Hi all, im building an early Stug IV and im using Eduards PE zimm. There is some zimm parts that go on the rear deck. As seen below.
Tigerman has the same opinion as me, that hes never seen it on the rear deck area. Does anyone have any pics on their PC of such? Id like to see it in the flesh, so to speak.
In the instructions for the zimm, Eduard quote thier references as …
Armegedon / Artur Majewski - Stug w Akcji
GERMAN MILITARY VEHICLES IN PHOTOGRAPHS #2 /July 98
Wydawnictwo Militaria #94 Sturmgeschutz IV
If anyone has any of these publications, any chance of a scan?
Can’t help you there, Guy, but I have to say that I’ve heard some negative comments about that Eduard zimmerit, and have been a litlte leery of it, as I own several unbuilt kits of it. But I have to say that that looks pretty damned good for a zimm job there! Can’t wait to see what you do with it!
Hey, where are the missing pieces? That looks pretty complete to me?
Looks good to me- what are you using to attach it? Is it a PITA to work with, or any advice you can give on working with their PE zimm? I have a set for a Brummbar and could use the advice and/or cautions you could give.
Hi Dre, I expected the PE zimm to be a real PITA but as it turned out, it wasnt that bad at all. I use to attach it some Slow cure cyano. This gives you a few seconds to get it in the right position. As long as you use the eduard stuff thats specific to your kit, i dont think you can go wrong. he stuff fits perfectly. Ive just given mine a coat of primer, now my mission is to hit the edges that are visible with some Mr surfacer 500.
OK, now I’M confused Guy–you said in the original post:
“There is some zimm parts that go on the rear deck as seen beloew…”—and then you had your picture there–it certainly looks like you have all the parts on there?!?
I guess what I was asking is, what more parts could possible go on the rear deck?!? It looks completely covered where it should be–what “Zimmed parts that go on the rear deck” are missing in your photo?
The question is whether or not the rear deck WOULD have zimmerit as Lufty has installed them and as the Eduard set directed.
I have to admit it’s pretty odd to see zim applied to the rear deck of a vehicle but stranger things have happened. The zim order reads that it was to be applied to all the vertical sides of a vehicle up to a certain height (the reason that large vehicles such as the Jadgtiger and others don’t have zim all the way up to their roofs), so I’m somewhat skeptical…but in absence of a photo actually showing it applied there, it’s somewhat a case of trying to prove a negative.
Bingo Wbill. Exactly what he said Doog. Im not going mad LOL. The problem was, well not a problem really. Id like to see a picture, maybe from one of Eduards references, of a Stug with the zimm on the rear deck. Where Eduard have made pieces for. Shown in my pictures.
Ive never seen any pics of a zimmeritted rear deck.
Man…talk about a brain fart…I just recently built a StuG III with waffle pattern zim and they had zim all over the rear deck and superstructure as you show in this pic…so I take back what I said previously. Given that the StuG IV incorporated many of the same features as the StuG III, it’s likely it also had zim on the rear decks. I’m guessing the assmuption on the differences with the StuGs it that they have this huge blind spot at the rear that would conceivably allow an enterprising infantryman to toss a magnetic mine onto the rear deck and cause serious mischief.
Lufty, the armored covers you see here are specific to a StuG III, not a IV. The IV still had the engine deck layout of the Pz IV chassis, different arrangement from the Pz III chassis.
Thw whole reason for zimm was to prevent the mine from sticking to vertical surfaces of the tank, so there isn’t much logical reason to have it on horizontal surfaces since gravity would hold the mine in place…I have also seen the waffle pattern on some StuG engine covers, but never on the entire engine deck as the eduard pic shows…I wouldn’t add it if it were my build but that is a personal decision…
Too late for my build as the zimm is on already. I think the picture of the Stug III is good enough reason to stick with it.
I realise that the main surfaces that were zimmed were the verticals because they were the most easily accessible to the enemy. The Pz III’s and IV’s decks were quite low. Im 6" 1 and imagine i could easily reach on top of the deck. . If i were a cunning rusky placing a mine on there wouldnt be too difficult. The taller tanks like the Panther and Tigers decks were a lot higher so i imagine the German powers that were, didnt deem it necessary to zimm them.
If the Stug was stationary theyd deserve to get blown up but if it was on the move i cant imagine the mine would stay upright. Remember, with the magnetic mines they needed to be stuck to the tank for the charge to detonate directly downwards. If it toppled over…No Boom boom.
The StuGs were treated differently in this regard vs. regular gun tanks. Not sure if it’s because of their blind spot/lack of rotating turret, or what. StuG IIIs, especially those with the waffle pattern, had it over every surface except the superstructure roof and fenders. Given that it was done for the StuG III on a regular basis and the shared heritage of the StuG IV being built with the same superstructure and other features…I’d say it had a good shot of zim on the rear deck just like the StuG III. The engine access hatches themselves weren’t zimmed, the zim was applied around their outlines and to the armored covers.
Great pic…I stand corrected…pics of StuG IV’s are extremely rare even though roughly as many were built as Tiger I’s…most of these were built after the zimm ban in the fall of '44 so it might be hard to get a good angle of one with zimm on the rear deck…
Lufty, glad the photos help. As MR pointed out, pics of the StuG IV are hard to come by so you may not be able to find one of a IV with zim on the rear deck. It’s plausible enough though that I don’t think you’ll have a problem running with it.
I actually finished this build on the StuG III some months back before the Tank Hunter’s GB was born. /forums/842246/ShowPost.aspx
