"Modelling zimmerit in 1/72" Topic

When I stop wittering on about what to buy and start making stuff I think I might want to add some zimmerit.
I'm thinking maybe decorators caulk.
The attractions are it's cheap, tough, takes paint, easily worn ( you can add ochre colour since it's acrylic ) easily daubed on and shrinks as it dries.
I'm thinking:
Mix the white goop with ochre tube paint.
Daub on.
Leave it to go off a bit.
Drag/jiggle the pattern on with a teeny screwdriver.
Or maybe make a comb like tool with wire and a bit of sprue.
Once painted you can distress it a bit and the ochre will show through.
Maybe paint red lead first.

I did take a look at etched brass.
The part stuff looks like it'd be pretty good on my revell pz4h but you can't order off their site ( or I missed it ) can't find a UK stockist and I don't know if it'd be kind of expensive.

Also thought about the old milliput route.
You roll it out, glue it on and work the pattern on.
Old mate of mine did this on a couple of tigers for me, but Lee's moved on from wargaming and I don't think
It's hard to get it thin enough to look right and I've seen pictures which don't look great.

What do you reckon?

This is done with white Miliput (zimmerit and concrete armour);

Yes, just the milliput smoothed over the edge to get a clean line.

Probably no more than 1mm thick really. I apply it and then smooth it out. You have to do it as you are building so a bit of planning is required as to where and when you apply it. The edge of the CD case is great for scoring the lines, then when dry use a scalpel blade to chip and wear the zimmerit.

I also used a resin set for 'waffle' pattern Zimmerit from Tracks & Troops that wasn't bad, and looks great, but it was a bit fiddly…

Its so thin you have to be very careful in applying and I managed to stick atleast one piece to me first before the StuG…

For PE Zimmerit, check out Eduard instead. I used some (albeit in 1/48 scale), and it was actually quite good. I think they do it for 1/72 scale kits as well.

Damon.

Don't know if this will help or not:

link

Thanks.
I've gone off the etched brass route after reading through a bunch of articles.
I suppose the thing to do is to hack up a cd case and give it a go.
I think maybe one of the advantages of milliput is that it isn't so sticky. Decorators caulk could stick to the cd case dibber.

That waffle effect looks pretty good.

What about using Squadron Green Stuff or even spackling paste for windows. Just put alittle on and make your zimmerit pattern before it dries.

Milliput is very tough and has a particularly long open time.
And no solvents to mess with the plastic of the kit.

Milliput yellow-grey 2/3 blended with 1/3 green putty. Roll it thin with talc to stop it sticking. Saturate it and apply to hull. After about 10 minutes trim to tidy up with a scalpel.

Now make impressions with your tool of choice. Mine are tailor made from plastic and wooden toothpicks hardened in super glue.

Works for me down to 10mm 😁

Interesting.
I've not heard of adding green stuff.

Friend of mine suggested Apoxie sculpt.
The plus point is that it's sort of softer than milliput or green stuff so you can spread it on rather than doing the rolling thing.
I don't suppose anyone has tried apoxie and can offer an opinion how it compares to milliput or milliput and green stuff mixed?

I was doing some basing yesterday and so I had some decorators caulk, pva and paint mixed up. Hacked up a cd case to make a dibber and experimented a bit.
Seems to work pretty well actually.
Need a bit more practice but my most successful experiment was:
Smooth on with a palette knife about a mil thick.
Leave to go off for 10 minutes. Dip the dibber in water and press on. Rolling it slightly seemed to get the best results.
I know Tamiya do a rake tool and I may try again with a razor saw. I think maybe that's what Lee used and he did a good job on the Tigers.

Where was I.
Work across the model. I think I need to experiment on the best way to do a row next to one another as it squidges out.
Maybe just thinner would do it.
Clean in water every once in a while.
If it goes a bit sku wif you can let it dry a bit again and repeat a patch.
After a couple of hours the caulk was totally dry and very tough, very difficult to remove. It's not coming off.
You'd have to do damage to the zim shortly after you textured it.
It has a slightly rubbery texture and I know it takes paint very well. I reckon it'll stand up to handling better than the plastic it's attached to.

The cd case gives 7 ridges in 5mil. I don't think that's as fine as it ought to be.

@ AONeill,

I don't think you frequent ML/Braille DG (?)… a couple of recent postings that might interest you.

1) Fantastic Panther zim results with Mr Surfacer:
link

2) A new paste for zimm'ing from Czech Republic:
link

Very rarely, thanks.

That paste looks kind of thick like it's a mix of very fine sand or talc and something.

Hadn't considered mr surfacer.
He's essentially scribed/carved that pattern out dry filler on the panther.
Hadn't really considered that.
Something dry and brittle, scratch up then seal.

More to think about.

I was going to try Apoxie sculp – it's supposed to be softer than green stuff so you can spread it easier.
Only Royal Mail managed to lose it, and my order of super sculp.
I wonder if they'll manage to succeed with the replacement.