An approach to optional Zimmerit

[Ballardian]

 The Modelling News posted pictures fron the Shizouka Hobby Show, a couple of which demonstrated Tamiya's new  1/35 Brummbar kit - this contained extremely effective Zimmerit, in the form of a textured decal. While not the first example of this approach, it does clearly demonstrate how good it can look.
 Given the number of vehicles that could be depicted with Zim (Pz III, IV, StuGs, PJg IV's Panthers & Tigers - I & II with their tank hunter variants) it seems a viable approach, likely to be better & more user friendly at 1/56 than PE or resin add-ons. I don't know what it costs to produce the textured decals compared to the other approaches, but the potential quality of the results must make it worth investigating.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Interesting concept.

I have seen textured decals before, and read positive reviews of textures for buildings.

[ripley]

Been discussed on the Armorama site . Its a love hate thing , some guys love it , some hate it  . But then the larger scale modellers also feel the same about photo etched , resin or do it yourself Zim . I like the resin stuff myself in 1/35 . From what guys have said , the Tamiya stuff works great on flat surfaces , but  you need to use glue on curved,areas ( Panther mantle , Porche Tiger turret  etc ) or it peels off in time

[ultravanillasmurf]

Now if it could be printed on a film that had a surface amenable to liquid poly that might work:

Resin surface detail; carrier film, styrene film?

[ripley]

The sticker type zim works ok in the larger scales , I think trying to fix it around all the raised detail ( nuts , bolts , hinges , etc ) on our 1/56 stuff might be a pain .

This set is for a 1/35 Tiger ,all the little dots on the zim have to be punched out so the film fits over the model . So you either have a tricky application of the decal , or you add all those little bits and pieces after the decal . I don't really see the logic in Rubicon  adding a lot tiny bits to war game scale model, they are trying to keep the parts count down . Maybe a kit that has a zim decal for the larger flat ares and an optional plastic part with molded on zim for the tricky bits ( rear plate  - Panther for example ) . 

[Ballardian]

I'd see products such as these as optional add-ons, as has been said, these are models for gaming - but the choice/option as to whether or not to add additional detail to your models, while not essential, can only be a good thing.
 While I agree that 1/35 provides a larger, easier surface on which to place decals such as these I would argue that they would provide a possible approach for models in our chosen scale. 1/56 doesn't, for the most part, have the level of detail of larger scale models - & that's fine, they're primarily wargaming models (that said, Rubicon do a great job in finding the balance) - so I'm not sure it would be as problematic as suggested - & even if it were, it is after all, your choice as to whether to use them or not.

 
 
 

[Swamprat33]

I added a rough Daimler-Benz pattern of zimmerit to my 3 Rubicon panthers last year.
For this i used a thin application of Milliput.

This method is not really ideal if doing the finer MNH style patten on Panthers or the normal waffle pattern on Stugs etc.

Tim