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Howdy, fellow Model builders.
I'm about to weather my first vehicle with Zimmerit. So i'm looking for some tips on how to do that. I did some research myself and some people say a Dark Wash over the whole vehicle and another guy says a Dot-Filter.
Maybe you guys can give me a few tips.
cheers
David 
Hi, David!
I don't like "heavy" washes.
I apply my "camo-patterns" first. Once these have completely dried, (24-48 hours), I much prefer to start out with a much-thinned-down dark pin wash- It's much more subtle, and it doesn't make as much of a mess as a heavy, overall wash. You'll have better control over your work with a pin wash. Once this pin wash has completely dried, I like to dry-brush a subtle "light dust-color" over the the raised edges of the Zimmerit- I always work with enamels, so I will use TESTORS MODEL MASTER II Enamel 2103 RAL 7027 AFRIKA DUNKELGRAU '42 for this dry-brushing step. TESTORS MODEL MASTER also makes this color in Acrylics, or you can use an equivalent color made by other manufacturers. RAL 7027 DUNKELGRAU IS NOT as dark as one would think it would be. "DUNKELGRAU" is German for "DARK GRAY" in English, so the name of the color is actually pretty misleading. This is a nice, even, Light-NEUTRAL "dried mud"/dusty color, and should serve you well if you want to use it as a thinned-down solution for "dusting-up" your vehicles with your airbrush. I use it all of the time, and I'm VERY HAPPY with it...
Anyway, you'll want to "go light" on the dry-brushing; just enough to bring out the raised edges of your Zimmerit. Don't worry about the variations in the colors of your camo-job. Once you airbrush the whole shebang with your sealer, the dry-brushing will become more subtle. I like to add a tiny bit of a light-colored weathering powder to my "dry-brushing paint-mix" palette; just touching the very tip of your weathering brush into the weathering powder is plenty-enough. I like to use a "Creamy-Yellowish-White" color that I've custom-mixed from my own stock of weathering powders. Doing this will help prevent the dry-brushing "mix" from becoming "glossy" as you work. I like to keep this mix slightly "wet" with a drop or two of thinners. BEFORE actually "dry-brushing" the model itself, I will "dry-out" the loaded weathering brush by swiping the bristles of the brush back and forth on an old cotton t-shirt or cotton flannel shirt. These materials work better than any other material for this kind of a task. I ALSO like using these types of old rags to wipe ALL of my brushes with. These materials are very "easy" on my brushes, even my most expensive Red Sables...
Once your dry-brushing has dried, and it won't be very long if you "keep it light", you'll want to check your Zimmerit all over. It doesn't have to be perfect or "uniform" overall. You'll want to go a little heavier with the dry-brushing as you get closer to and into the lower regions of your vehicle. Once all of this has dried, I like to SEAL THIS STEP with TESTORS 1960 Clear LUSTERLESS (Flat) Spray. I will wait 24-48 hours before I go on with any of my subsequent weathering steps. "An Ounce of Prevention", you know... PROPER DRYING-TIME is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in ANY painting chore.
More minor disasters have happened to modelers because they've gotten impatient during their models' "decorative" stages of construction...
Lots of guys like heavy oil/thinner washes and a use a bunch of fancy "filters" in oddball colors like Orange, Blue, Green, etc. I think those ARE A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY... I DON'T LIKE OILS, and I won't EVER use heavy washes or the fancy "filters". The ONLY filter that I will EVER use is a few drops of RAL 7027 in a VERY THINNED solution of Clear FLAT/Thinners... I think that using all of that other stuff DETRACTS from the "original" colors of the vehicle in question. Here, too, modelers have often bewailed their woes on this site, because of these trouble-making heavy washes:
"Oh, DAMN! NOW, I've got to strip this whole mess down, and START ALL OVER AGAIN!!!"
Shouldn't have applied that heavy wash, buddy...
Pre- and Post shading, and careful modulation by using your airbrush, BEFORE your weathering processes are in my opinion, the right way to go. You want your military vehicle to look "natural", and not like a circus wagon...
Hope this helps you, for what it's worth...
