So, I’m reading the instructions for the Dragon M3, M3A1 and M3A2 half track, and noticed that Dragon claims that the sprocket rims and the idler wheels have rubber tires on them!? So I’m going say what! I start checking my references but found no information agreeing about that. So, does any one have any info confirming or denying that info. I will be especially grateful for the info, Thanks, Joel
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I thought this was going to be about Bradleys 
Might want to edit the thread title to add “halftrack” in there …
Anyway, AFAIK those wheels were entirely steel, no rubber tyres. Where would the rubber tyres be anyway on a cage-type of wheel?
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Thank you Bravo 18 ! I am building this Dragon Kit for a club GB.
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Look at the moulding on that track, it actually looks like the Tamiya 1/35 track 
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I own a few of these models, looked at the instructions, and no such claim is made. The instructions call for painting the sprocket and idler wheel outer surfaces flat black. I have no idea if that is correct or not, but it is not the same thing as claiming they are rubber.
The model parts in question, illustrations, and box art clearly depict parts without a rubber tire. The box art for kit 6332, which I own, clearly shows the outer surface of the right side idler wheel painted black. Again, I have no idea if that is historically accurate or not. Hopefully, one of the experts here will know.
Really should finish my own copy of 6332. Sitting in a box for 16 years and counting. 
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Maybe they suggest painting them black since the black rubber band tracks would wear on them and make them look black.
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Rubber rubbed against metal with dust/sand/clay/mud in between would polish the metal.
Depending on the metal alloy this could result in a mirror like polish.
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It seems then that would make idler surfaces on most modern tanks black, as the inner surfaces of the tracks are rubber as well.
Could it be that the researchers chose a museum example where the wheels were painted black and assumed that was correct? At least one museum in particular is famous for it, although I’ve seen it done many places.
I found another one of my halftrack walk arounds - doesn’t seem to have been done here either.
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The edition of the 6332 instructions that I found on Scalemates do indeed show “tire colour” (H12 33) for the idler and sprocket:
Kit 6467 does not
Kit 6496 doesn’t either
Back In Black for kits 3569, 3579, 3586, 3597 and 3598
And finally kit 6467 has them wheels back to not being black.
Dragon had it right, stumbled, corrected, went all in on Black and then
recovered with the very last kit.
The part designations also follow the same pattern, the black wheels are G-parts (G1, G2 & G3) and the non-black are W-parts (W1, W2 & W3)
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That is some good sleuthing.
While you were doing that, I went through my copy of Halftrack by R.P. Hunnicutt. I see lots of vehicles where the surfaces in question are bare metal. I see some vehicles were the surfaces in question are dark. I do not see any picture where the surfaces in question are very obviously black.
As an interesting aside, some of these halftracks have a horizontal tension spring for each idler wheel. In some photos of test vehicles, these tension springs look glossy black!
Dragon was responsible for publishing Concord photo reference books. (Maybe that is still the case? No clue.) Decal schemes for Dragon models are often based on pictures in Concord books. It may be that some Concord book has a picture of a halftrack where that surface is painted black. If I recall correctly, there was a volume dedicated to US Halftracks. (Maybe I have it?)
Occam’s Razor dictates the the Crazy Dragon Instruction Making Guy was up to his usual tricks.
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Sounds plausible …
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This was a later addition. Early halftracks had an adjustable idler to regulate track tension manually only, but it was found the track sometimes jumped off. A unit-improvised spring solved the problem, and that modification was made official. Most existing vehicles had the spring retrofitted, too. This was one, thin spring, which was then improved on by two concentric springs, which together were much thicker. That is what Dragon supplies — and, unfortunately, missed the opportunity to supply both alternatives.
Converting a Dragon halftrack to have no spring (necessary for early vehicles) is simple enough: fill the holes for the spring mount on the sides of the chassis, add a little plastic rod to the idler mount for the tension adjuster to sit against and fill the holes at the corners on the rear of the chassis:
(This is a view of the underside of the chassis, BTW.)
You will likely also have to remove the jerrycan mounts on the cab if you do this, which is a little trickier if you don’t want to obliterate the screw heads.
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