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Armor/AFV: Modern Armor
Modern armor in general.
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M1A1 tracks painting
mauserman
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Maryland, United States
Joined: September 27, 2004
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Armorama: 628 posts
Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 04:59 AM UTC
Any tips on painting these tracks? I'm doing Tamiya's OIF version. So far I've dull coated them. Most pictures that I've seen look like the entire track is black, but I figure the connectors should be a steel color with only the rubber treads being black.

Any advice would be appreciated.
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 16, 2002
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Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 05:20 AM UTC
Track in a desert environment gets pretty polished from the constant sanding from the...sand. (Hmm, sounds funny.) I paint them with a very light wash of rust. Then a heavy drybrush of gunmetal. Dullcoat it all and touch up the pads with flat black. I then rub a #2 pencil over the metal parts. Lastly, I dust it all with some pastels to blend it all together.
mauserman
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Maryland, United States
Joined: September 27, 2004
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Armorama: 628 posts
Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 05:38 AM UTC
Thanks Gino. That's much appreciated. Also, I checked out your pictures of the Angry American on Photbucket. Your stowage looks like the real thing. How do you do the lighter colors on the folds of the packs? I've tried using a light green and even white, but can't seem to match, or come close to, the effect that you've gotten.
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 16, 2002
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Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 05:42 AM UTC
Thanks. I just use good ol' washes and drybrushing. I use mostly earth tones and sandy colors for the drybrushing. Maybe a little lighter green for some highlights. Nothing really special.

Wait, I guess I shoud jump on the artsy-fartsy bandwagon and call them filters. Yeah, thats it, multiple filters.
Darson
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: June 14, 2005
KitMaker: 247 posts
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Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 05:59 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Track in a desert environment gets pretty polished from the constant sanding from the...sand. (Hmm, sounds funny.) I paint them with a very light wash of rust. Them a heavy drybrush of gunmetal. Dullcoat it all and touch up the pads with flat black. I then rub a #2 pencil over the metal parts. Lastly, I dust it all with some pastels to blend it all together.


Gino,

I have a few pics of Abrams used in OIF that looked like the tracks have been painted the same color as the vehicle. It looks like the tank was passed through some sort of spray booth with only the rubber track shoes showing black through their contact with the ground.

Can you confirm this?

Cheers
Darren
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 16, 2002
KitMaker: 17,694 posts
Armorama: 13,742 posts
Posted: Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 06:11 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Gino,

I have a few pics of Abrams used in OIF that looked like the tracks have been painted the same color as the vehicle. It looks like the tank was passed through some sort of spray booth with only the rubber track shoes showing black through their contact with the ground.

Can you confirm this?

Cheers
Darren


Sometimes just that happens. The tank gets hastily painted and the track gets painted too. Then it gets run around and the paint comes off the pads. Usually, the paint will eventually get scrubbed off the metal parts as well.
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