This is a summary of my main Zimmerit
guide in my Captured King Tiger Project (King Tiger Build Proper-Zimmerits with or without). The guide is mostly from Mikey's Modeling Pages on Applying Zimmerit by
Paul A. Owen and from other sources.
History
Zimmerit was a non-magnetic coating produced for German armored fighting vehicles during World War II for the purpose of combating magnetically attached anti-tank mines like the British "Clam" experimental ordnance.
 
The operation of the Sticky Bomb was simple. The first pin was pulled, releasing the protective clamshell. The second pin was yanked, freeing the safety lever, igniting the timed fuse. An operator had five seconds to get the pin pulled, grenade stuck to the target and beat a hasty retreat to safety. Some 2.5 million Stick Bombs were produced by the end of World War II. from the dieselpunks.org
In the summer of 1943, the Zimmerit was made
available as a counter to these magnetic and adhesive anti-tank mines. It was
developed in Berlin by the C.W. Zimmer Company, (hence the term Zimmerit) and
was used in the summer of 1943. As a counter measure before production
zimmerit was made available, temporary measures late in 1942
were also ordered which included field application of readily available materials
such as concrete, thick coatings of mud, even ice in winter conditions. This accounted
for a variety of zimmerit patterns and applications on odd vehicles during
the first half of 1943.
Contrary
to popular belief that Zimmerit was made with plaster or concrete, it was actually composed
of a matrix (polyvinyl acetate, 25%), a filler (10% saw dust) and additional mixtures
of unknown purposes ( 40% barium sulphate 10% zinc sulphide). It’s colored
dark yellow with the addition of 15% ochre pigment. Take note that zimmerit has
no "anti-magnetic" properties but it was an effective counter
weapon to sticky bombs and mines since it created a
rough surface reducing the area of contact for "sticky bombs"; AND it put distance between the hull and the mine which defeated magnetic
mines.The coating was a barrier that prevented direct contact of magnetic mines with metal surfaces of vehicles. It was normally ridged to increase overall thickness- the non-magnetic coating holds the magnet of the mine too far from the steel of the vehicle for it to adhere.
Production
Zimmerit was applied only to the vertical surfaces to all tanks and closed
top Self Propelled guns but rarely to anything else. This was applied at the factory but many
vehicles received field applications as mentioned above.
In mid 1944, the application of zimmerit was phased out as it was rendered obsolete due to greatly improved AT weapons. |
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