Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf. H

[Laurent Moitrot]

Markus do not worry as I ask myself the same questions.



From what I've heard there is no hope one can solden anything over Zimmerit. The Germans used blow torches to dry up the mixture and the reputation of beeing inflamable comes from Zimmerit not being properly dried and still with solvants in it.
See what I mean ?

I confess the StuPa is a mistery to me but I'm not sure (understatement !) this Zimmerit is original and as you can see on the pic the brackets are just "put there" fixed with the same "plaster" or "putty" or whatever they used to simulate Zimmerit. Anyway they are unable at that point to fix the track links on the glacis as you can see from the picture. Only one end (left of the picture) is properly connected.

[Markus Lack]

Glad you don´t get me wrong Laurent. I enjoy this discussion a lot!
Yes, it´s not possible to weld over the Zimmerit, which is why I keep thinking that they would attach the brackets before the Zimm was applied.
I guess to help in drying the Zimmerit, there wouldn´t be that much heat necessary and definitely not that much as for welding.
We would need to try it out (one can still dream, he ? ), but I would think that the Zimmerit paste would either flake, crack or at least loose some of it´s solidity when applying too much heat.
I´ve seen this happen to plaster, mortar and even cement when we were welding next to it, so I guess Zimmerit wouldn´t be an exception?
I will ask my friends from History Facts. Since they are working on some Pz.IV books, maybe they have a wartime shot that shows this area more clearly?
Have you ever seen this shot btw?

While it doesn´t help answering the question, I still find it pretty interesting.