discussion Zimmerit..............................

[Dave Ward]

I'm thinking of adding Zimmerit to my StuG IV for the group build. I dug out my Tamiya rake from the bottom of the toolbox..............and discovered why it was at the bottom of the box! I experimented & couldn't get it to look anything that I liked. I thought of Eduard PE, but that looks too flat to my eyes, as does the transfer sheets from Meng etc.
I eventually bought this.................. from the tool section of Trumpeter

What you get is 5 flat packed applicators, ( 3 stamps & 2 rollers )
Each one has a handle of styrene, and the head looks like ABS - the rollers have a metal insert, but look pretty flimsy..............
All 5 assembled
There seem to be 2 stamps & 1 roller of a small groove & one each of a larger size ( 1/72 & 1/35? )
I decided on a little trial, to see which putty in my box worked best - I had AK putty, Revell Plasto & Perfect Plastic Putty.
I spread out a thin layer of each on 1mm plastic card, then attempted to use the stamps & rollers on each.
The AK putty & PPP were not a success! The roller skidded, rather than rolled, and both rollers & stamps clogged with filler pretty quickly.
The Revell Plasto worked the best of all, even though it eventually clogged the ridges
It's a matter of how thick you have to put the putty on, and how long it is workeable - both of which I'll find out by trial and error!
I have seen a gentleman on YouTube using these tools, and he appeared to sprinkle the surface of the putty with powder - it could have been talcum powder, or even flour, but as it was in Chinese, I couldn't say! Anyway, it seemed to prevent putty pick up & he did the turret side of a Tiger in about 2 minutes! A bit more experimentation needed!
Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

That looks the biz, Dave!
probably talc would be best

 

[SimonT]

I've got the same set Dave - used it on a rebuilt Tamiya Panther A

I rolled out Duro wafer thin, smeared with a light coat of petroleum jelly then used the rollers on it - worked well and no clogging due to the plastic like nature of Duro

 

[Dave Ward]

Talc will be my first trial - I only have wholemeal flour!!!
Dave

 

[Guest]

The trick with Revell Plasto is that you have to make sure it’s dry yet soft. Pretty much all tubes of it I’ve ever used had a thick, glue-like goo in them, and if you squeeze that out you get a much drier putty. If you try to make Zimmerit with the tacky, gooey Plasto it will stick to the tool and fail horribly, but it works very well with the dry putty.

 

[Guest]

Dave I've the same set, used I think some Milliput, had to keep washing the serrations on the tool. Personally don't think it matters to much if any gets messed up a little when you apply.

 

[Dave Ward]

Been looking at various pictures of Zimmerit on Stugs.
Was Zimmerit applied to the Saukopfblende? I haven't seen any conclusive pics, Eduard indicate that it should be applied in their PE set, but I'm not sure.
Dave

 

[stillp]

Looks like it was Dave:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/236157574195613971/

Pete

 

[Dave Ward]

Ouch! That looks like it may be tricky to reproduce!
Dave

 

[Allen Dewire]

Looks like it was Dave:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/236157574195613971/

Pete

Sorry Peter, but that Mantlet is not from a StuG IV. It's from a Jagdpanzer IV as stated. The StuG IV Saukopfblende is longer and a tad larger than the Jagdpanzer IV blende. The Hetzer blende was very similar to the Jagdpanzer.

Dave,

I have yet to see a photo of a StuG IV with a Zimm coating on the Saukopfblende. It would also be very difficult to attach a magnetic mine on it without mounting the vehicle itself. No need to reproduce it.

Prost
Allen

 

[stillp]

Allen, I just googled Saukopfblende and that was among the first images that appeared. I found a few pictures of Stugs with zimmerit on the saukopfblende but they all seem to be recent photos of restored examples.
Yes, I see your point about it not being needed since it's not reachable from the side.
Pete

 

[Dave Ward]

Thanks for the input guys - you can see how a non-stug expert can be confused!
Dave

 

[stillp]

I thought Saukopfblende was a cabbage soup!
Pete

 

[Dave Ward]

The actual translation doesn't give you much clue - " Sow's head cover" why a sow & not just a pig, I can't fathom!
Dave

 

[Allen Dewire]

It's the way the German language is put together. Sau is a pig and cabbage is kohl, kopf is head and if you look at the blende from the side, it does look like pigs head with a long snout. Go figure!!!

Peter, would you happen to have a link to the restored StuG IV? I know they recently found another one buried in Poland somewhere and have recovered it. From the over 1000 IV's built, so very few have been recovered or restored. It is fascinating. TIA...

Prost
Allen

 

[stillp]

Couldn't find the one with Zim, but here's a few: https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Sturmgeschütz_IV

 

[BattleshipBob]

Hi Dave

Had a quick look through my small book collection and cannot find any pics of either a StuG 111 or IV with Zimm on the pigs head thingy

 

[Guest]

The actual translation doesn't give you much clue - " Sow's head cover" why a sow & not just a pig, I can't fathom!

The actual German name for this type of mantlet is Topfblende — “cooking pot mantlet”.

Saukopfblende is, AFAIK, a modern term that was apparently not (or perhaps only rarely) used in the Second World war. Interestingly, if I Google “Saukopf”, I get two results: one is the Saukopf mountain top near Frankfurt am Main, the other (much more numerous one) is StuGs.

 

[rtfoe]

:tears-of-joy: :tears-of-joy: :tears-of-joy: I'd like to see the shape of that German cooking pot...must be to cook some German delicacy like sauerkraut.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Guest]

I must say it’s sometimes puzzled me too, because it does resemble a pig’s head (or a duckbill, as it was apparently also occasionally referred to) much more than any kind of cooking pot I can think of.