Guys... which method seems more legit to you? Or... even better... do you know any other good Zimmerit techniques worth trying?

That looks excellent! You're far more brave than I am...but some day I'll have to try this because StuGs had some weird zimmerit patterns than nobody has recreated properly with resin/remolded sets. Also, holy shite, 50K subs. Last week you were at like 40K :D You're blowing up...

I know, it will never happen but I would love to see what you can do with a Warhammer 40k tank...maybe a Land Raider... Just imagine, you can go all out on a tank that has seen combat for 10.000 years... Oh man...

So glad you posted a video, I am in Hospital after having back surgery due to an accident in the Military, this has made my hospital stay so much better binged watching your videos 👍🏻🎄

I love how you show your failures and mistakes. Dare to admit you don't know a technique 100% and ask for advice from us viewers. So we novices don't have to go through the same thing. Your tutorials, techniques and everything else you teach me/us is priceless. And dude, you are funny as hell. Love your commenting. Keep up the excellent work.

im always so surprised on how many different techniques there are to make my models look a lot better, so whenever there is a new upload i get happy because i know i will learn new techniques and extra detail to add onto my models :) thank you uncle Nightshift!!!!

I really like getting home from work on Fridays, cracking open a beer and watching one of your videos!

Use “no nails” as the putty, and a snipped hacksaw blade as your tool

I use water based wood putty (Elmer's wood putty for example) It sticks well, doesn't dry too fast like Tamiya putty, you can thin it if you want with water to get a nice consistency, and it cleans up with water. If you screw it up, it's easy to remove and doesn't damage the surface of your project.

Love this. I'm so disappointed I didn't find this channel until a week ago. As someone who's not really done armor, your channel is a goldmine for info

I used the AK acrylic putty with Rye field zimmerit tool. Work in small sections. Like 3 or 4cm at a time because it dries fast. For clean sharp edges use the masking tape and only pull when it is dry (after 20 minutes). When using the zimmerit tool angle it at about 60° just so you can see what u doing but not that it is vertical. Also make it random by sometimes pulling in different angles with different spacings between each row and at couple od them start a little bit further. So it doesnt seem like all in one go. And pull it like you did on the example with same tool. After every pull wipe it clean at the paper towel or you will get inconsistent pattern. If you want to chipp it just scrape it away. I had the same problem as you and used a lot of puttys and techniques but it is actually very easy to do! Give it a try

In the past (Very past, about 25 years) I try every kind of putty, epoxy paste and cream who exist in that time. I never reach an consistent result. I start with the iron solder, in the beggining not well but, with time and the right iron solder (15 watts and very fine needle in the front) I reach an very good result. I currently use wood filler and sometimes a saw blade or PE tools. And I am doing well.

Here’s what I do. Mix plastic cement with Tamiya putty and then apply a liberal amount of chalk dust scraped in with your hobby knife. Why does this work? I don’t know. But it makes it much more rugged and mimics the actual texture of zimmerit. I stumbled upon this by accident but god does it work well. I then used a weird rivet/bolt or something that fell off my desk and glued it to a dead paintbrush. I rolled the pattern onto the paste. Best of luck

Not sure why but I got the feeling that I have seen someone use white glue and chalk powder to make their own putty... might have been some other powder and wood glue. I cannot even remember what the stuff was used for. Never made zimmerit myself, but I remembered the faintest thing about that putty thing. Sculpting clay. Just make your zimmermit pattern, then dry the clay, then glue it on. Simply a thought that I had when talking about the putty thing. Great videos, man!

I just made my first Zimmerit using 3M Acryl White glazing putty (an automotive supply item) that had started getting a bit thick & stiff in the tube (I got it 10 years ago, moved 3 times, including across country, and forgot I had it.) I thinned it with Tamiya Extra Thin, applied it with a pallet knife (I have 3 sizes), and applied the ridges using the Trumpeter Zimmerit tools.

Look forward to Fridays & that Night Shift notification. 😎 Really nice to see the different putty & scribing techniques all in one video. Look forward to the new model next week. Have a nice one.

"Mistake? We don't make mistakes; we have happy accidents". Bob Ross

Hi Uncle! Ah yes, Zimmerit and that age old question of how to replicate it. I don't like the resin "stickers" either, they're too uniform and often the patterns look too big. I like to make Zimmerit using the two part epoxy rolled out/baby powdered method. You might find that the putty sticks a little better if you roughen up the surface it's going on to first. Use your favourite method to do this, but obviously don't go too hard at it else you're left with rough plastic underneath any battle damage. I generally use a 200 or 400grit sander using one or two "very light" passes, which is usually enough to provide a little rougher surface for the putty to stick to rather than the shiny flat plastic. Looking forward to seeing F13... Great vid as usual - thanks for sharing.

Try using Elmer's Wood Filler (other similar brand would work too); it's super easy to work with and you can remove it with water if you're not satisfied and want to start over

40 years ago I used a two part epoxy by duro, it was yellow and blue you mixed to a blue puddy. I rolled it with a exacto blade handle on wax paper and mineral oil, pressed it on my old bandai 1/48 scale tank and sculpted it with a small flat blade screw driver. Drying time was about an hour so you had plenty of time to work it. I was very happy with the results!

Jeremy Clarkson said that many times. We all know how this all ends ; P

It was years ago but I did a Tiger and I used jb weld and our fine tooth metal comb for cats and dogs. The trick was to wait for just the right time for the JB weld to dry enough to hold the imprint.

a bit of sanding will help the putty grip and the texture can be hidden with mr surfacer

Ah my old nemesis Zimmerit. From squadron signal green stuff to Tamiya putty. And everything in between. Started 1986 with Zimmerit. They're even was thick resin sheets you could buy TERRIBLE! Before my Tamiya Tiger's & Nichimo Tigers were just soso. I just gave it up, until Atac Zimmerit & another company???Zimmerit sheets amazing! the new stuff even go's down with super glue. through expensive it is time saving and my temper taming stuff. 😜 awesome video.

Now my Friday is complete! I was watching you apply that Zimmerit and I kept thinking on the appropriate technique to use in a hypothetical Königstiger build, I remember seeing this one picture in a book and the pattern on the gun mantlet was very intricate. Thanks for posting mate!

Photo etched parts lesson? I'm always screwing up those, especially the ship railings.

I have this very tank wip and I just used ATAK resin zimmerit, it replaces kit turret and side panels with resin replacements so zimmerit doesn't look too thick. Also for those few resin sheet bits, just sand them down as much as you can.

I have done two zimmerits. One on a Elephant (The old Testors Kit yay!) and the other on a Tamiya AusF. A Panther. On the Elephant, I used a soldering iron. On the Panther a 70/30 mix of wood filler and soldering iron. The soldering iron requires a really light touch and a good sanding afterwards...and I don't think it ever was in proper scale, but I just love the effect with paint and weathering. The wood filler I used with a small flat head screwdriver...much more forgiving. Never have bought one of the new zimmerit tools.

It's always a pleasure to see that a new video is available. Nice video, nice tuto, as usual :) thanks !

Perfect. A pesar de ser en inglés,está muy bien grabado de imagen y sonido.

At the moment, I do Zimmerit on a 1/87 King Tiger. I use milliput super fine white, also a epoxy putty. But I place it in small chunks bit by bit and work myself slowly over the surface. This way I get it very thin, like 0,1 mm. Then I cut a little piece of the required measure of an PE sprue and superglue it onto a toothpick. Then I wet the surface and place in the Zimmerit pattern. After it’s hardened (then I have more control over the final result), I create battle damage with a knife like you. Et voila, no more allied magnetic mines on this tank!

I also like the wavy irregular pattern but if you do want it straight I might suggest one of two things: - Instead of dragging horizontally, rotate the armor piece 90 degrees so you can do it vertically as it is usually easier to pull upwards or pull downwards than side to side. - Alternatively you can brace the comb against a book and slide it side to side very smoothly, and move the armor piece itself up and down to change the elevation of the pattern. (Side note for anyone like me who doesn't have baby powder you can also use corn starch)

Zimmerit WAS quite thick. It added a few dozen KG to many vehicals despite the spacing (patterns) of the second layers. There's a 5-8mm flat layer of the paste applied, before the additional 5-8mm patterned layers we're used to seeing was added ontop. 10-15mm of Barium sulfate, PVA, zinc sulfide and sawdust isn't light....

Iv started trying this too! Iv started with squanderions liquid putty and a razor saw blade Applyed it tona scrap bit of styrene and just dragged it in a onner so got the lines and then came back in with the vertical lines afterwards and its looking good but now try and apply it to smaller areas is going to be the challenge

Hay Milli put works well and it can be rolled thin on your table just use water to rid of sticky situation and roll out. once water evaporates it gets sticky again. this should work great.

Yoda said failure is the best teacher so this video was legit.

I've tried several different versions myself, Mr White Putty, Perfect Plastic Putty, Tamiya Standard Grey Putty, and Milliput standard yellow/grey. I've also tried a method used by Francois Verlinden, his method he uses a pyrograph (heating tool with various interchangeable tips) to carve the zimmerit pattern directly into the plastic of the model. I used the FV method on a Tamiya Panther many years ago, came out Ok but it is rather time consuming I find, and I didn't have a pyrograph so I made one out of a soldering iron, you need to be able to adjust the heat at the tip so it melts the plastic without putting holes in it, or the plastic getting "stringy". I also used that method on an old Tamiya Tiger I but I eventually came back to the unfinished model 30 years later and didn't like it, I eventually used two types of putty to replace it, I was kind of experimenting at the same time as actually applying it. It now has a combination of Tamiya standard grey and Milliput. I didn't find Mr White Putty or Perfect Plastic Putty any good for the purpose, I do like the Tamiya standard grey, it does dry a bit fast, Milliput is sticky, didn't like the talcum powder solution for rolling it out flat, so I applied it using a spatula to the desired thickness and did it in small patches at a time. I wasn't after a nice factory finish, I wanted it to be a bit messy looking, but using the Trumpeter zimmerit tool helps to flatten it out a bit and even the surface. Oh, nearly forgot, I did try the Tamiya zimmerit stick on method for the Tiger I, which is the old 1970's version, not one of their more up-to-date new moldings. Didn't like the stickers at all, they firstly don't actually fit on the old kit so I was cutting them up and applying in pieces. I eventually just pulled them off and threw them away because ultimately they were just horrible. Haven't tried any of the resin zimmerit kits available. Overall I like both the Tamiya putty and Milliput methods, it didn't turn out too badly but it's all in the eye of the beholder, I thought yours looked quite good even though you weren't too happy with the result.

Hello the epoxy method are the best ! But in the market the zimmerit decals stickers it's pretty good too ! An other great tips videos Martin ! Respects from French modelers :)

Interesting work. I feel the off tank rolled out epoxy putty technique is giving the best results. As always excellent content for my Saturday morning modelling fix. Look forward to the next one. As always....G’day from Australia mate.

2 part epoxy (I use knead a tite) with the Trumpeter zimmerit tools. I use a smooth (not knurled)X-Acto blade knife (no blade int it Lol) with lots of water as a rolling pin to get it thin enough. I roll the epoxy out in a “string” to the length of the surface I want to put it on, then trim the excess. I like your tip of wetting the wheel, I’ll try that next time. My favorite method is to buy the Tamiya self adhesive zim which comes out Fabulous, but isn’t available for everything. If it’s available (only Tamiya kits) it’s my first choice.

Zimmerit, that’s why I stick to aircraft or Allied vehicles.

I like your second to last method.. as you mentioned getting scale zimmerit is extremely hard. I remember the days where peopel used hot knifes (that is dangerous) and Squadron Green Putty and liquid glue was a thing.. (of nightmares). Then people started using Miliputty. This method seem to call for scratching the surface to get it to stick better. Then came resin an Photo Etched. The lates thing is decals. Now decals can look more scale and battle damage can be replicated easier. Down side you have to mess with decal set srtong and sometimes CA glue to keep edges down. Atak has a very nice set and I plan to use on my Gruppe Fehrmann Tiger. My thought are the battle damage will be easier to replicate by cutting out areas with the no11 blade before I apply them on. Look forward to more videos and your decision. Ps I manage to figure out the weld that looks more smushed...

To get nice Straight lines with the mkg putty and the zimmerit scribbing tool you can put a wooden or Metal plank on top and on bottom of your Panel that you want to add the zimmerit on, just a few Millimeters wider apart than the tool and use it as a Stop strip on every side where your tool gets guided Straight because you Touch the plank always on one side while you pull the tool along the plate.

Use liquid nails adhesive instead of Tamiya putty.

I've used Tamiya two-part Polyester Putty with the scribing "rake" tools, which I think worked pretty well. Its pretty diluted and sticks to panels, so works well with the rake tools. But you have to work in sections since it dries in 5 minutes or so. After it dries, its pretty easy to chip it off to simulate battle damage. Just be sure to do it in a well ventilated area, because that putty can stink...

I can’t wait to see this piece completed. I know you have a plan for this one, but I’d love to see you add some interesting features on a Tiger, possibly a camouflage from foliage.

I think it works better if you lay the part flat on the table in stead of holding in your hand. And from the original photo's i see irregular patterns also so it should not be pristine i guess Love your tips and tricks! ...

At time frame 2:50 you said it look s terrible.... i think it look s GREAT. It has that warn out look....NICE.

DAP spackling paste and a small piece of fine hacksaw blade. Drying time allows for good workability. Easier to flake off than epoxy or other putties.

Try using medium/coarse sandpaper to lightly scuff the smooth flat surface area and clean with denatured or 100% isopropyl alcohol before applying the epoxy. This ensures (A) The epoxy has a better surface with which to adhere (B) Removes all oil from your hands and/or release agents used at the factory to prevent the parts sticking during the injection moulding process. Also, do not hold the part in your hand, while using the scribing tool(s). This one seems a bit obvious and I'm not sure that you weren't doing it only for the benefit of camera angle but the part must be completely stable to achieve the best results. You're on the right track though. Good video. Duplicating authentic Zimmerit is not often covered but it can take a so-so model to the "next level" when done properly.

If you put a straight edge above and below the panel, you can drag the zimmerit blade along it to keep the lines straight.

My first zimmerit try was ridiculous. Tamiya 1/16 Porsche king tiger. I used Tamiya polyester putty. That stuff worked great but I got pretty high using it. Lol...that's the last time...way back in 1999. I'll stick to atak zimmerit. I know my limitations. Haha, but saying that, it actually looked pretty good, my modeling buddies liked it. I never finished it, but it definitely was an experience.

Thank you , Martin .

7:45 LITTLE LIES, STUNNING SHOWS! I had to do that

Hi try painting & weathering the test strips. That will give us a much better idea how they would adventurley look Love your work. Thankyou

You can try method with using Zimmerit Tool (the metal one) but instead of using putty that would eat into the model try something that wouldn't. I use Elmer's Wood Filler. It has quite smooth texture, takes long to dry (overnight ) but you have enough time to not be rushed by fast drying putty and the most important -- it is water soluble so if you don't like or it got in to the places you don't want it to get: you just was the area with water (battle damage could be also done like that). There should be some other products like that in your area. Worst case scenario you can try Vallejo water soluble putty or Perfect Plastic Putty to see if this is going to work.

"Welcome back you beautiful people" Where have I heard that before? Hmm let me guess, you are watching GMBN too? :D Awesome video man!

I don't know Tamiya putty; but I'm familiar with Milliput and Kneadatite blue-yellow (aka Green Stuff). If the Tamiya behaves like the Kneadatite then one possibility might simply be to roll it, apply it... and then let it cure for half an hour, maybe an hour. In sculpting textures in Kneadatite it is often best to leave the surface to cure to a firmer level (though still able to take texture obviously). I can't say if it would behave much better in the thicknesses you're aiming for; but give it a go. I'm also going to agree on keying the surface more - but only once you've found a technique which works for you.

The last one looks really cool but the one with the serrated hobby knife looked easy

I had good luck with Squadron Green Stuff in a tube, back in the '80's. Used a hacksaw blade for 1/35 scale Jagpanther.

Trying to simulate Zimmerit (and not liking the results) has probably led me to abandon more model builds than anything else. The rolling tool at 7:00 seemed to do a respectable job for that style of Zimmerit. Much better than stamps I've used to shape Zimmerit. I'll have to try shaving the raised details off the plastic and re-glue them after applying Zimmerit. Good video! One of the first things I ever tried was spackling compound (used for minor repairs on plaster walls). Epoxy putty works much better for Zimmerit on models, though I am sure there are many other opinions about it..

I plan on finishing this model in 2020 . . . . Buddy you got time in that quarantine xD.

To be honest I watched for your methods on how to apply and gain what knowledge you have. I wound not have thought of the epoxy putty. The only other one I’ve seen would be using wood putty.

Preform it out of heat cured modelling putty FIMO.You can make it as thick thin as want and CA glue it on.Its very strong and bendy,easy to do.Clean not sticky.You roll out fimo on baking paper,put pattern on,then cure in oven for 5mins.

Have you tried ATAK resin zimmeritt? It is resin but you can sand it to thickness you like. I used It once, and I really liked it.

I’ve been working on a Tiger 1 and my zimmerit attempt are absolutely shocking! I might redo it with some of these methods.

Yay! He pronounced "Tamiya" correctly! That alone is worth a like. >}

The best putty for making zimmerit is actually not a modelling product, it's called "Wood Putty" it's waterbased means it dries slow and also bonds nicely on to the surface of your model. Try it😁

When i get a new tank kit, i put the tank together, with out those small parts like grips and handles, tow lines etc, and i lightly sand paper (the most finest paper you can get ) the body, as it has a ......GLOSSY.... finish, and it has a .....WET........ feel. Sanding the parts down, give s it a ...DRY..... and a better .....GRIPPABLE.......finish. After that you can paint it, or put on Zimmerit paste finish.......it works.

Nightshift you can use tamiya white epoxy putty ,its much softer than the standard one

Cool video, nice zimmerit applying ideas.

Great Clip!

I suppose if I was a forced labour prisoner not getting paid, living in squalor on one meal a day and applying zimmerit to a tank in my oppressors factory I would not care if the strokes in the material were level or not either! Great video and very informative... I'll keep it in mind if I end up in an Iranian tank factory!

with the tool it works better with a softer putty. also you have to get "the right" thickness of the putty

Try stippling the plastic with a low power soldering iron

Kneadatite green stuff is some of the best for this.

martin, maybe you can try to use baking paper for rolling the epoxy putty instead of baby powder, this way it will be a lot cleaner

So cool.

I don't do scale models like this, more warhammer and other wargaming models of usually people and such.. but your channel is great and I want to go out and buy a miniature tank to build and paint

Maybe a tight comb might work? There will be more room for the scraped out putty to get out of the way possibility

I've seen Elmer's wood putty and a serrated packing tape blade or saw blade do a good job. Might give that a try

What about making ACTUAL zimmerit putty? PVA glue, fine sawdust, ochre pigment, barium Sulfate (this could just be ground dry clay) zinc sulfide (use a rotary tool to grind a nail) It seems like, if the putty is the problem, then making the zimmerit accurately would then make the application accurate?

Try using "perfect plastic putty" by deluxe materials, it stays wet and soft long enough to apply to a whole pannel and still allows you to mould the lines into it.

I use Aves apoxie sculpt now.. It's like milliput but takes longer to go "off" there is also apoxie clay which is supposed to be smoother but not tried it yet.

fun fact, you can thin Tamiya putty with Tamiya laquer thinner...

I suggest you to try a putty from Vallejo it is water-based, so it is much easier to work on and also to remove, with this you can achieve a much thinner Zimmerit, I alredy worked with it does have a great appearance in both case ( Batle damage and coming out of the assambly line)

HI UNCLE NIGHT SHIFT !!!!!!!!!😁

Design a zimmerit pattern in a 3D modeling tool and 3D print a Zimmerit stamp. Roll the epoxy, apply the stamp. You'd need several different stamps so repeating patterns aren't a problem.

Oh cool. How I could miss this one🖤👌🏻

Martin, please give us a list of the process you use, Step 1 to ?, as I am not sure when to chip and when to do what in what order, this would help a lot, thanks for the videos, they are great and help allot!

You'll probably want a putty with a higher work time, let it partially set, use the scribing tool, but set the piece flat with some thin dowels on both sides of the piece that are the thickness of the piece you're working on plus the thickness of the deepest part of the groved channel you want to leave, so that way you'll never cut too deeply into the putty. Letting it partially set should also cause a little bit of tear out to keep it from being too "nice". For round edges, make a template with that same amount of overhang.

Try putty classic and sculpted it by using a part of the dense metal saw.

I went back to watch this a few more times lol.

Wow thank you.you really did it👍👍👍

you should try milliput. the advantage of putty, well being able to easily spread it into a thin layer.

Well, I can't tell you which is the best, but I can tell you the yellow paste Zimmerit would be delicious with some tomato sauce and herbs.

Hello from Poland :D

My first zimmirit experience was with a 1/35 scale panther G. I used school paper glue.... it went ok. The lines where abit thicc but ok. Then I used tamiya epoxy putty quick type. I tried it out on spare peaces of plastic.... and glass... idk I was young. I used water to make it easier, I used a screwdriver with a flat head. Later I got a metallic sheet with small teeth in them. It took a while to alpy it. But it was worth it. I tested the strategy on my 1/35 scale german elephant

The unpredictable wavy patterns look very realistic. I think you should not be so quick to dismiss them and maybe see how they look with some paint applied.

If you use plastic wood filler, you have a decent working/drying time and any mistakes can easily be taken off with tap water!