I wrapped some cooking string around the unditching roller from the Hobbyboss M3A1 Scout Car kit and painted it with a mix of Humbrol Khaki, Chromate Yellow and Leather. I'm wondering how this looks.

The color doesn't look bad, but it lacks definition. I think I would try sealing it gloss clear (to prevent bleeding) and do a dark pin wash to better define the individual wraps on the cylinder. After the wash sets up you could dry brush it with thinner from side to side to clean the wash from the high points.

On a side note, it's hard to tell in the picture, but are there tiny hairs on the string? If so, these really need to be dealt with, too. You normally wouldn't find them on large diameter rope.

HTH

It could pass for well-worn hemp rope, but is a little too rough and lacking in uniformity to pass for most uses, IMHO. Like Bob said, try spraying some sealer on it before painting in order to keep it from fraying.

Yes, there are hairs on the string. Would some Future resolve this? Obviously it would help with the wash.

Future would probably help as a sealer and add some stiffness, but it won't remove or reduce the fraying. You can get silk beading thread or nylon kite string, both of which are fray free, and can be painted the same way. The silk thread can be found at places like Michael's, Hobby Lobby and other craft stores and comes in different sizes.

I recommended kite string as well, just a few weeks ago in a different thread. No fuzz, and it looks the part. Yours looks a little squashed in places, as if it had been run over.

Michael,
A well worn trick I've used for many years, borrowed from rigging many model ships, is to use beeswax to eliminate fraying thread on "ropes" and "cables". Several manufacturers offer beeswax, Model Expo is one. You can also buy it in small blocks from natural food stores. Simply drag a length of thread from one end to another across the beeswax, and it will eliminate all fraying. I prefer to paint my thread first. Don't worry, the thread can still be secured with super glue. An added benefit is the beeswax stiffens the thread slightly, and prevents it from sagging or aging over time. Wood model ship builders have used this technique for years. I don't recommend candle wax, as candles have way too much synthetic paraffin which tends to be to "greasy". Beeswax has less paraffin, and is much harder. I have a block which has lasted over 20 years now.
VR, Russ

Another option is braided fishing line, comes in various diameters and colours.

By running the string quickly (yes, quickly) through a flame, you can burn off just about all of the hairy bits. I do this often with this type of string.

Gary

Thanks guys. I'm guessing that with some of the options, such as wire string or the kit string, one could twist it to make larger diameter rope. I'm trying to go for this:




And the areas where it looks. Squashed might be the areas where I applied super glue to hold the string down. Regular white glue was t working too well :/

Michael,
I'd recommend going to the Model Expos website, as they have all kinds of pre-colored "rope" in cotton and nylon designed for the model shipbuilder. You could use the beeswax method I mentioned earlier with standard thread, but it would be incredibly difficult to make a perfect length of rope like the one in the photo by twisting it together. Buy the way, that roller you show in the photo is exactly that-- it's a terrain negotiating roller fitted to some US armored cars to allow them to negotiate taller vertical obstacles. The rope is merely to provide traction, and as such was easily damaged in use, but then again, that's what its there for, so a damaged rope on a weathered vehicle would look ok too! VR, Russ

Except the way they have the rope tied off would prevent the roller from working...

That's what I was thinking. I was talking to some volunteers at a museum this past summer, I keep trying to remember to put up some more pictures here, and they said that the rollers weren't really used for much at all anyway. So I'm guessing that they used it to just hold the rope or to just keep the roller from moving or to protect the roller. I dont know.

And Russ, I'm not going for a heavily weathered vehicle. Just moderately weathered.

I'd suggest ship modeling rope. It's a good color, no frays and a small investment will last forever. No muss, no fuss.

Michael,
Yes-- the more I look at the photo I think the rope is just being used to protect the paint finish on the roller--or to keep the roller from "rolling"(can you imagine the hazard that thing would be if you were performing engine maintenance and accidentally stepped on the roller?). You're right in these rollers wouldn't really have much utility. It would be interesting to know how many vehicles were outfitted with these rollers as opposed to winches. VR, Russ

Guys, thanks for clarifying that. Last night, I went on a Google search frenzy and came up empty. All these years, I thought that was a winch!

I can't find many original, or new pictures for that matter, of many M3 scout cars with winches. I mostly find pictures of them with rollers. And some M2 and M3 halftracks.

Personally, I think the owner of that particular vehicle, being simply a show vehicle, had some good looking rope and slapped it on there to add "character," either without knowing or being overly concerned with the real function of the roller.