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Armor/AFV: Axis - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Axis forces during World War II.
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Tow cables
Anmoga
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Spain / España
Joined: November 18, 2004
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Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - 04:14 PM UTC
Hi guys,

I would like to know what kind of color would the tow cables of german tanks have.

I've read that they were not painted and at most were oiled to protect them from oxidation.

Best regards,
Angel
bison126
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Correze, France
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Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - 07:17 PM UTC
Usually, tow cables are not painted. However the eyes (ends) can be painted.
To represent the color of unpainted cables, I paint them with some dark grey (Tamiya NATO black) then I rub them with some graphite powder to give a metallic look. After that you can weather them according to your taste

Olivier
Mannloon
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Wisconsin, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - 07:41 PM UTC
I use Panzer Aces Tracks Primer (304) to paint tow cables. It's something I stumbled upon and I really like the look of it as they look a bit like older steel and if you wash them in a rust or dark color for oil you can get different effects.

If you're interested I use it in this video at about the 6:47 mark.

https://youtu.be/EZp3b2xLH3Q
swat35
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Michigan, United States
Joined: November 24, 2013
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Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - 09:30 PM UTC
Angel your choices are far reaching but my "go to" technique is Tamiya Gun Metal acrylic as a base then depending if I want a dry cable I'll dust it with some dark pigment or for a wet greasy look I use a thinned Abteilung Engine Grease oil paint. I also use graphite at times as the other gentleman stated.
These two things usually gets me where I want to be but from that point you can dust them with some Europe Earth pigment or some mud for a dirtier look.
Many options but this one is easy and very effective.
Terry
Anmoga
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Spain / España
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 12:50 AM UTC
Thanks Olivier, Adam, Terry and Sauerteig for your tips.

I suppose the allies did something similar.
ericadeane
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 01:30 AM UTC
They were left unpainted so the users could visually inspect them for damage, rust or weakness. A damaged tow cable snapping will be deadly.
trickymissfit
Joined: October 03, 2007
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 01:32 AM UTC
wire rope (the actual cable part) is never ever painted. It's a safety thing. The wire rope part can be coated with oil, but is far better coated with grease. A cable with rust on the surface is considered to be unsafe, and will not pass the end user's inspection. I won't go into how you inspect the cable, but it's pretty simple. The connectors can be (and usually are) painted from the factory. Once they are used, the paint will break off the connector due to stretching and even a little twisting. So do a lot of chipping on them. The "S" hooks will also be painted, and also show chipping. The clevis normally is not ever painted, but have seen the military paint them often. There will be little if any chipping on them.

Modern cables are woven from fine strands of 400 series stainless steel. It will rust! Yet is plenty strong, and a coating of grease or oil is a must. WWII and Korean War cables were usually made of chrome moly steel, and are prone to rusting. They still make C/M wire rope, and gets the nod for extreme duty. In the past I've used both kinds, and learned (the hard way at times) to stay ontop of them.
gary
trickymissfit
Joined: October 03, 2007
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 01:34 AM UTC

Quoted Text

They were left unpainted so the users could visually inspect them for damage, rust or weakness. A damaged tow cable snapping will be deadly.


A broken cable will cut you in half like a knife going thru butter, but still far safer than common chains.
gary
ericadeane
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 04:56 AM UTC

Quoted Text

A broken cable will cut you in half like a knife going thru butter, but still far safer than common chains.


If you consider the propensity of modellers to add draping chains to adorn their AFVs, you wouldn't think so, eh?

Chains for towing are virtually useless on the WW2 battlefield. Only the French and some other prewar (Polish?) ever used them for towing. Why do modellers love them so much?
Vicious
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: September 04, 2015
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 06:16 AM UTC
[quote]
Quoted Text

...A broken cable will cut you in half like a knife going thru butter...
gary


is a Myth,is potentially deadly but dont cut you in a half...

my son...and me to...like to watch the Mythbusters show on Tv..

http://mythresults.com/episode62

but still i dot wanna be there if happen... ...to me at work happen a similar thing and i was keeping the cable with my hand ,was everything so fast and I could leave on time the cable and i flown with the cable on the air like supeman...i s#!t my self!!...
GazzaS
#424
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Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 06:31 AM UTC
I've been poring over pictures of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 506 on the march during April 1944. Their cables are shackled at front and rear, ready to use, instead of atop the engine deck. And that is how I'm building them on my Tiger.

For the life of me, I can't see any evidence of bare metal in the photos. The cables look darker than the camo of the tanks themselves. I've replaced the plastic cables with braided wire.

I don't think leaving them shiny is really an option. As for real color, who knows.

Gary

P.S. Tiger im Focus is a German site with many photos, organized by abteilung, or battalion, Army, and SS.
kampfy
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Texas, United States
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 10:10 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

A broken cable will cut you in half like a knife going thru butter, but still far safer than common chains.


If you consider the propensity of modellers to add draping chains to adorn their AFVs, you wouldn't think so, eh?

Chains for towing are virtually useless on the WW2 battlefield. Only the French and some other prewar (Polish?) ever used them for towing. Why do modellers love them so much?


The Soviets were the other country that used chains, mostly with the BT and t26 series.

As to painting tow cables I start out with a black primer, then lightly go over that with Testors gunmetal non buffing metalizer.
Anmoga
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Spain / España
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 10:37 PM UTC
Thanks ericadeane, trickymissfit, Vicious, GazzaS, Sauerteig and kampfy for your help.

Happy modelling!!!
srmalloy
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Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 10:57 PM UTC
[quote]
Quoted Text


Quoted Text

...A broken cable will cut you in half like a knife going thru butter...
gary


is a Myth,is potentially deadly but dont cut you in a half...


Not entirely a myth, just the wrong application. The flying end of a tow cable can cut someone in half, but where it occurs is at sea, when you've got several thousand tons of ship in tow, and the action of the waves can multiply the strain on the cable enormously; WWII records document a fair number of deaths and maimings, particularly among the crews of maritime salvage tugs, from this cause. The stress put on tow cables used for vehicles is orders of magnitude less -- still potentially lethal, but more on the line of flail chest than being cut in half.
trickymissfit
Joined: October 03, 2007
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Posted: Friday, February 19, 2016 - 02:20 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

A broken cable will cut you in half like a knife going thru butter, but still far safer than common chains.


If you consider the propensity of modellers to add draping chains to adorn their AFVs, you wouldn't think so, eh?

Chains for towing are virtually useless on the WW2 battlefield. Only the French and some other prewar (Polish?) ever used them for towing. Why do modellers love them so much?


I guess you could use a chain to pull a jeep out of the mud. I still wouldn't! A chain under a heavy load that breaks is like a grenade. In Vietnam there were a lot of cables out there, but most serious heavy lifting was done with polyester cables. Of course they were non existent in 1944.
gary
trickymissfit
Joined: October 03, 2007
KitMaker: 1,388 posts
Armorama: 1,357 posts
Posted: Friday, February 19, 2016 - 02:34 AM UTC
[quote]
Quoted Text


Quoted Text


Quoted Text

...A broken cable will cut you in half like a knife going thru butter...
gary


is a Myth,is potentially deadly but dont cut you in a half...


Not entirely a myth, just the wrong application. The flying end of a tow cable can cut someone in half, but where it occurs is at sea, when you've got several thousand tons of ship in tow, and the action of the waves can multiply the strain on the cable enormously; WWII records document a fair number of deaths and maimings, particularly among the crews of maritime salvage tugs, from this cause. The stress put on tow cables used for vehicles is orders of magnitude less -- still potentially lethal, but more on the line of flail chest than being cut in half.


Ask a Navy guy what happens when the arresting cable snaps! Very ugly, and has happened too often. On the other side of the coin, try pulling out a 50 ton tank with it's belly stuck in the mud. Very dangerous even when successful. I've seen more than tank that they put charges under it to break the suction from the mud while pulling it with two M88's. Everybody gets as far away as possible!
gary
CDK
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Massachusetts, United States
Joined: September 24, 2006
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Posted: Friday, February 19, 2016 - 04:08 AM UTC

Quoted Text

If you consider the propensity of modellers to add draping chains to adorn their AFVs, you wouldn't think so, eh?

Chains for towing are virtually useless on the WW2 battlefield. Only the French and some other prewar (Polish?) ever used them for towing. Why do modellers love them so much?






U.S. British and Canadians




Russians

ericadeane
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Michigan, United States
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Posted: Friday, February 19, 2016 - 05:22 AM UTC
Cmon Ken! You know that I'm aware of the chained hooks used on HT winches! Every one of mine have them. I'm speaking about modelers indiscriminate tossing them over everything (and no, I don't mean tire chains, either)
Anmoga
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Spain / España
Joined: November 18, 2004
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Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2016 - 05:25 PM UTC
Thanks srmalloy, trickymissfit, CDK and ericadeane for your comments.

Enjoy your modelling!!!
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