With the recent plethora of StuG related things hitting the market, this release couldn't have been more timely. Well actually it could, since this photo etched Zimmerit won't actually fit the brand new Dragon kit, which is in case an early G, and a StuG III at that. It's StuG related though! This set is actually intended for the venerable Dragon StuG IV, kit #6043.
the set
The set arrives in one of the over-sized Eduard bags, and just consists of a smaller than usual sheet of instructions, two-sided, a very large fret of brass coloured photo etch, and a much smaller one. I still don't know the reason Eduard nickel-plate their smaller photo etched sets, but I wish they wouldn't!
What you actually get in this set is an awful lot of parts, that don't replace anything, but are intended to be stuck on to the kit parts in order to represent the Zimmerit anti-magnetic paste which was applied to vehicles from September 1943 to September 1944, when it was stopped due to a directive from Wa Pruf 6 in order to get vehicles to the front line as soon as possible. Bear in mind that the StuG IV was produced from December 1943 right up to March 1945 when deciding whether or not your model should have Zimmerit, and consult your references!
The beauty of a set such as this is it's ease of application. All the parts are obviously pre-cut to fit around all the necessary fittings and fixtures, and all you have to do is remember to fit them as you're building the kit. As you can see from the instruction sheets, all the parts you'd expect to see with Zimmerit are here, from the two large pieces for the lower hull around the running gear, to the smaller fiddly bits that have to be fitted around around the upper superstructure.
To apply, all you have to do is trim from the frets, and use a suitable adhesive such as superglue or 5 minute epoxy to hold in place on the model. Please note, that this set is not self-adhesive as some other Eduard Zimmerit sets are. Where plates join it will probably be necessary to use some sort of acrylic filler to disguise the joins, but depending on how you apply the adhesive you use, this may not be necessary.
A criticism in the past of these photo etched Zimmerit sets is that they have appeared to uniform. Well that's not the case with this set.......... the pattern is extremely well rendered, and given that nearly all Zimmerit on models is depicted over-scale, then this set is probably as close as you're going to get to an actual scale appearance.
conclusion
I've never actually considered using photo etched Zimmerit in the past. As I've said above, there was something about it's uniformity that had put me off. However this set hasn't got that uniformity of pattern, and is all the better for not having it. This set I'm going to give a go. Recommended.
SUMMARY
A two fret set of photo etched Zimmerit from Eduard for the Dragon StuG IV, kit #6043. A nicely done non-uniform pattern, depicted true to scale, and one which will give good-looking results.
Our Thanks to Eduard! This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.
Look forward to seeing how this would look on a finished model, the irregular pattern is a first as noted. Wonder if they will do more sets along this line?
I also saw on the Eduard site that they have released a new Stug IV late pe set.
This is the first set (by any manufacturer) that features the correct form of armour plate around the remote control mg. All other sets feature the shields as seen on the Jagdpanzer 38t, which are shortened.
Comments