I'm building Dragon's King Tiger kit (#6312). It doesn't come with zimmerit, so I purchased the Eduard set. The thin metal sheets fit like a glove, but how do I then attach other items (e.g. jack block) that have mating pins to line up neatly with the plastic hull parts? Would items like the jack block, mounting brackets for the jack, etc. have been attached over zimmerit? Just wondering whether I need to cut away the zimmerit to make room for these items and, if that's not needed, is it advisable to use a pin vise to drill holes through the zimmerit sheets?

Thanks for any help ... first go round with zimmerit.

If you had asked for advice before you bought, I would have advised you not to buy eteched zimmerit. Its too fine and perfect ... or in other words .. not realistic.
AFAIK, the zimmerit was added around items like the tool holders, so yes you should drill or cut away these areas in the zimmerit.
Dont use your best bits or blades as they may get blunt.

Thanks, Frank. I bought the kit and zimmerit set quite a while go, but if memory serves I tried to get my hands on a Cavalier set before going with Eduard. Sounds like I made the wrong choice. I've got a strict "you bought, you build it" policy, though, so I'll go with what I've got.

Bill;

Hi!

I have no experience with that etched zimm and, frankly, am completely sceptical as to its appearance, etc. That said, my suggestions for how to mount tool clasps and the like over PE zimm are a guess. As the etched stuff has almost no relief, a medium CA type would be my best choice- I would use a reference picture to locate the bits, and I would cut off all the part's pins and attachment points beyond the part's expected or intended appearance (i.e., if using the plastic kit part, shave off the pins and thin down the base where it would attach to the hull to compensate for that portion that would have been "buried down into the zimm layer"). IF using a PE part- this would just glue on over that zimm sheet.

On the real thing...

When I saw your post, I went and pulled out my old Spielberger and Feist 1968 pub on Tiger I and II and examined the many good close-up pics of KT in action.

Of particular interest is a set or bunch of pics showing a newly-issued KT being camo'd by its crew on a nice, sunny day! Of importance here is the evident fact that all of those small tool mounts and such were put onto the hull and turret prior to factory application of the zimm... The zimm was then neatly applied right up to and around those small mounts- usually VERY close to the mount or bracket. Even between closely-paired brackets and the like. After the zimm was applied, the tools, and tow cables and so forth were set into their clips and brackets. The camo coat was then sprayed on by the crew- sometimes covering over the mounted bits and sometimes not.

The point here is that you do NOT want to scrape away or remove the zimm pattern beneath or behind cables, tools, spare track links, jacks or jack-blocks-these items were typically mounted into their respective clips after the zimm was applied and the zimm layer is clearly evident behind or beneath these hung items.

As I see it, this keeps the fuss to a dull roar! When I add zimm (I use a spackle compound...), I simply clear or scrape out the minimum small patch needed to expose the plastic hull for to attach the mount. I apply the zimm first, clean out attachment holes and then glue in the mounts, in that order, because it is H**L to try to putty or paste around all those tiny bits (unlike the real thing, where they did just that- but furtune has it, at 1:1 scale - lucky "zimm-appli-slobs"!). As I have no working experience with PE zimm, let alone with resin zimm, i can only suggest what I've put in above.

Cheers!

Hope this helps! Bob

Hi Bob - Thanks a lot for taking the time to look up some photos for me. I worked on the rear hull last night thinking any mistakes would be the least visible there ... which was probably smart because I ended up with a hybrid approach. Based on Frank's post, I cut away the zimmerit around the jack block, but based on your response, I left the zimmerit in place and drilled out holes for the towing clevices and mounted the PE brackets for the jack over the zimmerit. Here are some photos:

Bill;

Hey!

Looks pretty sharp and right-on, to me! I think you have things in control and headed in the right direction - and, hey, that jack-block looks OK as you have it, IMHO! The small cut-outs you've done for the various mounts and dtails all look pretty much in-keeping with the stuff seen in those pics.

Seeing as it looks like you have attached the Jack, etc. prior to painting the hull... Whenever you do get around to painting it... your's will be to decide whether your "crew" sprayed their camo on after removing various bits or just got lazy and simply squirted paint over everything! I've seen plenty of panzer pics depicting both styles, and also mixes of painted - behind and painted - over!

I'm sure the beast will come out looking good! I look forward to seeing some pics...!

I have one of these pre-zimm'd Dragon KT kits in the stash- so at least I don't have to do any scrape-outs or cut-outs for attaching little mounts and the like- but I will have to make that crew choice, too! I've already dreamed that I'll do some mixing of styles...

Cheers! Bob