How should vinyl tracks be painted?

Hi everybody,

I’m new to building armor so I thought I would ask for help from those who can show me how. Of course the building part isn’t difficult for me as creating the weathering and selecting proper colors.

I want to build the 1/48 Aurora Sherman tank that I have and would welcome any help to make a better model, particularly the tracks. I know they should droop a little in the top center. I also have to drill the end of the gun open too.

Also, do you guys put a clear gloss on armor for the decals like it’s done for aircraft?

Thanks, Pat

Painting Tracks: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=13266&page=1

Tracks on the Sherman had littl eto no sag. They are what is called live-track, it has internal bushings which keep it taut, not loose and saggy as dead-track on Russian and German tanks

Yes, you still have to gloss where decas will go or they will silver and not blend in, just as on aircraft.

That’s a great link, HeavyArty, thank you.

I just temporarily put my vinyl tracks on to let them get their ‘memory’, but one track seems a wee bit too long. Should I heat it, or just wait?

QT

Prime first with an automotive primer. Other wise the paint (enamel or acrylic) will not adhere and fall off.

Regards,

Terry Burke.

Priming of tracks is not necessary. I have never primed them and have had no issues with paint sticking to them.

I would wait till the tracks have their “memory” then worry about shortening them if needed. You could also adjust the suspension slightly to tighten them, or remove a link and staple or sew them back together.

Good luck.

Just remember to wash them WELL if I wash them and still have paint adhesion problems (rare but yes time to time) just brush some future on them LIGHTLY just a little does the job the paint then sticks better to the future than the vinyl. Keep on Trackin[8D][tup]

Pat,

Be careful of vinyl tracks! I have had issues with them. Do wash them first. I have not built an Aurora kit, but some of the 1/72 and 1/144 scale Dragon kits (prior to their Dragon Styrene 100 tracks) do not allow enamels or automotive primers to stick to them. Let me rephrase this. The enamels and primers do stick to the tracks, but they “leak” a sticky substance for a while while the paint cures. This is probably just me, but be careful. Do a test paint job on the sprue for the tracks first.

Acrylics are the way to go if you think the vinyl tracks are going to be bad to you.

Grant

Hi Pat,

Aurora, now there’s a famous name! Are you sure you want to build an Aurora? It’s probably worth more in the box than a more advanced kit of later vintage and larger scale!

Vinyl tracks – I LOVE 'em! Link-and-length tracks have me thoroughly intimidated, I’m still summoning the intestinal fortitude (guts) to “get stuck in” and build a set. In the meantime, I have a great time with vinyls. I just completed a set of Tamiya vinyl tracks today. The method I used was very straight-forward:

1: Spray a base color – I use enamels, no priming needed (at least on Tamiya’s vinyl formula), and they’re rock-hard durable when dry. Model Master Interior Black is a great tire-black which itself primed everything and gave the pads and blocks a natural rubber sheen.

2: Drybrush – the color of your tracks is going to reflect the country over which the tank is operating, whether dry, muddy, or a particular type of soil. (Vietnam, for instance, was famous for its red dust, so armor operating in that theatre would logically tend reddish in the weathering process.) So, choose your basic country-color and drybrush everything, leaving the pads and blocks mostly clear as contact with the ground and the wheel rims tends to rub them cleaner.

3: Wash – add a thin wash of red-brown to represent rust in whatever proportion seems correct from your references. Was your tank heavily-used a wet environment, like the winter of '44 when it rained for 19 consecutive days? Plenty of rust! Well-maintained in dryer conditions? Hold the rust to a minimum.

4: Metallic – use a small brush to drybrush and stipple silver or other metallic to represent bare metal areas on track plates, grousers, connecting bolts, whatever looks right from photos.

5: Done! Touch-up as required, use a pointed brush to pick out bolt-heads and other structures that may contrast with their background, and you’ll have a set of tracks that’ll look very ‘busy’ to the eye, and certainly compliment a well-finished hull.

Cheers,

Thunderbolt