HI All,

I've been back at this armor modeling game for several years now, but I'll be working on only my second tank with Zimmerit here shortly. My very first WWII model, once returning to the hobby, was a Dragon Tiger I Late (with Zim), and I'd gotten comments on the build that it would have benefitted from a wash to highlight the Zimmerit. My next Tiger I build is going to be the Cyber-Hobby Otto Carius Tiger I Battle of Malinokva, and, in particular because this tank is so valuable as a kit, I want it to be as perfect as I can make it. I plan to paint it with a primarily Dunkelgelb scheme, with splotches of green, to match the Cyber-Hobby box art.

So, my question is how to best highlight a mostly dark yellow Zimmerit finish. Would it be best to do a gloss or satin coat and then simply brush on a darker brown or darker tan wash to 'get in the cracks' of the Zim, or would there be a better method? My experience with Zimmerit is limited to that first Tiger, which, overall, turned out pretty well, to my completely amateur eyes, but I know it could have been a LOT better with details such as highlighting the Zimmerit. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

I haven't build anything with zimmerit, but as far a the washes go, first spray a coat of future floor wax as the gloss coat. Once it's cured, use a dark brown wash over the entire vehicle. This will make that zim really stand out.

Hope this helps.

I disagree, I'd use a medium brown wash to keep it from looking too stark.

Subtlety is the name of the game Curt. As Ian said, go with a medium brown wash like Tamiya's dark earth or similar. If it's not dark enough, you can always add another wash...too dark & you've got to look at repainting. Then when the wash has dried, flat coat, which will mute the contrast slightly, & if you choose, dry brush the raised parts of the zimm with dark yellow or perhaps Tamiya's buff/deck tan

Real Zimmerit is pretty thinly applied (c.5mm on the ridges) so I'd avoid too much contrast. Remember also that the light usually comes from above, so the shadow is not in the deepest part of the groove but the downward face, while the light reflects most from the upward-facing face. You might try spraying the darker tone from below and the lighter from above on the Zimmerit-covered surfaces.

And obviously experiment on a non-critical subject first, like a plastic milk carton.