Are there any aftermarket treads that can be used for the Dragon kit? I'm pretty certain there is nothing tank specific, but thought maybe treads from other contemporary tanks could be used (M60, Leopard 1, etc.)

Not that I know of - the treads on the German Kpz70 tank were unique, and nothing quite looks close enough. They have a family resemblance to the tracks fitted to leopards, but are still visibly different.

If you choose to do the surgery to "Americanize" it into the MBT 70, then there might be options.

Personally I found the DS kit tracks to be adequate. I used thinned Tamiya acrylics on them and they haven't fallen apart or anything...

Thanks for the response!

So this DS material...flexible styrene? Can it they be painted with solvent based paints??

DS is a weird mix of styrene and vinyl that is very, VERY vulnerable to any solvents! There are lots of forum posts about the stuff going brittle and breaking up - almost always because solvent-based paints and washes were used. Tamiya acrylics (thinned with X-20A Tamiya thinner) when sprayed in very THIN coats seems ok - it grips well. But I'd stay away from enamels, as well as any of the washes or pigments that use things like turps. (So none of the Mig/AK stuff...) I went old-school on mine, using Vallejo paints (thinned with water) for the rubber pads, several home-made rust & dust washes made from water-based acrylics and water, and more acrylics for dry-brushing. To cap it off I added some dry dust pigment, just "ground in" via an old brush without any thinner to bind it (because the thinner would attack the DS).

If you look up my review of the kit on this site you'll find links to the build-log. (Can't remember the links - just look up DML in the Reviews tab...)

Thanks for the 411 on the DS!

So using Tamiya primer on them is a very bad thing!!

For painting DS tracks I usually just spray them with Tamiya Acrylic's thinned with either Tamiya thinner or rubbing alcohol. I have some tracks now that have been on vehicles for 4-5 years with no issues what so ever.

The biggest problem with kit tracks is not that they are made of DS, which can be a good thing, but that they are inaccurate in details and proportions and just ugly... Unfortunately there is no replacement in sight :-(

You could always model them, you know CAD programs, make a 3d model of one link, multiply and voila! 3D print and they could even be assembly free. Granted they'd still be in the 50-70 euro range, but it is an option.

Cheers,
Greg