I'm tired of paying big bucks for after-market P-E or resin zimmerit for many panzers. I've tried Green (and White) Putty, but it dries too quickly to work, and it bonds too well to the plastic surface. Somebody must have some 'home-brew' which is cheaper, easier to use, or more realistic. Preferably some compound, which when dry, can be chipped off to simulate hits and other damage.

Try the two part exopy sculpting material. Long working time( 3 - 4 hours), Usually can be readily worked. Does not shrink. Give it a try.
capnjock

I am new to Zimmerit but i used the Tamiya Zimmerit Applicator with Tamiya putty to do the Zim work and it is quite good.

To Capnjock: Do you mean 2 part epoxy putty? And do you have to roll it into flat sheets before applying it to the vehicle?

Biggles,

you might want to give this stuff a try. I haven't tried it but it looks promising.

www.avesstudio.com/Products/Apoxie_Sculpt/apoxie_sculpt.html

Hi, Check out these links for good HOW To's on Zimmerit:

http://www.tankfive.net/pagine%20inglesi/tips&tricks/zimmerit.htm

http://www.ww2modelmaker.com/Tips/HotZimArticle.htm

Yes, rolling epoxy putty/sculpting material is easier than globbing it on and then trying to level it. Well it is for me anyway. BUT then Cavalier came along and I was saved.
capnjock

"Zimm-It-Rite", 2 part epoxy compound that realistically simulates zimmerit. 90g package (enough for three 1:35 scale vehicles) comes with instructions and tips for use. This material stays 'workable' for 2-3 hours and is water solubale until it sets. It can be applied 'wafer thin' or used as thick as you like to sculpt sandbags, packs, other gear, or figures. Does not craze styrene.
Cost 10 bucks
http://www.rjproducts.com/

Never used this stuff, but looks promising

To Capn Jock: I've used Cavalier zimmerit sheets and they look quite nice, expensive though. At the time I didn't realize that zimmerit was applied AROUND items such as tool brackets and NOT under them. Cavalier zimmerit is made with the locating spaces to glue these brackets on the surface; instead, these areas should be trimmed out and the brackets glued directly to the plastic surface of the vehicle, ie, the tool brackets and spare track brackets on Panther and Jagdpanther, and King Tigers. I think I'll try the stuff by R & J.

Biggles2: This may seem late, but I recently posted something about the way I did my zimmerit in the rivet review, title: Panther Ausf.a late with zimmerit

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/23355&page=1

It might help....

Tamiya Putty and AFV Club zimmeit toolhttp://gallery.kitmaker.net/data/13711/PICT01041.JPG

Dave

It's been discontinued for some time now. I don't know the reason why it just states that on the R&J site.

Alan

Neither of those links take you to a page showing anything other than a page of search features and various sites such as "the best place to buy zimmerit" . Did you check these links lately as it says these domains are up for sale in other part of the web page. I'm using Firefox as my browser if that has any relevance.

Alan

I just finished my first Zimm job using the lionroar roller tool, not bad. Be sure to clean it regularly so it dosen't gum up, but it was quick to use and the pattern looks good. I used the Tamiya polyester 2 part putty for the zimm, just be sure to let it set up enough before working it otherwise it makes a mess, should be almost dry when using the roller. Good luck!

Biggles2

I have used this stuff, http://www.hlj.com/product/WRK00036 Mori Mori putty with Tamiya zimm rakes. Results in best zimm I have seen and is a seriously funky yellow colour when you apply it

Paul & &

A few years back I ran across a do it yourself zimmerit in a modeling magazine. I tried it and it worked pretty well.
The product they recomended was spackling compound and a broken razor saw blade.
The spackle was spread with the blade and it produced a good effect. The only problem I encountered is that it took a long time to cure. I used various width sizes of razor saw blades to cover large or smaller areas. It was pretty easy to remove in case of a mistake. Other problems was it gummed up at times but cleaning the saw blade usually took care of that problem.
I recomend trying it on the bottom hull of a tank so you can work out the problems that you might encounter. Remember it takes several days to cure, so handling problems can leave fingerprints until completely cured.
Joe

Cost v. time and effort. If you take a wee bit of time you usually can get a set of Cavalier for less than $20 with shipping at most $25 Figure cost of 2 part epoxy putty and tool to spread it. Messing things up (oh ya you can count on that) and time to do and apply. I just went totally with Cavalier about 5 years or so back. No fuss no muss. I picked up some generic pattrn stuff for $15 and have so far used it on 2 tanks and have enough left ovr to probably do a 3rd.

I've only done zimmerit once, but I also vote for Aves Apoxie Sculpt. I've used it more for other stuff than zimmerit so far.

I'd consider it a "soft" putty. It keeps detail nice, doesn't rip (As long as your tools are wet) it's easy to spread around. When dried it's not rock hard, it's easy to carve into and it's real smooth and easy to sand down.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/845

Just don't use the over sized screwdriver like that guy.


This article is the one that turned me on to the stuff:

http://ausfwerks.com/techniques/zim/main.html