RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Anyone have any advice for doing zimmerit on my Heng Long Tiger II? I plan on using squadron green putty, and the hacksaw technique, other than that I am clueless. How do you apply the putty, especially over the curved surfaces of the mantlet, the escape/loading hatch in the back of the turret. Squadron green tends to dry quickly, can I mix it with a small amount of laquer thinner to lengthen the drying time? Sorry for the bonehead questions, and thanks in advance for your answers!!!


John

I just did it a small area at a time.....I recomend you pull off the turret and take it apart.

I haven't ever used Squadron putty. I have used Milliput - is this only available in the UK? It certainly allows plenty of drying time, but can be sticky and you need to use plenty of water to keep it from staying on the fingers. But it can be pressed and moulded very easily around contours and trimmed with a craft knife whilst moist. Another bonus is the colour of the standard Milliput - a greyish green. If you chip it after painting it looks exactly the right shade for raw zimmerit. There's also something called Magicsculpt which is highly regarded.

squadron putty is softer and takes a while to dry up. If you are looking for a good putty get a tube of tamiya 2 part epoxy putty. mix it in small batches as once dry it is almost impossible to shape. to make the lines in the zimmerit use a small gear on a shaft so it turns, you can run the gear in what ever direction after the epoxie is put on and stretched out.
I saw a post here one time where a guy from the UK screwed the gear to a home made handle that was obviously a tooth brush before. ingenious method of attaching the gear so it still turned. His zimmerit was as good as any I have seen.

He used milliput but the 2 part epoxie is very close, I have used both and honestly close your eyes you can't tell them apart.

Zimmerit is a pain in the ass! Once painted I think it'll look pretty decent, but the green putty sticks in the hacksaw blade, and doesn't stick to the tank hull very well until dry, think I might try Squadron white this evening, if it isn't dried up in the tube!

I read often about modellers who have problems during coating zimmerit on tanks. I know it is very difficult and everyone should find his own way. But who has no plan can look at the following page, there are tutorials, also coating with zimmerit.
site: http://www.ampscv.org/tutorials.html