Plastic bands for wrapping goods can be used for steelplates with the diamomndshaped pattern.
Here is a bit of the band.
[Blocked Image: http://www.papirmodeller.com/div/stairs1sm.jpg]
I painted it grey and did some removing of the paint on top of the pattern to make it look worn.
[Blocked Image: http://www.papirmodeller.com/div/stairs2sm.jpg]
Then I made a simple stairs to show how real it looks in 1:25 scale.
I was out mesuring the stairs outside my workshop,scaled it down to 1:25,and here is the result.
[Blocked Image: http://www.papirmodeller.com/div/stairs3sm.jpg] [Blocked Image: http://www.papirmodeller.com/div/stairs4sm.jpg]
I guess this also is useful in the armour section