Applying Tamiya's Zimmerit Coatings - Hints & Tips 

Thanks mate! Glad you found this helpful! Cheers!

No worries mate. Happy you found the video helpful. Tamiya are pretty good when it comes to their own After Market stuff for their kits. There are some small tricky bits, like around the vision ports etc, but take your time, and you shouldn't have any major dramas. Cheers!

Thanks. Really happy that you found this video handy. Cheers! Happy Zimmeriting!

Thank you. Glad you found it helpful! Cheers!

No worries! glad you found this helpful. Just take your time and you should haven't any major dramas! Cheers!

Hi mate. Glad you found this video helpful. I think you're quite right. Applying a coat of overall clear should help seal the zimmerit onto the tank, especially using enamel weathering compounds which can sometimes effect the base paints underneath. Cheers!

Thanks Tim. You could always add Zimmerit to one of your car builds. Now, that would be something different! :) Cheers mate!

Well Tim, you were just waiting for this terrific Tamiya solution, so set aside that JoHan Ambassador and get to Za-Zimmerin... Or wait until it gets made in 1/25 so you can use it on the Academy Panther placed on a Lowboy load for a Museum!

@@goratgo1970 👍👍🙂

Thanks mate. Appreciate that. Glad you found it helpful. Cheers !

Thanks. Glad you found this helpful! Cheers!

Thank you. Very much appreciated.

That's okay. Time tends to be a precious commodity in this modern world. And they'll always be there on the channel for future viewing. Cheers, and hope you have a great Christmas!

@@PetesKits thanks, i wish you a happy christmas to

Whoops-I wanted to ask you and your viewers if they have had any issues applying the enamel wash over the Zimmerit decals after the Zimmerit decals have been primed and painted with acrylics. Thanks!

@@briankeller8116 Hi Brian. Almost all of my paints, washes, and weathering, are Vallejo acrylics. The only enamel paint I have ever used is AK Interactive's Extreme Metal Chrome, which I used on my Miniart Mercedes Typ 170 sedan (see my 2022 Built Models video). So, personally, I can't say enamels do, or don't, cause any issues. I haven't heard of anything specific, but I have noticed that most modellers give their acrylic painted kits a gloss varnish, rather than a matt or semi-matt varnish, before applying enamel washes. Which makes sense since enamels are oil/solvent based, which might damage the water based acrylics, without some form of "solid" varnish protection. I think if you went down that path, it should be fine. Cheers!

Thanks mate. Glad you liked it. have a great Christmas yourself! Cheers!

You can make your own style with all imperfections which real have) Merry Christmas)

Thank you. Glad you found this helpful!

Yes, this is the main issue with decals on Zimmerit. Whether the Zimmerit is PE, plastic, or like these Tamiya ones, a self adhesive. Crosses and numbers, etc. take a bit of work, even with a decal softener, to sit, and look, right, especially with thick decals, like Tamiya tends to have, they don't stretch enough, to mould to the Zimmerit correctly. Painting, although more time consuming, and a little trickier, is probably the best way to get "the look" right. I've done it (took a few goes to get it spot on), and it does look better, and there's no decal "shine" to contend with. It's definitely worth giving it a go. Cheers!

Hi mate. This Tamiya Zimmerit is pretty hard wearing. I haven't experienced any "lifting" so far, on my kits. Tamiya's Zimmerit coating is quite hard wearing, being a thickish plastic, probably similar to the resin ones that ATAK make, maybe a little thicker, and the adhesive Tamiya uses, seems to hold on pretty well. Of course, in 10 years time, it might all fall off. I let you know then. :) Cheers!

I checked out a few other sites, just being curious and there are a few mixed results. I was more concerned about the durability in relation to the weathering process. I’ve done my own Zimmerit but was interested in just trying to ‘rebirth’ some old Tamiya king tiger and panther kits as I can’t really be bothered with spending the time on as they will only end up a wrecks.

@@michaeldean1289 I see what you mean. I only use water based acrylics for my weathering, and haven't had any problems so far. But, I can imagine, if an enamel wash, or weathering, maybe even an oil wash, was used, they might affect the adhesive enough to make the Zimmerit lift, especially if they've been thinned down using enamel thinners or similar. That might be something to look into for a future video. Cheers.

@@PetesKits Right, would be good to find out the properties of the adhesive base, like solvent affect. What of hitting corners, edges with thin cyano - like a sealer, or permanent cure? Or we all pretty much have to wait -n- see... Thanks for demo!

​@@goratgo1970 Can't help you on the solvent side, as I use Vallejo paints, and weathering effects, which are all water based, and they don't seem to affect it one little bit. So maybe someone else could help with that. As for sealing the ends with cyano. Can't see a problem with that, although again, I only use that for PE parts, but if used on the corners etc. it should reinforce the grip, and make a fairly permanent seal. Cheers!

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with the Academy Tiger. There might be some slight alterations that need to be made, but otherwise it should be fine. Cheers!

@@PetesKits thank you

Hi mate. Don't know about Mr Surfacer, as I only use Vallejo acrylic primers etc. for my kits ( I have small working space and the smell enamels/lacquers can be overpowering), and have never had a problem with them. As I understand it Mr Surfacer is lacquer based, so I'm not sure. Best way to check would be to try it out on the flat bottom of the kit, using an offcut of the zimmerit sheet, where you won't see it if something goes wrong. Sorry I can't help you more! Cheers!

@PetesKits thanks foe the reply. I'll try some off cut on a scrap piece and see how it does.

@@joshuaparsons1377 Hope it works okay! Cheers!

@@PetesKits did a test tonight with scrap Zimmerit on styrene and sprayed a coat of MrSurfacer 1200 over it and it seems to be fine. No lifting. FYI for anyone here who wants to know.

@@joshuaparsons1377 Thanks for the update mate. Good to know that MrSurfacer is good to use. Cheers for that! Have a great Christmas & New Year!

That's Takom's Production/"What If" Tiger II? If you use Tamiya's King Tiger Zimmerit sheet, (Tamiya Part No. 300012), same techniques I've used for the Tiger I Zimmerit sheet in this video will work. Although being a Tamiya part on a Takom kit, you may have to do some adjusting, and alterations. Especially if you build the "what if?" variant, which has some different parts to the standard Tiger II. Hope this helps! Cheers!

@PetesKits Yes, thanks. And sorry, I had confused the sheet model you show in the video with the one I needed. And yes, the model I needed was the Tamiya 300012 that you told me, but I found it with another Tamiya code 12648, so it would fit the Takom King Tiger 2130 model, thank you very much for you Help.

@@krong7279 No worries. Anytime. Cheers mate!