awesome place to get reference on russian uniforms, its in russian though...
http://rkka.ru/iuniform.htm

Zundapp

Just got this kit, some links to look at while planning build:
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/vulcanmodels/vsm56007.html
http://planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7245

Pulpdent pic n stick

Good for holding small parts.

I need to clean my desk...

Photo etch tip

This is what I do to keep the carpet monsters from eating my pe; stick it to a post it not for cutting ;)

Pigments

I love pigments, mig productions makes some great pigments... even if they are a bit expensive. DOA has some less expensive pigments... anyways i stumbled upon this today:
http://www.earthpigments.com/index.cfm
they sell raw pigments, lots of colors, very inexpensive.
may be worth some tests :)

Tank Tracks

Tanks Treads

Rubber-Band tracks

Rubber-Band track form a Tamiya Tiger 1 kit

      Most model tanks came with "rubber band" tracks. These where lengths of cast rubber that the modeler would thread around the drive wheels, then secure them by melting the rubber together at the ends.
These rubber tracks where notorious for being a pain to install, and not taking paint very well. It was also very difficult to get the look of track sag.
     What is track sag? Tank treads are very heavy, they are cast metal and weighed a ton. Because of this weight they sagged on the top of the drive train. Rubber band tracks, because of their material and how they are constructed (a band), will naturally lay flat across the top of the wheels. It is very difficult, but not impossible, to reproduce the look of track sag with them.
     Rubber-Band tracks also have the problem of being too uniform. If you look at a band of rubber tracks each link is perfect. it is perfectly reproduced, perfectly even and placed. This looks very unrealistic. In real life we deal with chaos; no two links will be the same, or exactly placed. They have this problem in special effects for movies all of the time. In the computer it is easy to make something exact, and it is this very perfection that makes things look fake. I plan on writing an article/page on this theory soon... but for now take my word :) In order to break up this perfect surface a lot of people will nick the rubber tracks edges and use sandpaper to rough them up. This is to get rid of that perfect surface that gives away the tracks true nature.. that they are rubber.

Pros

• Inexpensive; they come with  most kits
• For obscure subjects, they may be your only option. (not much of a pro... I know)

Cons

• Require work to get them looking right
• May not accept paint
• Can be difficult to install

Individual Plastic Links

Tracks for a bronco Landwasserschlepper

"ez tracks" from Dragon for an Sd.Kfz 251

     Some kit makers produce their track links not from rubber, but from individual links made from injection plastic. These plastic links are sometimes on a sprue (like the other model parts)

Or are already separated parts, like dragons "magic tracks" or "EZ Tracks"

      These are individual plastic track links. The nice thing about these tracks is that they are relatively easy to assemble and take paint well. They also have the benefit of being "cheap" since they come with the kit. It is also relatively easy to get track sag, but you usually need to do this deliberately by gluing the links to the road wheels to simulate weight.


Pros

• Inexpensive; many kits, especially modern ones, come with these type of tracks.
• Takes paint and weathering as well as other plastics
• If the links are separated, allows modeler to reproduce track sag

Cons

• Requires careful gluing to reproduce track sag
• links may require lots of seam cleanup (depending on molding)
• Time consuming to build

Individual Metal Track Links

Panzer 1 metal tracks from Fruel

So why metal tracks? One word; realism.
Instead of trying to get plastic or rubber to look like metal, metal tracks are already metal ;)

Track sag is basically "free" as long as the track links are not violin string tight they will naturally sag under their own weight: exactly like they do in real life.
     It is relatively easy to apply a great finish to metal tracks as well. You can use chemicals that blacken the metal (like blacken it)  to darken the metal. After that a swipe of some sandpaper will give you a great looking track. You can also paint the tracks and swipe it with sandpaper as well.
     The biggest advantage that metal tracks give you is a natural, chaotic look. Because each link is produced and put together pretty much exactly how the real tracks are made, they acquire a bit of variation on each link.
 
Pros

• Very realistic. Looks natural because it closely mimics real track materials and assembly.
• takes weathering and finishing very easily.

Cons

• Expensive, one set of tracks can be $30-$50 for each set.
• Time consuming assembly