Here's a 1/48 Tamiya IV with Voyager PE set. I was thinking of not adding a camo pattern and staying dark yellow - is this correct on zimmerit? This is a IVJ but, I added zim anyway. A few injector marks I now notice on the inside sideskirts (what was I thinking?). I just got the MIG DVD for color modulation, chipping, etc, so I was going to try a few of those techniques. I already messed up not leaving enough dark areas - at least in these pics. Thanks for looking

i can't see any problems with having a camo pattern with zimm, but i'm not an expert. let me know what that dvd says about chipping, it's something i've never quite mastered.

Looking good Greg can't wait to see the pics with the camo added

Zimmerit was applied to Panzer IV Ausf, J through mid September, 1944, so that in itself is not a problem. Each factory had their own interpretation of the regulations, but most had the coating applied to the glacis plate (with the three access hatches) as well as the front vertical plates. This is a nuisance to apply (and must have been in real life), as the hinges, hatch joints, and access bolts must be kept clear of the putty. The putty was also applied on the curved section of the front mudguards, in most cases, as well. On the other hand, areas that were covered by skirt armor were often not puttied, including the upper hull sides. I have only seen the Zimmerit applied to the turret skirts on a few vehicles, and these were early H models.
Cammo was applied at the unit level during the Zimmerit period, so an all-Dunkelgelb vehicle is possible (a replacement tank rushed into service, for instance). However, Germany had lost air superiority by 1944, so there was a strong motivation to get disruptive camouflage paint on most vehicles. In some cases, what appears to be a one color scheme in a photo is actually a very heavy coat of dust on a standard three-color scheme (the paints were often heavily thinned and applied with a spray gun).

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback and info. Maybe I can add some spare tracks or gear on the front to hide that area some and then only need to add a little bit more of zim. I need to research this a little more - I haven't seen many panzer J pics out there.

Nice build you've got there, and 1/48 scale to boot! Awesome. Like the damaged zimm look in a couple of the areas, gives it some character. Agree with you regarding the injection marks on the inside of the turret armor, but shouldn't be too hard to correct. May want to hollow out the MG barrels, but do be careful.

Looking forward to seeing your progress. Cheers -

Tim

I decided on a winter camo scheme to use for my IVJ. The pic on the bottom is a late IVH with turret skirt zimmerit, so I figure it will work for an early IVJ. I have extra tracks and the side skirts to use also. I've been building a panther in the meantime. I found the Voyager PE sets cheap, so I'm trying them out. The putty zim is still intimidating, but I'l try it someday.

looking good so far can't wait to see this one finished. Ant