ok guys can anyone give me a good reliable method of creating this on a tiger mid
i have never done this before so be gentle with me
thanks
dave
There are several mothods. 1. The expensive method. Buy after market zimmerit either resin or photo etch. There are several companies who make this, Eduard makes Photo etch zimmerit and resin zimmerit is available from Cavalier and others. 2. Get a set of Tamiya zimmerit tools and some Tamiya 2-part polyester putty. Takes a bit of practice but its cheap and looks very realistic. 3. Get a set AFV zimmerit tools and some Milliput or Squadron putty. 4. Use a soldering iron to melt zimmerit pattern into the plastic. This method I have never tried myself.
A really cheap way to do it is some Squadron white putty and a flat head screw driver and some liquid cement.
Squadron putty you can get either white are green, doesnt matter cost $2.50 us dollars.Not sure if you can get it in the U.K. Just spread the stuff on the surface you want zimmerit,Then youll need a flat head screw driver,every body has one of these in there home im sure.Now start pressing the end of the screw driver in the putty to make the zimm look.Dont wait to long are the putty will start harden on you.If this happends use your liquid cement $1. something U.S. dollars.to soften the putty back up. Its very easy i,ve only done it twice myself with no practice on any scrap and it looks just like zimm on german tanks in the pics. But you should practice on some scrap first to see how to do it.Good luck to you.
Hi Dave
there are many diffrent ways to do zimmerit!
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there is the hot iron way were you use the hot iron to melt the sides to look like the coating.
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there is using filler which you spread onto the sides were you want the coating to go & with a roller or a flat piece of metal with one end about 5mm wide you press this into the filler.
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almost the same as above but you roll out milliput (white) i`ve been told is better & then cut it to the shape of the side & same with roller or flat metal piece.This one you need to use lots of water so the milliput does not dry out.
Thats some of the ways in short but they are all on this site & i`m sure that one of the good gents here will let you know were they all are. Alan [8-]
P.S what part of kent are you in?
crockett that was 1 fine article
thanks for sharing
They putty and screwdriver method is the tried and proven “old school” method, and the one I tried on my few attemptes. However, I’ve seen some really nice results with the Tamiya putty and zimm tool.
One comment. I don’t actually recommend the Squadron putty as it dries very quickly, so that gives you one more element to worry about. Re-applying cement to soften it is just an extra step, and having to zimm panels in several sections is just a pain.
Does anyone have any experience with R&J Products Zimm-It-Rite kit? It’s only $15.00 USD and gives you two MIG Zimmerit tools along with a tube of putty that can do three (3) 1:35 scale AFVs?
Geesh! I sound like a saleswhore! Anyway, I’ve seen the photo etched Verlinden kits for $26.00 to $30.00 USD’s and am considering going with the old school method and be true to our craft.
The reason I would choose a kit with Zimm tools and putty is because it is cheaper and I plan on doing more than one model with the kit. Plus, I am no good with scribing fine lines in a straight line with a flat blade screwdriver due to the astigmatism in these old peepers.
Thx Steve!
ATAK makes very good zim for a tiger. Easy to apply looks great. If you use the soldering iron and “mess up”, oh well. I have had good results with putty but I would advise you to practice first and work with small areas. Greg
Hehe. That is nothing to the price of Fruils! Many people seem to use them too. I have used Cavalier’s zimmerit and for about $18 is a safe and easy method to use, especially if you don’t want to ruin an expensive kit.
Have the Cavalier set for the Tiger II (Porsche) and am really looking forward to using it. The resin is so wafer-thin there’ll be no overscale effect when its on, and it should conform to the surface contours easy. It runs around $30 here in Australia, which is a good chunk of cash for a detail, but the effect should be superb and more reliable than working from scratch with putty and a blade (though I’ve got to try that some day, if only because it’s the traditional method!)
TB379
Cavalier makes nice resin zimmerit which is pretty thin , has to be trimmed from the mold sheet and glued to the tank , the only problem with this is you STILL have to fix the corners as they usually don’t fit exactly as factory applied zimm usually does .
OR you can get some tamiya polyester putty and use the tamiya zimm tools to apply ( very thinly ) to the hull and turret . This works great for standard zimm patterns ( panther ,tiger I &II models ).
I also have used milliput to do zimmerit , this is a bit tougher and takes practice , but also comes out well .
Find a good website that gives you the various zimmerit patterns for the various tanks and dates of application , they all differ so do research to find the correct pattern for your tank model .
Ive got a question for ya iam gona build the DML tiger I and have the AFV Zimm tool do i have to have the white milliput or can i use the standard milliput putty?
I couldn’t find a picture of the AFV club tools , but if they are anything like the Tamiya ones , I would go with the tamiya polyester putty method when using these , it gives an extremely realistic thickness to the zimmerit if done correctly ( very thin for the most part ) .
With milliput (which is good for oddball patterns such as Stug III waffle or Panther checkerboard ) I use the small screwdriver or homemade punch methods ( waffle), it is pretty time consuming but comes out nicely , just do a small reasonable area at a time and allow the putty to set up for 15-30 mins before starting the pattern so it stays in place better .
Dip the tool in water frequently to keep it form sticking to the tooling (some use talcum instead of water ) , the great thing about both techniques is you can "chip " the zimm off to simulate combat damage after it dries , which is a great effect .
I usually use the superfine white putty for my milliput zimm , but I see no reason why regular could not be used , just roll it out super thin before application , paper thin is best in 1/35 scale .
Good luck 
Here’s a few photos of the AFV tool i think it should work just fine
My greatest problem with using putty is that I can never get it to spread right, that is, it usually comes out overly-thick, scale wise. If you’ve seen pictures of German AFVs with their zimmerit chipping off, you’ll see how thin the darned stuff should be.
(BTW, since the dark-yellow base was sprayed over the zimm, what color is the underlying metal under it should you choose to model the flaking?)
The tragedy is that German AFVs are my favorite subject. I just end up making zimm-less vehicles.
It should be very thin to be "in scale " true .
Under the zimmerit I would go with a factory primer red color , that would be a good guess , and the color most modelers go for .
I prefer late war vehicles myself , I find zimmerit a tedious chore to be honest , plus I like the looks of the late war gear anyhow .