Special attention was given to the painting of the tracks. It was intended to make them an interesting feature. For those unfamiliar to Dragon's AFV kits, hard plastic individual links have to be glued together to make up the tracks. It was not until gathering and studying a greater batch of AFV references like those illustrated below that I began to notice for the first time that a great deal of the inner side of the tracks could become nicely buffed to a shiny metal finish by the running gear. This effect was particularly evident when the tank had been travelling over sealed roads and cross country over firm, dry, mildly dusty fields. Of the few existing wartime photographs of the Jagdpanther a good majority are seen in exactly this environment. Lucky the Jagdpanther was from the Panther family of which there are many photographic images in publication. Those references were my initial starting point but then I looked to modern tanks on manouveres in color photographs to get a greater feel for tank track weathering. Some examples seen in the publications of the modern tanks were like seeing them wearing silver bracelets the inside of the tracks were so shiny !

I had observed in the past when looking at tank references that certain parts of tank tracks and the running gear, like the sprocket teeth, could become highly polished steel. If you want to see some in your face actual proof of how shiny those teeth can get then click on the thumbnail image(89k). It's not from a tank, more a close relative and probably more publicly accessable and likely to be on the move or parked somewhere in your town.

To shape the fully painted and weathered track sections a spare Jagdpanther's hull sponsons were cut off. By applying subtle heat from a hairdryer to the tracks they were carefully draped over the running gear on the chassis jig. Cotton tie downs and adjustable clamps were used to keep the track's contact points with the road wheels in shape until the plastic cement had securely welded the tracks to the wheels.

The central running gear and the tracks then became free-standing components that could be added at the final stages. This allowed special attention to be given to detail painting of every see-able surface of the hull unobstructed by any running gear parts.

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Jagdpanther and Panther family references.
1.Achtung Panzer No.4. Revised Edition; - Panther, Jagdpanther & Brummbar. ISBN 4-499-22643-0
2.Schiffer Publications; "Jagdpanzer"; - JagdpanzerIV & Jagdpanther. ISBN 0-88740-323-9
3.Squadron/Signal; "Panther in Action"; - Panther, Bergepanther & Jagdpanther. ISBN 0-89747-044-3
4.Concord Publications; "Panther"; - Panther, Jagdpanther etc.ISBN 962-361-610-4

The "Achtung Panzer" series is available from HobbyLink Japan and speciality hobby shops.
The other references are available from speciality book stores.

Full color photographic reference.
1.Concord publications;
"Armour of the West. Nato's AFNORTH & NORTHAG".
Tanks in color and in Europe. Nato's tanks on modern day manoeuvres.
A very appropriate reference to gauge what weathering patterns and
colors to apply to tanks active in the European countryside.
The mud, dirt and dust is still the same color as it was back in the 1940s.
ISBN 962-361-704-6