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Effective Pigments

Painting the Tracks

The tracks are the most important part of an armor models finish. I have seen some beatify weathered models with limited attention paid to the track. If the track is not weathered properly, the model will be affected as a whole. You obviously want to use the same colors and mediums to weather the tracks as used on the rest of the model when ever possible.

I always use Friulmodel metal tracks when ever I can for a number of reasons. First of all, Friulmodel metal tracks are fairly easy to assemble. Second, they are workable and therefore relatively easy to assemble and apply to the model after they have been painted. Friulmodel tracks are heavy giving you a realistic sag between return rollers. But the best of all, they are easy to weather giving you a very authentic appearance as I will demonstrate.

Applying the base coat

After assembling and cleaning the tracks with soap and water a Tamiya base coat identical to the shade applied in the large picture above. Remember, you obviously want your earth colors on the hull to match your tracks. After the base coat was set I applied the pigments and blended them using turpentine.

I simulated the worn areas of the tracks using two methods. On the inside I apply the worn metallic sheen caused by the running gear using a fat pencil. The graphite is then blended using a rubber tipped artist sharpener purchased in an art supply store. The outer sides of the track are simply brushed with sand paper revealing the metal underneath the paint. This is the biggest advantage of using metal tracks.

The finished look is relatively easy to obtain and very realistic as shown in the photos. A full step-by-step article about the 38T in this segment will appear in an upcoming issue of AFV Modeller. Let us now move onto the second part of this which focuses more on applying large and effective looking amounts of mud.