Hello out there.

I´m going to use a pair of Fruiltracks on my M113 and since I have never used these tracks before, a question popped up in my head. Do you paint them the same way as the ordinary vinyltracks or do you use another method since they are made of metal?

// Torbjörn

I used the Fruil set for the Tamiya T55 and found them to be really good. In my case after assembly I washed them in detergent, rinsed and allowed them to dry. I then went over as much as I could get of the surface with a fibreglass scratch pen [railway modellers us them to clean tracks], taking care by wearing a mask as you do get fibre glass strands wearing away. Next step use the wifes vac cleaner to get rid of all the loose strands.

I then sprayed them with a light coat of Mr Surfacer 1000, which I allowed to dry. I then built up Tamiya matt brown, using thin coats until they were fully covered. After drying, I did a dust coat with Tamiya Matt Buff, then various washes with oil paint, before applying Mig pigments liberally. My final step as these tracks had no rubber shoes was to rub the contact points back to bare metal on some coarse glass paper.

I only chipped about 10 small bits that I had to touch up, before mounting on the vehicle. Obviously you will have to paint the rubber track shoes.

They do look good because the extra weight of the tracks, creates realistic sagging.

Hope my method helps you a little bit.

Regards,

John

You can also use Blacken-it:

http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/home?userid={F9F3E062-FE3B-4434-9898-193F749A47C4}&inv=1FB3A519AFFA7E6&albumid={D01D4D9D-6BD8-4F3F-B9B3-B817CD515647}

Wow, that Blacken It was really cool. I must try to find it somewhere here in sweden. The search is on. :-)

If any of the swedish members here on Armorama knows anything about "Blacken It", please let me know.

// Torbjörn

Yes you can paint them as you do with the vinyl ones with the difference that the paint grips far a lot better on the Friul tracks.
Remember to clean them well before painting wit warm water and a mild liquid soap or wit a solvent...
Ciao
Fabio