rusty barbwire in north africa?

It depends on where and who you are modeling.  You would be right about the low humidity and rain fall. But since the African campaign went from 1940 (I think), to 1943 between the Germans, British, French, Italians, and Americans, many areas were passed over several times in the see-saw battles, so you could have rusty wire from the years before depending on certain locations like Tobruk and Benghazi.  I haven't done enough reading on the North African battles to be accurate.  Do a little research on the time and location that youy want to model to be accurate to a certain time period.  A good reference series that I loved was the old Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II from the '70's.  They only cost $1 at the time.  Try to look for them at used bookstores.

Isn't modern razor wire made of stainless steel? The stuff sitting on top of the junk-yard fences around here is as shiny as the day it was made, and we get 40+ inches of rain a year.

I have color photos taken by the Afrika Korps in Libya showing wire entanglements and obstacles. I don't know how long they had been in place, by they were completely rusty. Not bright orange rust, but a very dark chocolate brown color.

No telling how well they were stored before emplacment. Where was the wire manufactured? shipped from? How long in the port depot either side of the Med.? Even in the desert you'll get some oxidation of the steel and the carbon rate of period steel was such that it would oxidize easier than modern steel. That used for barbed wire would not be the of the quality used for machine parts, etc. it is essentialy a disposable product from wire.

You could run a safe bet and paint it a brown color and with some weathering would fit into context with the scene.

I've been considering a mix of brown/black with a slight red hue. not too much and definitely not orange. Oxidiezed I think would be my best bet.

If anyone has any color frames showing barbwire from north africa circa 1940-42, it would be of great help. 

Jason,

Rust is iron oxide, which as the name suggests, is a result of oxidation of iron, a fairly simple chemical reaction. Oxidation, also as the name suggests, takes place due to exposure to oxygen. You don't have to have water (humidity, rain) or salt (sea spray) to initiate oxidation, but those factors certainly act as a catalyst to the reaction, increasing the reaction time. In short, barbed wire close to the ocean or exposed to rainfall will rust faster because of the catalysts available.

The comments about humidity are certainly correct, but sure, iron will rust in the desert, just not as quickly as on the coast. As another post said, that barbed wire had been in north Africa for a long time and it came there by sea.

I can't speak from north African experience, but I have spent a lot of time working in arid and semi-arid areas of Australia where rainfall is minimal; wire rusts in central Australia, so I therefore assume that barbed wire did (does) rust in north Africa.

Hope this helps.

I'm going for a rusty look. I can't go wrong that way and now I have several modellers behind me!

However, I bet when I finally post pics of this dio, someone will come forward and say that the barb wire looks "too rusty" for the desert.

 hahaha

Thanks for the help! 

Jason 

Just to throw a little more information. I just finished reading a book on Italian armor in North Africa and one thing that came up was the winter stroms in the Sahara. During the Axis retreat from El Alamein it was the blinding rain storms that was both friend and foe to the Axis and the Allies. Tunisia was a quagmire of mud in many areas during this winter campaign. There was enough water for rust to begin. Also, during the summers the cold nights would condense any moisture upon the barbed wire. If this is sea mositure there is the added chance for salt to help with the corrosion.

I hope this helps some. This is the book I just read.

Iron Hulls Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa (Paperback)
by Ian Walker (Author)

Thanks! I've deceided to go for the standard rusty look. Can't go wrong that way.

 Jason