The Tracks

The tracks for the Tiger aren’t bad, and they assemble together easily. The only problem is the number of injection pin marks and numbers (??!!) on the inside of each track. With all the work to ensure accuracy through the build, you would think that this would be something that I would address. You would be wrong. At 5 spots to sand/file on each track, and a total of 73 tracks per side, it would be a huge task. Besides, these are on the inside, and because of the inter-woven road wheels, it is very difficult to see these marks once the tracks are installed.

I assembled per Step 24 of the instructions, and they do go together easily. The instructions call for 72 links per side, but I tested the fit, and added one more per side to get the sag appearance that I liked. The fit will also be influenced by the final position of the rear shaft (Step 4)

Once assembled, I cleaned the tracks with soap and water, and let them fully dry. The material these are made out of made me think that enamel paint would bite better than acrylic.

First step in painting was to prime with automotive spray can primer. This was followed by fully coating with Flat Black spray from a can. I let these dry for a full day. The first “real” coat of paint was a thin mix of 50/50 Flat Black and Tamiya Gun Metal, thinned to 50%. Once dry, I followed with a mixture of 50/50 Testors enamel Leather and Rust, and thinned this down to about 30% paint and 70% thinner. I shot this through my airbrush, and the idea is to get down into the crevices, slop this around, and not let it be uniform. The look I am trying to copy is that of random steel scaling. Before this coat had a chance to dry, I dusted with the spray can Flat Black, then quickly dusted with a shot of thinner through my airbrush.

From all of this mess, I had the appearance of unpolished iron; a little sheen in spots, black in others, with dirty rust in the crevices. Last step was to dry brush the high spots, where the tracks would get polished, with Testors enamel Aluminum. I don’t use Silver, because I think that it is a little too shiny. The outside of the tracks are easy, and on the inside, I only hit the guide horns and the outer edge. I didn’t want to dry brush where the pin marks and numbers are, as it would only call more attention to them.

One other tip: as the paint dries in each step, it will get down into the seams in each link, and start to stiffen. After every step, and a few spots in-between, you need to curl the track in each direction to keep this from happening. I did mine after each step in the painting process once it was dry to the touch. It also kept the paint from flaking, and if you have ever done a tank with rubber band style tracks that were painted with acrylics, you know exactly what I mean.