Dear folks, in your point of view what is the best way to achieve steel plate effect on AFV? I have heard that liquid putty is hardly for this purpose while plastic glue is another option, any suggestions? Thank you!
Best Regards

There is no one answer because several kinds of steel may be present in an armored vehicle: castings, forgings, and rolled steel plate. Castings are produced in sand molds, and retain the texture of the sand when they are removed. Peacetime products tend to be very smooth, and lots of grinder work is done to correct imperfections. A thin layer of Mr Surfacer 500 stippled gently with the tip of a nylon paint brush will produce a suitable texture, and it can be toned down with gentle sanding, if necessary. On the other hand, Russian wartime castings were often so pockmarked they looked porous. Applying liquid cement to a small area at a time, and stippling with a nylon brush will produce a much more aggressive pockmarked look, and again, it can be toned down with gentle sanding, leaving random, irregular flat areas and pockmarks.
Forgings have the same rounded surfaces seen on cast armor, but tend to be smoother.
Rolled armor plate is quite smooth up to about 80 millimeters thickness, when surface blemishes become noticeable, usually small random pockmarks and small scabs of steel on the surface. The pockmarks can be made using a tiny Dremel-type acorn burr bit (a small round cutting surface). I prefer to chuck it into a hand-held pin vice instead of the power tool, for greater control. Just a couple of turns is enough to produce a tiny pockmark. Look at real vehicles for examples, as this effect is very easy to overdo. Metal scabs rolled into the surface can be made with tiny flecks of putty.