Hi, I have just purchased dragon’s King Tiger (Porsche Turret) this is the “Premium Edition” by the way. All of the painting guides show the tank with zimmerit, but there is none provided. I do not fell like coughing up the money for after market stuff, so what should I do? Is there any way to make your own zimmerit?
Yes. You can use Miliput, Squadron putty, Tamiya two-part apoxy to name a few. You would need to take a flat screwdriver, 5mm if I recall for 1/35 scale and imprint it in the putty, or tools such as the Tamiya zimmerit rake or AFV zimmerit roller. You can also rake it with a razor saw. Check the archives, there are plenty of how-to threads available.
I just finished my first attempt at zimm, using milliput and a pocket screwdriver on the easy-to-get-to areas, and a low-wattage soldering iron with the tip filed to the same size as the screwdriver elsewhere. I was happy with it, enough that if I do another one (possible) I’ll so it the same way. My one gaff was not getting the putty even in depth in a couple of places, and it’s noticable after the putty sets up. I found that a layer no thicker than .060" worked best.
You can use the hot iron technique, this is the old Tamiya kit:
