The first two photos on this page show more views of the of the zimmerit on the primed model. The rear view of the model gives a good look at how the zimmerit conforms to the ribs of the tool boxes. The tool box on the right was battle damaged by holding a lit incense stick inside the cavity until I could dent it from the outside with a dental tool. The small, concentrated heat affected a small area without worrying about warping the whole rear panel. The rear turret plate section was modified to match several photos showing that many tanks did not get zimmerit applied above the hatch. The rear hull plate section almost covers the entire area, including behind the exhaust pipes. Photos indicate that factory zimmerit wasn't applied behind the pipes because of the heat generated by the exhausts. Some photos of field applied coatings do show it continuing behind the pipes. In any case, it was easier to design the piece as a whole and allow the modeler to cut the areas away individually. The lower hull side pieces were modified a little bit by making the lower edge a little ragged, thought it's pretty much hidden once the roadwheels are fitted.
The front view of the model shows the patchy sections on the front fenders. The fenders were bent using incense as well and the manipulated parts are a good way to make use of small bits of the extra zimmerit panels. The fender by the machine gun ball had the inside corner removed. Reference photos showed that this was a separate hinged part that could flip up to accomodate the tow cable bracket being hung below. This small part could be easily lost in battle. This view also shows the crescent shaped mantlet pieces and the barrel collar piece conforming to the kits contours.
Now would be a good time to talk about any tools you may need or prefer. Because the zimmerit is paper, not resin, metal or putty, the need for very specialized tools is minimal. The photo shows a selection of instruments that can be useful in customizing the panels, none of which may be absolutely necessary. If you have a toolbox associated with your model making, you probably have tools that can be used to cut and tear the panels to suit your needs.
Everyone should have a STANDARD BLADE of some sort. You need it at least to cut the panels from the sheet.
I bought the FLUSH-CUT NAIL CLIPPERS some time go to remove plastic parts from sprues. Available in Drugstores. They're good for grabbing and pulling small bits off the edge of the panels.
The PONCE WHEEL is really handy for running a "squiggly" perforated line near the edge of a panel.
The small holes created make it easy to pull the edge apart with the TWEEZERS. I bought mine at an Art Supply store. They are available with different numbers of teeth. Mike Rinaldi figured this technique out as he was assessing one of my sample sheets.
The SHORT ANGLED BLADE is good for stabbing and pulling little bits of paper. It's also good for cutting out areas with more precision than the standard blade.
The SCRAPING TOOL was acquired some time ago and it may be a dental tool. It's hard to see in the photograph, but the tip is like a small sharp edge spoon. It's good for tearing and pulling bits of paper.
That is the arsenal of tools I have at hand and I probably used the short angled blade for 90% of the build in this article.
Hopefully, the investment in tools or instruments will be minimal for most people using this zimmerit set.
The next photo shows details of some of the other parts included in the set. The Tamiya kit provides the schurzen as one plastic panel for each side of the tank. This was the first obvious part that we determined could be improved very easily. We include separate panels but it will be up to the modeler to detail the plastic hangers on the kit parts.
The next obvious upgrade we tackled were the racks on each side for hanging spare track. The Tamiya kit indicated this feature as a raised rib with three sets of links needed to cover this. We added our part right on top of this rib. This allows the modeler to break apart the sets of links for a more random look. You can also decide to scrape the Tamiya rib off and glue our replacement right to the hull. The other added detail was a simple bracket for attaching the tow cable ends to the rear of the tank. This was one of two options the tank was fitted with.
Even though the kit provided decals will adhere to the paper, it was easy to devise some stencils for turret numbers and balkenkreuz. This allows for some choice in colors and allows for a handpainted look that is more appropriate on a rough surface.
The photo shows the track hangers and tow cable brackets, as well as a side skirt on the engine deck. Also notice the zimmerit wrapped around the plastic exhaust shrouds.
We had to make a decision about how much more detail we were willing to address in this set and we think we came up with a good compromise between basic plastic features and a complete set of tiny details.
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