich rust color) and then sometimes an orange/ raw umber mix. You want to get a deep, rich, dark rust color in the crevices--THEN hit 'em with drybrushing; metallic grey with a heavier application if  traveling on roads, which is then hit with a LIGHT drybrushing of silver to simulate immediate wear. If I'm modeling a tank going cross-country, I'll hit the tracks first with a light-colored tan/dirt first, then hit the high points of the tracks with metallic grey. I use Tamiya or any other acrylics. make sure you give 'em adequate dry time, and always wash/soak the tracks in soapy water before painting them to get rid of mold release agents. Another thing; I join my tracks before painting so that the paint goes on an already-bent track; that way the paint is less likely to crack off the track when you try to bend it around. One last point: make sure you model the insides of the tracks with wear where the road wheels contact it; this adds an extra realism to your tracks. Hit that area with metallic grey, in the width of the road wheels...don't forget to "silver" your guide teeth and sprockets. A final application of pastels gives a great dusty look.

boo to vinyl tracks huh? totally agree with you there, but hey they came free with the model, haha. my hobby store dosen't carry any armor parts. they have great kits and unbelievable tools and stuff, they just don't carry specfic armor aftermarket parts, and i hate waiting for the mail i know that the metallic gray was way to bright. it looked like it was rolling on aluminum foil!  metallic gray is too close to aluminium or silver, they should tone it down a bit.  ok so AB with a dark brown, wash with dark oil, then rust oil, then drybrush with the metallic gray. got it. and i'll remember about the tiger teeth and inside where the tracks rub against the wheels. i read too many people bitching about not seeing enought of that, its engraved in my brain, hehe. would a graphite pencil do the job for that? thanks again doog

I don't find painting them a problem and I only use Model Master enamels.  Check here at Armorama for a great tutorial on painting tracks.

Hello fellow rooster,

Before painting vinyl tracks, run a test swath of paint and let it dry.  Dragon had, at least for a while, a type of vinyl that didn't like to be hit with enamels first.  They produce a freakish oily substance until hit with acrylic paint as a sealer.

I start with a red brown base coat, I overspray with a diluted medium gray coat, and then I drybrush with a 60%-40% mixture of gunmetal/silver enamels.  They don't don't look too bright.  I use pastels to add the dirt when I'm finished.

Grant

I agree with the doog regarding the old Italeri vinyl tracks.  I think they are deliberately engineered so as to REPEL paint.  I had a hell of a time with my Italeri Panther Ausf. A tracks and had to abort the mission and soak them in windex so as to start all over.... the paint just doesn't want to stick and any time you try to handle them the paint flakes off like crazy.  I will never use their vinyl tracks again!    Tamiya's aren't too bad however, as long as you don't put on a thick inflexible layer of paint.

I was just gonna say that about painting tracks with enamels!!!! I've had some bAAAAd  experiences trying to put enamels on vinyl tracks! PLus they don't stand up to the rigors of washes, etc. Roosterpelo, I'm not sure if a grapjite pencil would be the best choice; I think that'a good for a hard plastic piece where the graphite can be adequately applied and "set", but on soft vinyl?... I 'm not sure, but I don't think I'd use it on tracks. And experiment with your washes; no two tracks look exactly the same..A friendly word of advice---maybe your local model shop does'nt have the aftermarket stuff that you need, but if you're already on this site and therefore the web, you've got hundreds of sources for anything you might need!  Patience, Grasshopper!! You might think about replacing the "worst offenders" (Italeri ! Italeri !!) with better tracks, and I say this cuz I forsee a day when you're in full armor-addiction mode and you look back and say, well that was one of my first models, too bad I didn't use better tracks--we've all been there! Good luck!

I have Never had a problem with Vinyl tracks My#1 trick is Cheap HAIRSPRAY the kind that comes in a can not a pump bottle I usually use Aqua Net extra hold.All hairspray is ,is a Alcohol based Shellac or Laquer (And people spray that stuff on their head) it bonds to the vinyl pretty well and gives the paint something to hang on to.BTW my favorite Vinyl tracks are Academy they may be a lil stiff but they have awesome detail,Nice and Crisp

PanzerWulff wrote:

I have Never had a problem with Vinyl tracks My#1 trick is Cheap HAIRSPRAY the kind that comes in a can not a pump bottle I usually use Aqua Net extra hold.All hairspray is ,is a Alcohol based Shellac or Laquer (And people spray that stuff on their head) it bonds to the vinyl pretty well and gives the paint something to hang on to.BTW my favorite Vinyl tracks are Academy they may be a lil stiff but they have awesome detail,Nice and Crisp

Interesting..... so did you use the hairspray in place of the primer?  I may have to try that.  Especially if it will prevent flaking! 

I won't comment on colors or washes but even with the (what we all agree) crummy Italeri tracks, I wash them first in Windex, this removes the excess plasticizer (its what makes them soft) in the vinyl that has come to the suface. After it is throughly dry (wait a few hours) I put on a base coat of Testors Dullcoat.

After that preperation I have had no problems with base color coat and washes afterward, just allow 24 hours between each application for full drying.

I usaully finish by giving the tracks another topcoat of dullcoat.

Good luck! 

 

HeavyArty wrote:

I don't find painting them a problem and I only use Model Master enamels.  Check here at Armorama for a great tutorial on painting tracks.

  

PanzerWulff wrote:

I have Never had a problem with Vinyl tracks My#1 trick is Cheap HAIRSPRAY the kind that comes in a can not a pump bottle I usually use Aqua Net extra hold.All hairspray is ,is a Alcohol based Shellac or Laquer (And people spray that stuff on their head) it bonds to the vinyl pretty well and gives the paint something to hang on to.BTW my favorite Vinyl tracks are Academy they may be a lil stiff but they have awesome detail,Nice and Crisp

OK, I gotta come clean here....back in the 80's I was in a "big-hair" band and I used to tease my hair up so high and just "seal" it with about three pounds of extra-strength AQUA-NET, and I could walk into a wind tunnel at full-bore and you wouldn't see a single hair move! One night I was sitting at the kitchen table scarfing down a post-gig microwave super-supreme pizza("health food" to a rocker like me!! ) and I scratched my head--and my hair broke off like half-a-dozen little icicles!! Needless to say, I won't go NEAR the stuff these days!!! I'll stick to my Dullcoat!!

the doog, funny! 

Don't want to disagree with any of the experts here, but rust on tracks is often way over exagerated!  Go to your local construction site and look at the tracks on bulldozers, you won't see a speck of rust, alot of dirt, no rust.  Tracks are constantly in motion making contact with pavement, rocks, sand, and yes dirt.  Sorry, just wanted to put in my 2 cents.

I painted a set of Tamiya vinyl tracks with acrylics and used an oil wash (thinned with mineral spirits)...the tracks disapeared. Not visualy...really. I noticed the model on its base when I was moving some things around in the display case and there were some little bits of vinyl and nothing...nada...like the pilots face mask in the Andromeda Strain.

From that time on I've used nothing but acrylics to paint the tracks. A good cleaning first with a detergent (Dawn dish soap) then a spray of panzer grey. A dry brush of silver and a wash of black. After that any weathering gets added. Then attached to the model.Though its been so long since I touched a set of vinyl tracks. Indys, Fruils or kit supplied link and length these days.

Don't want to disagree with any of the experts here, but rust on tracks is often way over exagerated!

 

Couldn't agree more.  The topic of rusty tracks has been discussed here a few times.  It usually comes down to artistic expression vs. realistic, true to life models.  I like to do them realistically as well. 

espins1 wrote:

Interesting..... so did you use the hairspray in place of the primer?  I may have to try that.  Especially if it will prevent flaking!

Nope I use it with my primer first I wash with Dawn or some of this Purple industrial DeGreaser it's something like Bestine Rubber cement thinner this stuff will clean an engine off easy like an 1/8th cup per gallon ,let dry Thorually.spray with hairspray lightly let dry about a half hour prime as normal (I use Krylon sandable grey or automotive primer) then I paint

"Panzer"

i have to say that the tutorial site that arty gave me for one piece vinal tracks was great. i have used it on two different tracks so far, and they came out looking great. only thing i have to add to that site is, you have to make sure you don't mix too much orange pastel powder in there. too much makes it really rusty. so before you start scraping pastels, decide if you want rusty tracks, or just dirty tracks. and if your working on a set of tracks like the C-1 Ariete, which has a lot of rubber on them, more than steel, you have to pay attention to where you apply the paste, then go back over it with black or rubber color on the pads.

After some real problems with the Italieri tracks included with their T-26 model, I'm wondering if it might not be a good idea to mount the tracks, unpainted, first, and then hit them with a dark brown by brush and then hitting them with the Rustall.  I'm saying this because it seems that the pre-painting might have made them shrink just a tad, but they could have just been too darned short in the first place.

As for rusted track, I think back to my way long ago days with the M60A1, and if I recall correctly, the tracks were pretty well rusted, at least a good surface coating of rust.  Even the brand-new M1s in those days seemed to have the tracks fairly well rusted.  Of course, that was 25 years ago....and a lot of water has passed under the bridge, and a lot of alcohol has passed through the liver....

The problem with vinyl tracks is the plastic they are made from. You don't know how old those tracks are. The add a material called a plasticizer to make them soft. As time goes on, the plasticizer will exude from the vinyl. This will make them stiff, shrink and is what causes a problem painting. If the tracks are too stiff, you could slightly warm using a hair dryer. While warm, roll them and shape them. Once cool they should hold their shape. Also while warm, if a dry fit tells you they are short you can carefully stretch them.

All in all they are a pain but they can be worked. If you can find an aftermarket track you are most likely better off. But on some models, (like the M107 SPG I just finished),you can't find an aftermerket matching track. In that case you just have to buck up and deal with it.

If you clean the tracks as previously stated in this fourm and try some things like I stated above, you can paint your tracks off the model and get them to fit

Good luck 

well I have had very little experience with vinyl since I usually go for the Fruils when possible.  However, I have built a few kits both Revell and Tamiya that I've used the vinyls on.  Never primed them, nor used anything crazy.  As for painting them I find it all comes down to what you're building!  I mean an Abrams or modern western tank uses a rubber tread, and will require a different technique than a tank from WWII.  I have never had a problem with flaking or paint not sticking to the tracks... but I airbrush it with acrylics, maybe that has something to do with it?