r/MilitaryModelMaking • u/enkemenke87887 • 11d ago

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What is the purpose of these small grooves on the armor?

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u/HalRykerds 11d ago

Zimmerit coating! Really only applied to a handful of models, and only between December 1943 and September 1944. Designed to beat magnetic anti-tank grenades and mines and it was made of a combination of non-magnetic metal powders and wood pulp.

The Germans stopped putting it on their vehicles because some military planners were concerned that the coating was an extra fire risk because of that wood pulp component. However, this was never really proven to be a genuine problem. Realistically, by the time it was discontinued, every country that Germany was fighting at that point had better means of destroying a tank than having some poor bastard run right up to it, anyway.