I Cast a Silicone Track... Then Had to Break the Mold!

In this video, I cast an entire flexible track for a scale tractor as one continuous piece of silicone. Instead of printing and assembling individual track links, I used a 3D printed FDM mold to create the complete track in a single casting. The mold was printed in ABS with a 0.4 mm nozzle. Because the track cavity is long and contains many small details, I poured the silicone slowly and used a vibration table to help the material settle throughout the mold and reduce trapped air. After the silicone cured for 24 hours, removing the finished track became the main challenge. The center section of the mold could not be separated, so I eventually had to break it open to release the casting. The silicone track survived and came out as a single flexible piece, but the current mold design is not reusable. A future version will need a removable center section. I installed the finished track on a simple 3D printed test stand to check its shape, proportions, and appearance around the wheels. The flexible silicone follows the wheel arrangement naturally and could be useful for static scale tractors or other tracked scale models without assembling every track link separately. This is currently a casting and appearance test rather than a proven working RC track. It has not been tested under power, so stretching, sideways movement, track tension, wheel geometry, and guide design would still need to be evaluated before using it on a moving RC tractor. ________________________________________ STL files are available through the link in my channel banner. ________________________________________ 📌 TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:25 preparing and assembling the 3D printed mold 00:45 measuring and mixing two-part silicone 01:10 slowly filling the long track cavity 01:25 using vibration to reduce trapped air 01:45 removing the one-piece track from the mold 03:20 testing the finished track on a simple scale tractor stand 04:35 Final ________________________________________ 🛠 MATERIALS USED: • ABS FDM mold printed with a 0.4 mm nozzle • Two-part silicone • Vibration table • 3D printed scale tractor test stand ________________________________________ 💬 Do you think a one-piece silicone track could work reliably on an RC tractor, or would it stretch and come off the wheels? If you enjoy DIY RC tires, silicone tracks, 3D printed molds, and silicone casting experiments, consider subscribing to RC Tire Lab for more hands-on projects and tutorials.