Armortek

Hi,

Not really looking to reopen a can of worms, but the Middle Wallop net looks a plausible pattern. Zooming in to the photo the strips do appear to be hessian but as I don't have a ref for IR reflective tape, perhaps this is painted hessian too?

What I would point out is the museum nets' scrims appear to be folded and possibly glued in place, whereas on genuine WWI/WWII nets the scrims were tied with twine to the nets, called "garnishing", or latterly stitched or stapled (Drawing No 98240 "Method of Scrimming Nets" Public Record Office). The scrim strips were dyed appropriate tones of green and brown to match the theatre of operations. Guy Hartcup's book mentioned in my earlier post gives an excellent grounding in the subject.

From a modelling stand point, making up a 4'x4' scale net would be a serious knitting project...

regards
Fabrice

I think it is safe to say that the netting currently on display at Middle Wallop is not correct They may have some, but I could not see any. My photos are therefore correct if you wish to create an authentic recent reproduction of the netting, lets look on the positive side!
Guy Hartcup's 'Camouflage' is an interesting read, but unfortunately is lacking in specific detail or photographs of this subject. Please, if you have a good image of these nets, it would be interesting to see some more photos posted here?
Many thanks for the insight. Steve

Steve,
Alternatively, try searching photos of WWII Allied artillery. The positions often seem to be netted over and in the photos you can see the pattern of the scrim against the sky.
The are a few such shots in the Osprey Campaign Series.
Good luck.
Fabrice

found this on evil bay might help a bit

http://www.ebay.com/sch/saisine/m.html? ... 7675.l2562

colin

Colin,
Great find!
Now we only have to agree on "plausible" scrim patterns
Cheers, Fabrice
PS your 2003 Mid Prod "still tinkering" sounds like mine. Bergepanther fodder!

hi fabrice

a few ideas from these pics their are a lot of 1/35 us / uk kits with the long strand type on them the swirly type were for artillery but of course used on armour so you cant go wrong really

yes my tigger still messing with it kind of lost interest in it for the last few years must get back at it

colin

Hi, I have put in an order for some of this netting so it can be seen in the hand. I will take it to Tank Fest, so if you are there please do ask to see it.
Steve

Hi All,

I am still looking into this as well and the only colour image I have found is a painting of the camouflage strips being applied. I spoke to a chap at the On-Track show this year and he related that his dad as an evacuee was adding the hessian to the netting as a child after school and apparently other voluntary organisation were involved. So is there a Ministry pamphlet for the patterns and colours used. See the other pic I found for hessian colours unfaded.

Mark.

Well, I went ahead and got some of the netting Colin recommended.





The 2in British mesh translates into 8.45mm or so at one sixth and as you can see, the mesh size is spot on. The material is a bit stiff as supplied and needs to be coloured but with the addition of scrim, it will be perfect. I just need to finish my Cent now and get back to the Comet.

Thanks for all the input to this thread, positive and negative. Certainly helped me, as ever with this forum.

Regards

Stephen

Stephen,

Being a "domestic God", may I suggest you wash the netting in fabric softner (eg Comfort) to reduce starch content and to increase pliability, this is the same trick that works for the 1/6th figure uniforms (actually a handy hint from master-modeller Dave Dibb, thank you, Sir!)

This scale mesh is a great starting point for garnishing, but there seems to be no short-cut to weaving the scrim into it. Pick a scrim pattern and set to. Glue it, stitch it or tie it in bunches. Perfect job to start while watching "The World at War" in toto, over several evenings. Mind you, after four or five episodes, the faces of the refugee children start to haunt one's dreams. A reminder what was fought for.

Aussie specific question: Did the RAAC have a unique scrim pattern for Vietnam? Was this garnished in theatre or just shipped over? Or did the troops prefer to use fresh cut foliage the way that most German units did in '44-45 Europe?

cheers,Fabrice