My First Zimmerit - How Hard Can It Be? 

Guys... which method seems more legit to you? Or... even better... do you know any other good Zimmerit techniques worth trying?

For those, who don't know f 13 tiger was hybrid tank from Companie Fehrmann : This tiger belonged to Companie Fehrmann with another six Tigers I and five Panthers. This division was formed in summer 1945 by Kampfgruppe Schulze and Oberleutnant Fehrmann. The Tiger tanks were commanded by Oberleutnant Ferhmann and were designated with 'F' to denote their 'Gruppe' commander. On 6th of April, the group reached the river Aller, one Tiger was lost due mechanical failure. Next day, the company arrived at Nienburg and Grenadier Division was attached to them. On 9th April, Panther entered the town of Wiethesheim where they fought battle with allies, only one Panther returned along with commander. During counter-attack, Tiger f02 got two hits by PIAT. Two other Tigers continued fighting and they eventually captured 30 British paratroopers. Tiger f02 was repaired in Fallingbostel. 11th April 1945 saw the remaining tanks entering enemy controlled territory to Buckeburg. Along the way, two Tigers got stuck in the mud and when a Panther tried to recover them, it too got stuck. With no other way to recover them, the tanks were destroyed and their crews eventually captured by the allies and Fehrmann along with them. On the same day, two other Tigers were involved in a tank battle with US tanks, F13 (commanded by Feldwebel Bellof) was destroyed along with her crew. F05, commanded by Kampfgruppe Schulze destroyed 3 Shermans and a scout car then retreated to Wendthagen I used text from this page forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=73957 and sorry for possible mistakes

That looks excellent! You're far more brave than I am...but some day I'll have to try this because StuGs had some weird zimmerit patterns than nobody has recreated properly with resin/remolded sets. Also, holy shite, 50K subs. Last week you were at like 40K :D You're blowing up...

I know, it will never happen but I would love to see what you can do with a Warhammer 40k tank...maybe a Land Raider... Just imagine, you can go all out on a tank that has seen combat for 10.000 years... Oh man...

So glad you posted a video, I am in Hospital after having back surgery due to an accident in the Military, this has made my hospital stay so much better binged watching your videos 👍🏻🎄

im always so surprised on how many different techniques there are to make my models look a lot better, so whenever there is a new upload i get happy because i know i will learn new techniques and extra detail to add onto my models :) thank you uncle Nightshift!!!!

I love how you show your failures and mistakes. Dare to admit you don't know a technique 100% and ask for advice from us viewers. So we novices don't have to go through the same thing. Your tutorials, techniques and everything else you teach me/us is priceless. And dude, you are funny as hell. Love your commenting. Keep up the excellent work.

It's always a pleasure to see that a new video is available. Nice video, nice tuto, as usual :) thanks !

Love this. I'm so disappointed I didn't find this channel until a week ago. As someone who's not really done armor, your channel is a goldmine for info

Look forward to Fridays & that Night Shift notification. 😎 Really nice to see the different putty & scribing techniques all in one video. Look forward to the new model next week. Have a nice one.

I really like getting home from work on Fridays, cracking open a beer and watching one of your videos!

Use “no nails” as the putty, and a snipped hacksaw blade as your tool

Jeremy Clarkson said that many times. We all know how this all ends ; P

Now my Friday is complete! I was watching you apply that Zimmerit and I kept thinking on the appropriate technique to use in a hypothetical Königstiger build, I remember seeing this one picture in a book and the pattern on the gun mantlet was very intricate. Thanks for posting mate!

I use water based wood putty (Elmer's wood putty for example) It sticks well, doesn't dry too fast like Tamiya putty, you can thin it if you want with water to get a nice consistency, and it cleans up with water. If you screw it up, it's easy to remove and doesn't damage the surface of your project.

Photo etched parts lesson? I'm always screwing up those, especially the ship railings.

"Mistake? We don't make mistakes; we have happy accidents". Bob Ross

In the past (Very past, about 25 years) I try every kind of putty, epoxy paste and cream who exist in that time. I never reach an consistent result. I start with the iron solder, in the beggining not well but, with time and the right iron solder (15 watts and very fine needle in the front) I reach an very good result. I currently use wood filler and sometimes a saw blade or PE tools. And I am doing well.

Here’s what I do. Mix plastic cement with Tamiya putty and then apply a liberal amount of chalk dust scraped in with your hobby knife. Why does this work? I don’t know. But it makes it much more rugged and mimics the actual texture of zimmerit. I stumbled upon this by accident but god does it work well. I then used a weird rivet/bolt or something that fell off my desk and glued it to a dead paintbrush. I rolled the pattern onto the paste. Best of luck

I used the AK acrylic putty with Rye field zimmerit tool. Work in small sections. Like 3 or 4cm at a time because it dries fast. For clean sharp edges use the masking tape and only pull when it is dry (after 20 minutes). When using the zimmerit tool angle it at about 60° just so you can see what u doing but not that it is vertical. Also make it random by sometimes pulling in different angles with different spacings between each row and at couple od them start a little bit further. So it doesnt seem like all in one go. And pull it like you did on the example with same tool. After every pull wipe it clean at the paper towel or you will get inconsistent pattern. If you want to chipp it just scrape it away. I had the same problem as you and used a lot of puttys and techniques but it is actually very easy to do! Give it a try

Interesting work. I feel the off tank rolled out epoxy putty technique is giving the best results. As always excellent content for my Saturday morning modelling fix. Look forward to the next one. As always....G’day from Australia mate.

I just made my first Zimmerit using 3M Acryl White glazing putty (an automotive supply item) that had started getting a bit thick & stiff in the tube (I got it 10 years ago, moved 3 times, including across country, and forgot I had it.) I thinned it with Tamiya Extra Thin, applied it with a pallet knife (I have 3 sizes), and applied the ridges using the Trumpeter Zimmerit tools.

Great Clip!

Cool video, nice zimmerit applying ideas.

Not sure why but I got the feeling that I have seen someone use white glue and chalk powder to make their own putty... might have been some other powder and wood glue. I cannot even remember what the stuff was used for. Never made zimmerit myself, but I remembered the faintest thing about that putty thing. Sculpting clay. Just make your zimmermit pattern, then dry the clay, then glue it on. Simply a thought that I had when talking about the putty thing. Great videos, man!

I can’t wait to see this piece completed. I know you have a plan for this one, but I’d love to see you add some interesting features on a Tiger, possibly a camouflage from foliage.

Thank you , Martin .

Try using Elmer's Wood Filler (other similar brand would work too); it's super easy to work with and you can remove it with water if you're not satisfied and want to start over

Hi Uncle! Ah yes, Zimmerit and that age old question of how to replicate it. I don't like the resin "stickers" either, they're too uniform and often the patterns look too big. I like to make Zimmerit using the two part epoxy rolled out/baby powdered method. You might find that the putty sticks a little better if you roughen up the surface it's going on to first. Use your favourite method to do this, but obviously don't go too hard at it else you're left with rough plastic underneath any battle damage. I generally use a 200 or 400grit sander using one or two "very light" passes, which is usually enough to provide a little rougher surface for the putty to stick to rather than the shiny flat plastic. Looking forward to seeing F13... Great vid as usual - thanks for sharing.

a bit of sanding will help the putty grip and the texture can be hidden with mr surfacer

40 years ago I used a two part epoxy by duro, it was yellow and blue you mixed to a blue puddy. I rolled it with a exacto blade handle on wax paper and mineral oil, pressed it on my old bandai 1/48 scale tank and sculpted it with a small flat blade screw driver. Drying time was about an hour so you had plenty of time to work it. I was very happy with the results!

Oh cool. How I could miss this one🖤👌🏻

Wow thank you.you really did it👍👍👍

I have this very tank wip and I just used ATAK resin zimmerit, it replaces kit turret and side panels with resin replacements so zimmerit doesn't look too thick. Also for those few resin sheet bits, just sand them down as much as you can.

It was years ago but I did a Tiger and I used jb weld and our fine tooth metal comb for cats and dogs. The trick was to wait for just the right time for the JB weld to dry enough to hold the imprint.

Zimmerit, that’s why I stick to aircraft or Allied vehicles.

Zimmerit WAS quite thick. It added a few dozen KG to many vehicals despite the spacing (patterns) of the second layers. There's a 5-8mm flat layer of the paste applied, before the additional 5-8mm patterned layers we're used to seeing was added ontop. 10-15mm of Barium sulfate, PVA, zinc sulfide and sawdust isn't light....

I had good luck with Squadron Green Stuff in a tube, back in the '80's. Used a hacksaw blade for 1/35 scale Jagpanther.

Perfect. A pesar de ser en inglés,está muy bien grabado de imagen y sonido.

7:45 LITTLE LIES, STUNNING SHOWS! I had to do that

So cool.

Hello the epoxy method are the best ! But in the market the zimmerit decals stickers it's pretty good too ! An other great tips videos Martin ! Respects from French modelers :)

I also like the wavy irregular pattern but if you do want it straight I might suggest one of two things: - Instead of dragging horizontally, rotate the armor piece 90 degrees so you can do it vertically as it is usually easier to pull upwards or pull downwards than side to side. - Alternatively you can brace the comb against a book and slide it side to side very smoothly, and move the armor piece itself up and down to change the elevation of the pattern. (Side note for anyone like me who doesn't have baby powder you can also use corn starch)

Is there a video listing all materials need to building, painting and weathering models? Thank you!

Iv started trying this too! Iv started with squanderions liquid putty and a razor saw blade Applyed it tona scrap bit of styrene and just dragged it in a onner so got the lines and then came back in with the vertical lines afterwards and its looking good but now try and apply it to smaller areas is going to be the challenge

Ah my old nemesis Zimmerit. From squadron signal green stuff to Tamiya putty. And everything in between. Started 1986 with Zimmerit. They're even was thick resin sheets you could buy TERRIBLE! Before my Tamiya Tiger's & Nichimo Tigers were just soso. I just gave it up, until Atac Zimmerit & another company???Zimmerit sheets amazing! the new stuff even go's down with super glue. through expensive it is time saving and my temper taming stuff. 😜 awesome video.

I have done two zimmerits. One on a Elephant (The old Testors Kit yay!) and the other on a Tamiya AusF. A Panther. On the Elephant, I used a soldering iron. On the Panther a 70/30 mix of wood filler and soldering iron. The soldering iron requires a really light touch and a good sanding afterwards...and I don't think it ever was in proper scale, but I just love the effect with paint and weathering. The wood filler I used with a small flat head screwdriver...much more forgiving. Never have bought one of the new zimmerit tools.

The roller technique looked great. As far as bonding to the model, have you tried sanding the surface to give it something to grab onto?

love it

Yoda said failure is the best teacher so this video was legit.

anyone know what rye field tiger 1 kit came with the scriber tools

Have you tried ATAK resin zimmeritt? It is resin but you can sand it to thickness you like. I used It once, and I really liked it.

I’ve been working on a Tiger 1 and my zimmerit attempt are absolutely shocking! I might redo it with some of these methods.

At the moment, I do Zimmerit on a 1/87 King Tiger. I use milliput super fine white, also a epoxy putty. But I place it in small chunks bit by bit and work myself slowly over the surface. This way I get it very thin, like 0,1 mm. Then I cut a little piece of the required measure of an PE sprue and superglue it onto a toothpick. Then I wet the surface and place in the Zimmerit pattern. After it’s hardened (then I have more control over the final result), I create battle damage with a knife like you. Et voila, no more allied magnetic mines on this tank!

Use liquid nails adhesive instead of Tamiya putty.

I'm curious as to how you would do weathering on a late war german tank with the tri-colour camo scheme.

Have you tried pulling the scraper towards you in order to get straighter horizontal lines in each segment?

are there larger area type stamps?

On Putty: Tried Humbrol's version, or Milliput yet? (both are quite highly thought of in my country)

Would it be possible to use polycement on the bare plastic and use a scriber tool or roller to create the effect? No putty at all

I plan on finishing this model in 2020 . . . . Buddy you got time in that quarantine xD.

I like your second to last method.. as you mentioned getting scale zimmerit is extremely hard. I remember the days where peopel used hot knifes (that is dangerous) and Squadron Green Putty and liquid glue was a thing.. (of nightmares). Then people started using Miliputty. This method seem to call for scratching the surface to get it to stick better. Then came resin an Photo Etched. The lates thing is decals. Now decals can look more scale and battle damage can be replicated easier. Down side you have to mess with decal set srtong and sometimes CA glue to keep edges down. Atak has a very nice set and I plan to use on my Gruppe Fehrmann Tiger. My thought are the battle damage will be easier to replicate by cutting out areas with the no11 blade before I apply them on. Look forward to more videos and your decision. Ps I manage to figure out the weld that looks more smushed...

To get nice Straight lines with the mkg putty and the zimmerit scribbing tool you can put a wooden or Metal plank on top and on bottom of your Panel that you want to add the zimmerit on, just a few Millimeters wider apart than the tool and use it as a Stop strip on every side where your tool gets guided Straight because you Touch the plank always on one side while you pull the tool along the plate.

"Welcome back you beautiful people" Where have I heard that before? Hmm let me guess, you are watching GMBN too? :D Awesome video man!

Would the putty stick better to the surface if you sanded it first a bit?

Hi try painting & weathering the test strips. That will give us a much better idea how they would adventurley look Love your work. Thankyou

I use Aves apoxie sculpt now.. It's like milliput but takes longer to go "off" there is also apoxie clay which is supposed to be smoother but not tried it yet.

Would you be able to put the putty on something like wax paper or parchment or possibly a teflon coated surface to flatten it out? Then apply the baby powder to the top surface to so it doesnt stick to what you use to flatten it and it would prevent it from sticking to the little roller tool

Hi what is the blue brush thingy, water? How do I remove it?can I still paint /prime it after zimmerting it? Thanks!

I've used Tamiya two-part Polyester Putty with the scribing "rake" tools, which I think worked pretty well. Its pretty diluted and sticks to panels, so works well with the rake tools. But you have to work in sections since it dries in 5 minutes or so. After it dries, its pretty easy to chip it off to simulate battle damage. Just be sure to do it in a well ventilated area, because that putty can stink...

Hay Milli put works well and it can be rolled thin on your table just use water to rid of sticky situation and roll out. once water evaporates it gets sticky again. this should work great.

I've seen Elmer's wood putty and a serrated packing tape blade or saw blade do a good job. Might give that a try

I've tried several different versions myself, Mr White Putty, Perfect Plastic Putty, Tamiya Standard Grey Putty, and Milliput standard yellow/grey. I've also tried a method used by Francois Verlinden, his method he uses a pyrograph (heating tool with various interchangeable tips) to carve the zimmerit pattern directly into the plastic of the model. I used the FV method on a Tamiya Panther many years ago, came out Ok but it is rather time consuming I find, and I didn't have a pyrograph so I made one out of a soldering iron, you need to be able to adjust the heat at the tip so it melts the plastic without putting holes in it, or the plastic getting "stringy". I also used that method on an old Tamiya Tiger I but I eventually came back to the unfinished model 30 years later and didn't like it, I eventually used two types of putty to replace it, I was kind of experimenting at the same time as actually applying it. It now has a combination of Tamiya standard grey and Milliput. I didn't find Mr White Putty or Perfect Plastic Putty any good for the purpose, I do like the Tamiya standard grey, it does dry a bit fast, Milliput is sticky, didn't like the talcum powder solution for rolling it out flat, so I applied it using a spatula to the desired thickness and did it in small patches at a time. I wasn't after a nice factory finish, I wanted it to be a bit messy looking, but using the Trumpeter zimmerit tool helps to flatten it out a bit and even the surface. Oh, nearly forgot, I did try the Tamiya zimmerit stick on method for the Tiger I, which is the old 1970's version, not one of their more up-to-date new moldings. Didn't like the stickers at all, they firstly don't actually fit on the old kit so I was cutting them up and applying in pieces. I eventually just pulled them off and threw them away because ultimately they were just horrible. Haven't tried any of the resin zimmerit kits available. Overall I like both the Tamiya putty and Milliput methods, it didn't turn out too badly but it's all in the eye of the beholder, I thought yours looked quite good even though you weren't too happy with the result.

To be honest I watched for your methods on how to apply and gain what knowledge you have. I wound not have thought of the epoxy putty. The only other one I’ve seen would be using wood putty.

The last one looks really cool but the one with the serrated hobby knife looked easy

If you put a straight edge above and below the panel, you can drag the zimmerit blade along it to keep the lines straight.

The best putty for making zimmerit is actually not a modelling product, it's called "Wood Putty" it's waterbased means it dries slow and also bonds nicely on to the surface of your model. Try it😁

Hello from Poland :D

Guys how to glue vinyl tracks? Which glue should I use?

Hey is there any thing to replace baby powder?

Hi. So i am making a 1/72 t55 by revell. i put on too much paint and it has a lot of brush strokes. -with what could i remove the paint (it has dried) -for the future with what do i thin Revells enamel colors? terpentine or?

My first zimmerit try was ridiculous. Tamiya 1/16 Porsche king tiger. I used Tamiya polyester putty. That stuff worked great but I got pretty high using it. Lol...that's the last time...way back in 1999. I'll stick to atak zimmerit. I know my limitations. Haha, but saying that, it actually looked pretty good, my modeling buddies liked it. I never finished it, but it definitely was an experience.

Would a bit of dish soap in the water used to lube the roller help? I dont know how it would affect the surface, but if water doesn't soak into the epoxy, it shouldn't soak the soap in either, so you should be able to gently clean it afterwards if its causing paint adhesion problems.

At time frame 2:50 you said it look s terrible.... i think it look s GREAT. It has that warn out look....NICE.

With the epoxy is the way to go, have you tried using wax paper to place the putty on and cover then roll it out?

Kneadatite green stuff is some of the best for this.

Martin, please give us a list of the process you use, Step 1 to ?, as I am not sure when to chip and when to do what in what order, this would help a lot, thanks for the videos, they are great and help allot!

Hey Martin! Did you try to use Extra Thin to soft putty? Or maybe use Mr. Surfacer 500🤔

Guys does air dry clay work as an alternative for putty? and just stick it with adheisive to stick?

I don't do scale models like this, more warhammer and other wargaming models of usually people and such.. but your channel is great and I want to go out and buy a miniature tank to build and paint

Thanks for sharing those interesting technics one more time ; to answer you, no doubts for me - Epoxy bi composant bring the best result…

Having the same questions... i didnt try it out yet - but I am thinking to mix Tamiya putty with some liquid cement to make it workable for a bit more time and a lil bit more fluid - will get back and tell you how is that going.

Hello. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it was applied in the factory and no set way. So wouldn't that be pretty much the same for modelers?

have you heard anything about zimmerit decals?

I went back to watch this a few more times lol.

Oddly enough applying zimmerit is relaxing to me hahahaha ive only used the tamiya basic method, and I havent tried the 2 part putty yet for my 35th and 48th armor

Trying to simulate Zimmerit (and not liking the results) has probably led me to abandon more model builds than anything else. The rolling tool at 7:00 seemed to do a respectable job for that style of Zimmerit. Much better than stamps I've used to shape Zimmerit. I'll have to try shaving the raised details off the plastic and re-glue them after applying Zimmerit. Good video! One of the first things I ever tried was spackling compound (used for minor repairs on plaster walls). Epoxy putty works much better for Zimmerit on models, though I am sure there are many other opinions about it..

is using wall putty good enough?

funny thing is, we don't actually know if the Zimmerit worked because none of the allied powers actually used magnetic mines

What about making ACTUAL zimmerit putty? PVA glue, fine sawdust, ochre pigment, barium Sulfate (this could just be ground dry clay) zinc sulfide (use a rotary tool to grind a nail) It seems like, if the putty is the problem, then making the zimmerit accurately would then make the application accurate?