Zimmerit Tools

I've used a few tools- Tamiya makes some PE tools that fit into xacto blade handles. I've also used an xacto blade to scribe away dried squadron white putty. that was a little easier.

I'm sure you'll get a few more answers- screw drivers and soldering irons are also common tools. What's cool about zimm is it's a very custom added detail. the tools and techniques are almost as varried as the patterns, and since they were all hand applied in real life, they don't have to be perfect. Adds to the charm.

Hope this helps.

I think the last issue of FSM highlighted a modeler who used a carved piece of sprue to stamp the patterns into some Sculpey clay, which had been flattened against armor panels.  The sprue tool he had used looked to have 3 or 4 "teeth" carved into the end.

I use a piece of razor saw and sheetrock mud..

There are some Tamiya videos on YouTube that show a guy using some sort of wheel tool to imprint the zimmerit pattern in a layer of applied modeling clay/putty. It worked really well, but I haven't seen them at any hobby stores (admittedly haven't really looked that hard).

hey you could use that thing that you use to put in screen doors its got a metal handle and plastic wheel just carve out the grooves!!

I've looked at this, too.  There is a thread on Armorama, about "Tiger 1 Turret" something over on armorama, you can't miss it, it is a VERY long post, 7+ pages I think, last time I checked.  Here's the link:

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=131182&page=1 

THe guy used, IIRC, Tamita putty, but he used all kinds of differnt things, including a gear from a venitian blind, as well as dedicated tools, and he posted what they all looked like.

I recently bought a Lion's Roar tool that is a cast handle, with a tapped receptacle for a screw, that holds a series of differentyl sized and patterned rolling geared wheels.

I have not tried it yet.   

  

 

Body fill (commonly known as Bondo) comes in large tubes (the red stuff) and can be used to fill seams with little shrinkage and can be painted over without a primer.  For Zimmerit, spread it on liberally and use a hacksaw blade, (they come in a variety of teeth/inch) to scrape off the excess.  The larger the scale of model, the fewer teeth/inch you want to use.  Have some Tester's Liquid Cement handy to keep the body fill workable.  Gears from print cartrigages, old printers, etc. will give the same results.

lol no one liked my idea