Tiger I - first attempt at zimmerit

[06/24]

Rubicon Models 1/56 Tiger 1 with home made zimmerit and broken track by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Rubicon Models 1/56 Tiger 1 with home made zimmerit and broken track by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Rubicon Models 1/56 Tiger 1 with home made zimmerit and broken track by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Rubicon Models 1/56 Tiger 1 with home made zimmerit and broken track by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

[06/24]

I know it’s very rough, but the tank is supposed to be a disabled casualty, so might end up with fire damage, any any event, it’s small enough that the eye, rather than the lens, just notices the texture, at least that’s what I hope.

I’ve dropped the leading wheels slightly to show the track has gone, the rolled out track isn’t quite right as the first few links off the sprocket don’t hang the right way. I replaced the missing sprocket teeth with spares from the alternative set of tracks Rubicon supply. The spare tracks also mean I can have another try at the broken track links if I want.

[ripley]

The zimmerit looks pretty good. I would scrape it off of the track cable though , as the cable would have been removed when the zim was applied ( as would tools like on the Panther side hull ) . The direction of the loose track looks weird , how did it get pushed forward if the break was on the bottom . If the tank moves forward the track would be pulled forward by sprocket , the idler wouldn't have track on it . If the tank was moving backwards , the  broken part of the track should lay flat on the ground , with the track maybe rolling off the idler once the center of balance / weight  was reached .

I tried to find a picture or 2 to show what I mean but most pictures of  tanks that have broken tracks end up getting shot to hell to make sure they're out of the fight , a non mobile tank is still a armored pill box  . I did find this Panther pic

Red is estimation of break in tack , blue is track being pulled forward by sprocket and then by track weight ( about 65 pounds per link on Panther ) when driver stops . The green would be track that rolled back by motion or weight when tank stopped . And yes a good driver could feel the break / lose  tension in track when hit  , just like a professional driver of a 18 wheeler can "feel" he has a flat tire on the trailer . 

[Tracks]

When I first saw the pictures, something just didn't look right, but I could not put my finger on it. Then I read ripley's comment and it all came together. Or should I say, how it all comes apart. 

As for the zimmerit, great job!

Sometime ago Rubicon Models asked us for our opinion about zimmerit. I was outright against the zimmerit being already added to the parts. It just looks better and more natural if done by hand. Also, if someone didn't want zimmerit, well, they are stuck with it (pun intended).

A friend once commented, "Adding zimmerit to a model is easy. It's making the 1:72 scale tools used to apply the zimmerit is the hard part." - he's a big fan of 1:72 for miniature gaming, and the 1:72 scale tools was just him being amusing.

[06/24]

Thanks folks. I based the track on this photo:

Broken tiger by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

I suspect it was being refitted when something caused the crew to abandon repairs.

I agree about the zimmerit not covering the cable on the side, but figured it was probably easier to add a replacement cable over the top than try and remove the moulded one, or zim around it!

[ripley]

Two things I've noticed about this picture , there is a U hook attached to the front link of the track and the rear of the top track run seems to be broken as it dosen't wrap around the idler . Guess your right about  the crew working on the track   
 I would scrape off the cable using a very thin chisel blade , you might be able to save the cable ends / eyes  , add zim , add thin thread to replicate cable , add the ends, then glue  thin plastic strips over the cable as new cable mounts . A little bit of messing around but would look great