Whereas I much prefer workable tracks, because they can be installed far more easily after painting
If you have to glue the links together, that means you generally end up doing one of three things:
- Glue the whole track together and to the wheels before painting.
- Glue the links together into a couple of lengths that can be taken off the wheels again, so you can then glue those lengths to the model after painting.
- Paint the links and wheels before glueing them together.
All of these have problems that make me not want to use them if I can avoid it
With method 1, it’s generally difficult to get paint everywhere you can see. With 2, it’s tricky to get everything lined up correctly, and I find lengths may break when taking them off the wheels or when trial-fitting them later on in the build (for example to ensure other parts won’t interfere with fitting the tracks after painting). With 3, you have to use a glue that will work on painted parts, and that will probably leave visible stains or glossy spots.
Of course, the main down side of workable tracks is that they will usually be more work to put together — sometimes a
lot more — than links you have to glue together.
But as Dave also says, everybody has their own ideas and ways of doing things, so my advice would be to try different things and see which you like better (or worse).