Hello all! For the German armour folks out there I have a question. What sort of coatings did the german armour manufacturers have on there track links? In photos the new tracks seem very dark and there is a very clear differance in track pin color. Im building a brand new Tiger from sPzAbt 502 which have plenty of pics just not sure how to paint new tracks! Thanks in advance!

At the risk of starting a sh!tstorm with the Axis-modeling braintrust here, I'd tell you to paint Tiger I and Tiger II track links with a gunmetal base, then lightly overspray with a transparent yellowish-brown mixture. You can dry brush some steel over the guide horns, inner surfaces where the roadwheel make contact with the links and on the outer surfaces where the cleats come in contact with the ground to depict wear. Why, you might ask? The track links for both vehicles were made from a steel alloy with a comparatively high manganese content. The manganese imparts a yellowish-brown tint to the steel. Also, nix nix on any thought of loading the tracks up with rust colored weathering. Manganese steel alloy has a high level of rust resistance and doesn't rust easily, as is normally depicted by modelers. This is done more in the name of artistic license than out of fact or accuracy. Google "manganese steel" and you'll see what I mean. Here's an example of manganese steel scrap left outside:



Notice that there is almost no surface rust visible. That's because manganese steel alloy has the advantage of possessing excellent deoxidizing properties which inhibits the formation of rust. Given the fact that most Tigers (I and II) had extremely short lifespans, as far as AFVs are concerned, they wouldn't have been around long enough for any serious oxidation to occur. If there are any dissenting opinions, please post some pics of some rusty Big Cat tracks.

And track pins are same metal? Or different % alloy? As in pictures show them to be a "lighter" looking color? Thank you so much for your help

The light color of the track pins could stem from the fact the the pins have been maschined e.g. with a lathe to ensure the fit in the tracks. From my job experience, I can tell that maschined matal has a bright sshiny surface. If I would build a Wehrmacht track, I would paint the track links in Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron and the pin in "silver"
HTH
Hans-Hermann

Didn't German tanks leave the factory with a nice coat of shiny black paint (which probably didn't last long!)?

Thank You

The tracks were given a coating of preservative at the factory, same as today.I have a collection of real tracks from Panzer 1-King Tiger, and they do rust, after the coating has been worn off. But, is an area where they come into contact, they shine up quite nice.

Cheers

Anthony

Just my two penn'orth. From what I've seen at War & Peace and Bovingdon, it's almost irrelevant what colour they were when they left the factory, as they seem to all end up a dust colour very quickly, with dried mud in the cleats, apart from the areas that contact hard surfaces which are shiny metal. As far as I am aware they were indeed painted black at the factory as Biggles says, but you wouldn't want to do this unless you are actually modelling a factory fresh tank. The track pins are left in bright steel, as they are going inside the links and going to be greased, so any surface is superfluous. If it's any help, I normally paint mine black to start with, which I use as a primer anyway, then dark brown overspray, followed by dust colour (German Dark Yellow), then dry brushing raised detail with a bright gunmetal mix. Remember also that where the road wheels run will be polished, and the track teeth.

Book about german tracks:

http://www.amazon.ca/Panzerketten-Schwarzmann-Peter/dp/3943883000

disclaimer: I don't own it

Thank you all for your input.I have figured out (somewhat) how Im going to paint the spare tracks on the turret as well as tracks contacting the ground.This black coating that was mentioned, this was for sealing pores in metal/oxidization protecttion? Also what was the gloss level of this?

They were fairly shiny, but in 1/35, gloss would look pretty fake so I would go with a semi-gloss.