Sevo, have to agree, when practical, the tank should me well maintained and look nice, BUT is a combat environment, when you do get a few minutes after restocking ammo, refueling, track maint, FOOD, camo check and swap, your priority is shut-eye. Tow cables and other points of contact would have a bit of rust (comes in very fast) and a bit of mud. Shovel and axe blades in particular would not be allowed to be shiney..first priority is slop on some paint or mud, or stow it in a sponson box (which were not avail on Tigers) to prevent glare. That little bare metal, although seemingly insignificant, can very easily reflect sunlight and glare thru your camo. In 1944-45 Germany, not kosher with allies having complete air superiority. Had a CO that was very paranoid about bare shovels because he got his exe dragged over the coals by one of his tanks disclosing his unit's location by the gleam of one shovel on one tank.
To be realistic, paint on some dirt and bit of superficial rust on shovel/axe blades and grimey dirt overall and on tow cable ends. Tow cables are usually a very icky dirty mess to work with and very rarely cleaned. If the tank has been in the field for any length of time, tow cables would have been used to help someone and more often as not, not placed completely back in the "proper" stowage" positions.
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