A question for modellers who like to install tracks before painting:
How do you do actually paint them, then?!
I had already left off the outer wheels to make it easier to paint the tracks, but all that really accomplished was make it
a bit less difficult To be fair, I had already expected that, but still, now I’ve painted one of the tracks I still found it a very annoying job.
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This is one track mostly painted — as far as I could with a fairly coarse (ca. 3 mm diameter) brush, anyway. It’s not only hard to get paint everywhere you want it, it’s also hard on the brush because of the pattern on the outside of the links. It’s almost impossible to get paint directly behind the guide teeth and between adjacent wheels:
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Let alone on the track around the drive sprocket:
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After taking these photos, I went back with a fine brush and did these bits as well as I could manage, but even then there are bits of sand colour visible that I just couldn’t reach.
If I build a Panzer IV or similar again, it almost certainly won’t be with tracks that have to be glued on. This kind of trouble is exactly why I like workable tracks: you can spray those in the base colour and then do all other painting on them when they’re off the tank.