I'm working on the Trumpeter KV-1 Model 1941 for the Trumpeter campaign. It is a good kit with some rather breezy instructions. One of the few color call outs is for the tow cable to be steel. I'm not so sure . . .

I have two books by Neil Stokes that have pictures and a description of the cables. The ends of the cables are wrapped with wire and with a cloth cover. It made sense that the whole thing was probably painted. The photos are B&W and do not show any tonal variations that I can read.

Right now I have them painted in the 4BO color with some worn & rusty areas.

Any ideas for making these more realistic?

Hi Paul,
Steel cables flex, and shed paint very easily. Often they are brushed with oil and periodically cleaned with a wire brush. A lazy crew and poor leadrship might allow a cable to rust. But I wouldn't expect to see rust on an operational vehicle.

Best wishes,

Gaz

The cables were wrapped with a tarred paper or fabric. The ends were probably unpainted and the wire rope itself covered in a heavy preservative.

KL

OK, it sounds like steel color with some grime to bring out the detail might work for the metal parts. The wrapping might be black or grey?

Its really hard to know how far to go with rust & weathering on these KV-1s. I get the idea that they were pushed pretty hard in the dark days of 1941 and probably had a short life.

The photos are hard to read as many of them are of destroyed or captured subjects.