Brush-on anti-slip coating for modern AFVs

Many modern AFVs receive anti-slip coatings on their upper surfaces. However, not all model kits of these vehicles include the texture. This is how I made the surfacing on a Tamiya M1A2.
Basically, the effect is simply texture paint, achieved by mixing model paint with some very fine grit.

The Grit.
The material I used was red (terracotta) brick powder. This was produced by just rubbing the powder off the brick with a large steel file. I intended to use this orange powder as a rust pigment, but it worked well for this purpose here also. There are probably many other sources of grit, just as long as the substance is stable and in a fine powdered form. The following image shows the powder I used on the left, and also some gritty dust that I got from our driveway, on the right. This would have been suitable also.



The Sieve.
The size of the particles is also important, in order to keep the texture in scale. The use of a sieve removes the large particles, and only the material that passes through is used. Such a sieve is also useful if you make your own pigments from crushed pastels, or real rust powder as found elsewhere in Top Tips. This device was made as follows:



A plastic bottle was cut in half. The bottom half was taken and a large hole was cut in the bottom of it. Very fine mesh was then glued over the hole using superglue. Probably the trickiest part is locating mesh that is fine enough. The mesh I used has apertures of about 0.25mm or 1/100 inch. This mesh was once the material covering the front of a car speaker. Other possible sources include clothes dryer filters, air conditioner filters, or sheer fabric such as curtain material. By the way, you might want to make sure these things are no longer wanted before you take them.

The Paint.
Humbrol enamel paint was used, but I guess any model paint would work. However, I suggest using a colour close to that of the unpainted model. If, for example, the paint was much darker, it might show through when the vehicle is airbrushed.

The grit is just mixed with the paint in a spare bottle, adding a little at a time and applying it on an old scrap of plastic until the correct ratio is achieved.

The Application.
After locating a good reference source, I marked out on the model with a pencil the areas to be coated. Then I practised by brushing the paint on to a scrap piece of plastic. I found that the best results came from fully loading up the brush and slowly moving it across the surface. Try to get a good even coverage on the first pass, as going back over it tended to leave irregular marks. Anyway, I wouldn’t be too worried about making it perfect, because once the model is painted the texture is subtle and not easy to see.




Good luck, kids!

wow thank you for this wonderful tip ,i will be trying this in the future sometime

Thanks Dave. I know there's other ways, like airbrushing Mr Surfacer, with really good results as shown here:- http://vodnik.republika.pl/pages/nonslip/nonslip.htm

The way I did it seemed easier, but each to his own.

Cheers
JT

Great technique can't wait to try it out

Thanks a lot JT!

I know Francois Verlinden did a anti-slip coating on a Bradley fighting vehicle in one of his books from the VERLINDEN WAY series,but that is many years ago,and I don't know anymore how he did it.

Your method looks really good!

Greetings,Ron.

excellent! makes me want to re-build my Bradley A0 kit

thank you for this great tip.