After MANY painless hours of assembling the Friul metal/workable tracks (see a few posts below) , I put them on the tonight. I must say the detail is truly astounding. They look excellent. I guess in the end they are worth it...maybe....
I soaked them overnight in a oxidizer called Black-en It. After that they received about 5 minutes in some concrete acid floor stain I had left-over from finishing my patio! It worked. It ate just enough of the metal away to create a nice and crusty finish. I then did a wash of rust paint thinned with enamel thinner. Putting them on was a bit tricky and took about an hour of fooling with them.
I'm now ready for a gloss coat and decals. And then weathering of which this vehicle will receive a ton of. I think this will be the first tank that I apply some mud weathering effects to.