After reading several posts and wandering through a local hobby store, I had an idea for how to make a rubber track pad for my HL Bulldog. Several folks have already tried the stuff for adding rubber handles to tools without success. I saw a post somewhere where someone made some from foam (like the stuff used to make the big fingers at sporting events). And I started that, but the effort of cutting to just the right shape became very tedious and they weren't hard enough to inspire confidence in their longevity.

So, I found this stuff in the hobby store. It's a rubber-toughened CA glue, [link=http://www.bsi-inc.com/Pages/hobby/ca.html]Bob Smith Industry's IC-2000[/link]. Using a toothpick, I basically painted on the glue to each of the track pads on my Bulldog (clean the tracks first, of course).

It appears to offer some slight improvement in traction with no real change in driveability. The appearance is awesome, though. It looks black and like rubber. It also has a slight rubber texture. I haven't done an extended test on how it holds up against concrete or asphalt, but the initial tests look good. ([link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo3-fQVt0vM]Video[/link]Video)

Disclaimers: I'm using a standard HL tank (plastic gears, tracks, etc). I haven't done any metal upgrades yet.

It looks like this might be a good way to add that rubber appearance to all of your tracks. The glue is supposed to work on metal, too; so, it should work on the metal tracks as well. If you want more traction, my other idea is to get some (small can for touch-ups) of the polyeurathane used to coat truck beds and paint that onto the tracks (stuff like Rhino Lining). That may be well-suited for metal tracks. Be careful with the additional torque that you would need, though.

One note: make sure that your work area is well ventilated. Of course, I learned that the hard way.

Here's some pictures of the finished product. I haven't taken any post trial photos yet.