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In-Box Review
135
PSP Plating
PSP Plating
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by: Seb Viale [ SEB43 ]

Introduction

PSP plating has been developed prior to WWII to quickly build temporary airfield strips in remote area where civil engineers aren’t supposed to be around. It has been called Marsden Matting or Marston mats (or Marston Plate) for a town in North Carolina adjacent to Camp Mackall airfield where the material was first manufactured. The PSP has been made from durable steel. They are made of steel stripes with holes punched through it in rows. The plate has a U-shape and channels are located between the holes. Hooks were formed along on a long-sided edge and slots along the other side so that they can be connected to each other. In order to achieve this on a long surface, the plates were laid in staggered pattern. In total, during WWII, 800 millions square feet of PSP have been produced.˛

Due to cost and weight issues, the modern PSP have been improved using lightweight aluminum but the general design remains similar as the original with the addition of hooks and grooves on both sides in order to ease building procedure.

Before the release of the PAM set, the only 1/35 PSP PE kit was the honorable Verlinden one, produced in metal. Since it is generally used for airfield purpose, most of the current available PE kits are in 1/48 or 1/72 from numerous providers.

Pro Art Models is busy releasing kits to “pimp up” the M1078 SF support vehicle and this kit is part of the deal. As always the resin parts are packed in a plastic zip lock bag and protected by a sturdy carton box.

Contents of the kit:

• 1 PE frets for 4 PSP Plates
• 4 resin parts for shaping purpose.

Review

Due to the design of the PSP; it is complicated to obtain a perfect shape match to the real one. With this new set, Pro Art Models really tackled this design issue providing resin parts to achieve this result. The plates have an exact (scaled) match in dimension with the original parts.
Four resin parts are provided to shape the PE. As mentioned in the introduction, PSP has two channels between the rows of holes. In order to achieve this, you need to press the PSP sandwiched between the two long resin parts and clamp it in place for a limited amount of time.
Two parts are used to punch the holes in the shape. The flanges of the holes are intended to improve anchoring of the plate onto soils. Normally such small parts are not represented on the other PE kits. While punching the hole, you will improve the final look of your PSP.

The kit comprises 4 PSP and if you need more plating you need to order extra PE part and this is a good idea from PAM with this option, as the kit is really affordable.

Conclusion

I started some trials. My conclusions are as following:

• Forming the middle grooves requires some time. I did not use the two clamps but I squeezed the jig instead. This is perfectly working, but not at the extremities of the plate.

• While punching the holes, if inducing too much stress to the overall structure of the plate you will lose the flatness. You need to press the plate again with the large jig. Nevertheless, the final look is pretty convincing. And with more experience, you will be able to produce the plate rapidly.

Since I don't have a connection with the manufacturing of this kit or the release, I feel that my review is not biased in any way.

EDITORS NOTE: On the manufacturers product link provided below, there is a series of photos with great tips on assembling the PSP kit in review for anyone that needs some help.
SUMMARY
Highs: Final appearance is good. And with the option of buying only the PE parts for refill (6 Euros/ 4 PSP), the set is pretty cheap.
Lows: Can be a tedious process to produce the plate (87 holes to punch), losing the flat appearance after punching the holes.
Verdict: Highly recommended, nice approach with the PE refill.
Percentage Rating
92%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: PAU-35044
  Suggested Retail: 16 Euros
  Related Link: Manufacturers product link
  PUBLISHED: Jan 04, 2012
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 87.06%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 88.52%

About Seb Viale (seb43)
FROM: PARIS, FRANCE

Back to Europe, I am living in Paris since december 2011 with my Wife. We have a nice 6 years old daughter, and a 3 years Baby boy. I am doing AFV modern era. I started when I was a teenager , back to business after 10 years of break due to Sport (Baseball, yes european plays baseball) and Unive...

Copyright ©2021 text by Seb Viale [ SEB43 ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Hi Bill I guess Mauro has provided the answer for the color question. Taking into account : 1) the price of Pro Art set 2) the number of plates you would need for a 1:32nd scale aircraft dio ...other options may be worth considering http://www.radubstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=202 Frenchy
JAN 04, 2012 - 09:05 AM
That's much more reasonable, 18 pieces for basically $18, covering about 4" x 8". This is what Pro Art should be selling; what a rip off!
JAN 04, 2012 - 09:09 AM
Regarding the pics, they are correctly rotated but the uploading script seems to play tricks... I tried uploading new ones but they keep coming out like this. I will check what's the deal and upload again. Sorry for the inconvenience I will try to remedy this ASAP.
JAN 04, 2012 - 10:13 AM
Don't worry Mario, however they are exhaustive. Thanks to have posted the article and thanks to Seb for the review cheers
JAN 04, 2012 - 10:34 AM
As others have pointed out, the Verlinden PSP set is not the only other one on the market. But what is interesting about the Pro-Art set is that it allows you to make the PSP more 3-dimensional and realistic. All the other sets are just flat sheets. I wonder if you could buy the Pro-Art set, and then use the jig to improve other 1/35 scale PSP sheets? Are they the same size?
JAN 05, 2012 - 12:10 PM
Frenchy, you were reading my mind. And Radu Brinzan is great to deal with and aces for service and quality. His seat belts for 1/32nd aircraft are the gold standard. And I believe he mentioned somewhere he'd work with modelers on price who need larger numbers of these mats. I would like to know, too, if the resin forming tools could be used to improve the other Marsden mats. And, thanks, Mauro, for the info. I wonder if the mats rusted?
JAN 06, 2012 - 03:43 AM
Bill Nope since the central grooves and holes have a smaller thickness that is not present on the Verlinden ones. For the other set I cannot comment I don't have them. HTH Cheers Seb
JAN 06, 2012 - 04:19 AM
Hello everyone, I can see that there are a number of questions about my PSP planks. They are detailed on both sides, on one side they feature indented grooves and indented edges around the holes, while on the other side they feature raised edges around the holes and raised ribs. So, they do feature "3D" detail. The hooks do not need any special tool to bend. They are small and thin and they can be easily bent, one or two at a time, with a pliers. After that they can be interlocked as needed. As for the price, I tried to keep it as low as possible. The sheet is very large, half the size of a printerr sheet - compare it with similarly sized brass "real estate" from other manufacturers. But I can offer discounts for bulk purchases, so please contact me via the store if you want to cover a large area. I have a limited stock of these, but do not worry, nothing is really "out of stock" in my store for long - I make these, so if you need them, I make them. Thanks Bill for your endorsement. Radu
JAN 06, 2012 - 09:12 PM
I guess so, but I believe it depends on the geographical location and the degree of wear. Here's a Coast Guard base in Greenland : Full size Even though the pictured mats are apparently not PSPs, but something very similar... HTH Frenchy
JAN 06, 2012 - 10:15 PM
   
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