Sorry don't know the actual name but I am talking about those coarse areas on modern tanks to prevent slipping. What I would like to know is how you reproduce the effect on plastic. I am building the marder 1a (modern German) it has a bunch of them they seem pretty good but after primer and paint I might lose the effect any suggestions on how to make it more prominent and in scale?

Here's a good shot of how the stuff wears. I've built the kit but took the easy way and put a net over the front.



Paul

It might be possible to mask off the strips and paint them in a grey black and sprinkle very fine sand on the wet paint. I have never done it myself but it seems it would be the same process as we have used on steps and walkways. Try it on a sample piece of plastic.

Cut some sand paper to size and glue them in place. On many vehicles, the anti slip is actually a large sticker that is applied to the hull surfaces.

Thanx, I was thinking about ant-slip patches the other day.... The very fine sandpaper idea sounds great.... Jim

You can also use white glue and very fine sand. I've found that the best sand to use is off of a baseball field pitchers mound. It's extremely fine sand. Just put the glue where you want the non-slip area, then sprinkle the sand over it and dump off the excess.

I remember the non-slip fenders on the 60's we ran back in the 70's. Herd that in liue of sand try talc powder on white glue it's supposed to be even finer grit

You can also do what I did on one model: First apply primer to the whole model, then mask the vehicle so only anti skid surfaces are not masked and aibrush the primer on them using thick paint or low pressure. It should cause a lot of spattering and layer of primer in these places will have rough, coarse surface. After removing the masking tape you will have the smooth area under the tape and rough on the anti skid surfaces. Apply your camouflage color over it and the difference in smoothness will be still very prominent.

I tried it before on a model that didn't have anti skid surfaces marked at all and it gave very nice and convincing results! In case of your Marder you must be careful not to overdo it, although looking at the picture posted above I can say it may be difficult to do it too rough ;-)

Regards,
Pawel

Like others I do them with cutting strips/pieces of sand paper (the one you can use wet in my view gives the best results) of the appropriate grain. Another thing I do for rougher finishes is to replicate it masking the area (before painting) to have the right shape and then using Tamiya putty diluted in acetone...
Ciao

Another idea that would probably work well, but requires precision to not screw the kit up would be to mask off the areas to be done, then apply a VERY thin coat (only enough to soften the surface plastic) of Tenax or Plastruct solvent, let sit for a minute or so, then use a stiff brush to stipple the anti slip finish into the plastic itself...

Hey, ptruhe... Where was that pic taken? Those are German troops, but it looks like the Driver has a US class A Specialist rank on his collar?

The picture was taken at Lucius D. Clay Kaserne, Garlsted, FRG in 1989. The Bundeswehr troops are from the 321 Panzergrenadier battalion. Probably the usual trading of trinkets.

Paul