Pros and Cons of painting tank tracks before or after

[Ekire]

Good day all,

I hand paint, i dont have the tools or abilities at this time to airbrush.

I have a Ryefield RM5050 and am closing in on the tank tracks. Curious as per title of pros/cons of painting before and after assembly - lots of parts to this one.

Thanks everyone.

 

[urumomo]

I paint everything I can before assembly .
Easier . Much easier .

 

[kevin]

I do the same, be careful of excess glue on the finish paint. You will to paint over that.

 

[Ekire]

Thank you kindly. FWIW, i did mean assembled as in the lower left photo, not while on tank. im nervous of painting prior to assembling the tracks as the pins and such are tiny.

 

[urumomo]

Oh , the track itself .
I paint that after it is all together

Thought we were talking about the running gear

 

[Ekire]

gotcha, i type stuff and it makes sense to me at the time, but when i revisit, it doesnt, lol. ty again.

 

[urumomo]

You'll definitely run into clearance issues with part fit due to the paint thickness if you paint those links individually

 

[BlackSheepTwoOneFour]

Heh… be thankful you're not doing Dragon tank threads.

 

[Scratchbuilder]

I first assemble the tracks, and where I can I get rid of the 'pins' which after some handling have a tendancy to fall apart. I use small brass pins cut to size with a touch of c/a (superglue thick) just enough to hold the pin in place.
I then hold the track in place on a length of cardboard and give it a light spray from a rattle can of car primer...
Then apply a coat of silver to the tracks where the wheels touch, and once dry cut strips of masking tape about 2mm wide and cover the whole length of the track where the wheels would run.
As you say you are not into airbrushing - use a soft paint brush and apply a thinned coat of Rust primer to each length, it will dry quickly. Then apply a second and if required a third coat.
Turn the track over and repeat the rust application, and once dry, dry brush the treads where they come into contact with the ground with silver paint.
Turn the tracks over again and remove the masking tape.
I have posted a couple of my tracks to help you....
Cheers
Mike.