Deep in the discussion on one of the threads here on Zimmerit there was reference to a site called Ausfwerks. (http://www.ausfwerks.com/). I checked it out and was pretty impressed. Maybe it’s common knowledge among AFV junkies but I’d never heard of it. Anyhow, it’s a small site aimed at selling things armor - vallejo paints (cheap I might add) and a variety of PE/resin/metal add ons as well as Aves products especially Apoxie Sculpt. It’s accompanied by a small but very good collection of photo builds; longer articles and a page on techniques (Zimmerit, scratches, vision slits, creating texture for rolled steel etc) that range from basic to over my head. The various text pieces usually have some tie in with products sold but that’s no problem. There are some sweet builds here. The place is small enough to ask for your opinions: I gave it and the owner answered me, telling me that they were expanding. (Someone a small Brit kit peddler told me that bad times don’t seem to slow down modelers: think demographics are at work here.)
I did use Ausfwerks #1 toy Aves Apoxie Sculpt - a two part apoxy putty that I tried for Zimmerit. (This was before I’d seen the Ausfwerks site - the lead to Aves lead came from Armorama.) It’s very neat stuff. (Think it’s a little like Miliput.) It’s acrylic so it’s very people friendly to work with. It has long working time - at least three hours. As I found out, it is possible to remove the stuff after it has set with no damage done to the plastic. That’s one advantage over standard putty. Apoxie Sculpt, judging from YouTube is popular among fantasy and crafts type for sculpting. $12 will buy 4 ounces, enough to put Zimmerit on a division of styrene Panzers. (http://www.avesstudio.com/ for all the official propaganda.)
I’m not sure how to stacks up against acrylic sculpting materials used by artists. The latter stuff (under several brands) appears to be great for seam filler, but I wasn’t able to figure out how long to let to set before trying it for Zimmerit. Initially it’s too thin - a few hours later it’s set. There has to be an intermediate period - I just didn’t find it. Apoxie sculpt is workable as soon as mixed and stays that way for a couple of hours plus. I don’t claim that I did a good job making Zimmerit with it. The real trick with anything is to get a really thin covering otherwise the Zimmerit will be out of scale. I didn’t help my own cause because, in retrospect, it’s clear I should have put the stuff on before construction. So it worked okay on the sides of the upper hull where there were few obstructions. I patterned the stuff with a roller made by Trumpeter (set comes with two rollers and three stamps - all work, but Lion Roar makes a similar set for $20 that’s made out of metal and no doubt better - didn’t know it at the time). In retrospect I wish I’d bought the cheap Tamiya tools recommended by Ausfwerks. But no matter what, laying down Zim on a surface where there are lots of parts in place is a real challenge no matter what you use - I may remove the Apoxie from some areas simply because the patterns don’t look right. (We’ll say there was battle damage, or that Pvt Muller got into some French wine and forgot to Zim part of the front hull.) Actually none of the patterns really look right. One gent on Armorama said that putty Zimmerit isn’t ever going to be scale and never patterned perfectly so the modeler should look for “Zimness” and be happy. I guess I got that on the major surfaces, although practice would improve things greatly no doubt. I’m not sure, however, that I’ll ever need to use it again. My remaining German Dragon kits either don’t need it or have it on. I’ve got a Tamiya King Tiger inbound and I can and probably should leave it off that one. (Might add that I bet Apoxie Sculpt would be perfect to a whole range of accessories like sand bags, tarps and a small base for delicate PE work. Ausfwerks has an impressive build using it for creating weld marks. )
There may be a problem that has no solution here. I’ve looked over two of my new Dragon kits that have Zim molded into the kit. Patterns are good and scale is better than anything the modeler could match. But it doesn’t have the “Zimness” I’ve seen from good kits covered with witches’ brew. (No doubt resin Zim would be a better solution if you don’t mind the considerable cost. Frankly, I’d think that stuff would flunk the scale test too - Zimmerit was glorified paint and those grooves were what, maybe an inch thick?) Looking at photos isn’t any help either. Many taken close-up show a very pronounced Zimmerit texture. Those taken from a distance, show a kind of fuzziness that we know is Zim, but I bet you’d fool someone that didn’t know what the stuff was. What’s a guy to do? I was only following orders.
Eric