KING TIGER 211,506 S.PZ.ABT,GERONSWEILER,DEC '44

[c.rainford73]

I fear we have another alien amongst us....

Wow Herman

[Son of a gun-ner]

Not quite sure if I'm on the same page as you? But here goes, I hope I'm giving you what you seek.
Some zimmerit was applied at the factory, if this was the case, it would have been applied before any final coat of paint or any markings as this is usually applied on top of the zimmerit.

If however it was applied in the field, it would therefore be applied to vehicles that would have more than likely had their final top coat/camouflage and markings on, and would have needed to be painted and "marked" again.

As for being applied between factory and the "field" I'm not sure if freshly build tanks had their markings already on before they arrived at their battle groups, but they would have had their top coat on.

The camouflage was mostly applied after leaving the factory unless the factory had specific instructions to apply it.

Therefore, it is possible to have tanks with chipped off zimmerit showing final coats/camouflage underneath.

IMHO, this is what I believe to have happened.

Mick.

[HERMAN BIX]

Cheers lads, it’s coming together finally.
All accounts are that the KT series had zimmerit applied in the factory.
Tigers and other marques had some machines applied infield at rear area workshops.
Camo in the early KTs was applied over the factory base coat by both rear area teams and crews at the front , but late ones were all factory finished of course without zimmerit.

As for mine, a dings on the hull but none on the turret is plausible and likely for newer machines.
By applying the hot screwdriver to the surface and creating a raised texture, it’s easy to create the missing areas by tilting the top over on an edge then progressively increasing the contact until the patch is formed into full width zim lines .
I can tell you the hull MG ball was a challenge!
The middle bit is a bit rough but it’s ok over all.

[Son of a gun-ner]

Well, I got a bit of that wrong then, but in my defence, I wasn't just thinking of king tigers. Would there be any likelihood that they applied zimmerit in the field in the early days of zimmerit to Tiger 1's that were already painted and marked?

Well, however you create your zimmerit on such thin plastic showing those obvious patches like it has been knocked off is truly impressive Herman

[HERMAN BIX]

Would there be any likelihood that they applied zimmerit in the field in the early days of zimmerit to Tiger 1's that were already painted and marked?

Absolutely there would be.
Early Tiger 1's did not have the coating, so it makes a very likely scenario that surviving early Tigers would have had the (at that time) new protection applied in the field by again-at the time- well supported and protected & supplied rear support groups, possibly over existing paint.
Cant see them grit-blasting the outside can you ?
The stuff however was very nasty and stuck like baby poo to your new car upholstery !!
It was also hardened by application of blow torches to the surface of it as it cured, leading to the myth that it was a source of ignition when hit by incoming rounds.

[Son of a gun-ner]

Thanks for that Herman that's what I love about this forum, every day is a history lesson

I must say, I was never a fan of zimmerit, but you've peaked my interest

[HERMAN BIX]

The cables and other gems arrived from Mr Hugil.
Hope to get into them today.
The track pull cable will be made from picture hanging wire inserted into the Tamiya eyes-well I hope so anyway!

[HERMAN BIX]

So as Im not a person for the Aber or Voyager tool clamps due to the complexity, small size(and relative fragility) & cost, I used otherwise discarded plastic clamps.
I did it successfully on my Octopus King Tiger, and the Jagdtiger epic, so I know it works.
Its a shame to have those bits just go in the bin if not used.
Now the plastic cable is not exactly a must, so using good quality copper ones from Taigen makes a big difference.
All the plastic clamps are drilled out to accept the Taigen copper through them.
One end will be secured, and the other (with its eye removed) will be routed through into position & glued back into the eye assembly.
I will set one cable in position & the other in a recently used position similar to the picture.
All the mudguard mounting blocks are on but still need to be drilled.
Who knew that the build series of the Kt and JT AFV's can be identified as early, mid and late by the number and position of these blocks !!
I found a site that lists the differences, but like a fool did not bookmark it.
Of course there are lots of other progressive improvements during production, but a simple indicator is the mudguard mounts.
Earlies were closer together and had single front blocks, Mids were further apart and some had two front blocks, lates were further apart and went back to one block !
Mudguard mounting blocks !!..........why the fuss

Once all the glue is set and I drill the holes into the blocks its primer time.

[HERMAN BIX]

Drilled out the bolt holes on the mounting blocks.
Secured the C-hook clamps on the rear plate, secured the front mudguard mounts and then.........PrrrrIiiiimer
Now I can see all the icky-yukky blemishes left by the decorative accessories.
Deck vent mesh next, then electronics & base coat.

[HERMAN BIX]

Remember these screens Mr Hugill ??
Squashed flat in the bag of stuff they were .
Resurrected to fight on.
Lots of scraping and use of a stainless wire brush to remove as much old paint & glue as possible.
Not perfect, but thats in character with the rest of it.
Im using a set of Taigen vent screens which work, and the salvaged grenade screens just to give a better representation of a King Tiger of its series.
Ive got to fit the new receiver into the Tamiya electronics shortly and then its time for base coat & camo.