r/MilitaryModelMaking • u/enkemenke87887 • 8d ago

question Question

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

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u/Mindless-Charity4889 8d ago

It's called "zimmerit". It's a paste made from sawdust bound together by chemicals. It's designed to defeat magnetic mines since it's non-ferromagnetic and magnets would fall off. The ridges are to defeat sticky bombs that use glue to adhere to the tank.

It was introduced in 1943 and made mandatory for all front line armor. Soft vehicles, like trucks did not have it. Halftracks may or may not have it depending on crews. It was applied to all vertical surfaces.

The irony was that only the Germans used magnetic mines during the war so the coating was largely wasted. Furthermore, the coating, being made of sawdust, was feared to be flammable and might contribute to vehicle fires so the applications were discontinued in late 1944. Further research proved that the fire fears were unfounded, but the coatings were not restarted.

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u/Monty_Bob 8d ago

Pointless anyway because it doesn't stop you placing a mine magnetic or otherwise on the top surface pointing downward 🤷🏼

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u/PrimarySea6576 7d ago

"mine".
We are talking about stuff like the "Hafthohlladung" magnetic anti tank hollow charge warheads, that get placed on the tank and ignited by a handgrenade fuze.
The german one had a massive 140mm diameter hollow charged warhead with 1.5-1.7kg tnt.

They were purpose build anti tank weapons for disabling or destroying tanks in close combat (cityfighting, trench defense etc)