1/72 DML elefant rubber tracks are the pits

Or atleast the ones I have.
There is some kind of mold release agent on them that has tested my patience and refuses to be removed. I can’t glue or paint them.

I’ve soaked them in ammonia, I’ve washed them with soap and water. I am about to go whole hog and soak them in acetone, but I am afraid that I’ll destroy the tracks

add: seems that lacquer thinner is doing the job

That is weird, I haven’t heard of other complaints. What are you using as a base?

The original Dragon Elefant (7201) and Ferdinand (7202) kits included really nasty tracks that are too long and the paint takes forever to dry. Fortunately, they reissued the Elefant as an Armor Pro kit (7253) with some PE and optional link and length tracks. They still have the old vinyl tracks, but they need to be shortened about ¼" in order to just fit the vehicle.

I used super glue and thread to attach the tracks and make them sag in the right places. I had to use acrylic paints on them so they would not be tacky.

They are crappy. All of the older dragon kits come with them. You’ll have to super glue them, I had to clamp them and let it dry. Paint, no matter what paint and how you seal it, the paint wont stick to it. Because the tracks are black it wont be horrible. Just airbrush them and be careful on the weathering.

gentlemen - thank you. It was kit 7201
I ended up giving them a really good wash down with lacquer thinner and that seemed to work.
I was just short of destroying the track (I was soaking them when nature called - too long in the lacquer thinner), but I got it all to work.

link and length tracks in 1/72 scale??? what are you trying to do to us make us blind them things would be tiny.

Link and length tracks have been with us since Esci/Ertl added them to their 1/72 scale kits in the early 1980s. Revell, PST, and several other companies continued this throughout the late 90s to present.

From my understanding, any new releases and rereleases will have the DS tracks. I’ve never had any problems w/Dragon’s vinyl tracks. Actually, I prefer the “rubber band tracks.” One thing to remember, tracks only sag when the vehicle is stationary. Once the vehicle starts moving, the slack is taken up and the track will expand and rise it will the settle and bunch up when the vehicle slows and stops. So, how you choose to display your model will determine how the tracks should be.

Ch

I’ve built most of their WW2 German armor in 1/72 scale. The vinyl tracks for their Elefant and Ferdinand were too loose/big, even when tying down the track to add sag. Their Tiger I/Sturmtiger tracks and Panther/Jagdpanther tracks were too tight. The unfortunate thing was that since the lower hull was metal, you couldn’t cut off the idler mount to reposition it to give the track some slack.

Later WW2 German kits have had decent tracks.