Zimmerit was applied to some tanks and casemate-style closed-top self-propelled guns and tank destroyers produced from December 1943 to 9 September 1944. It was only rarely applied to open-topped AFVs. The rough appearance of the coating gave a distinct appearance; for one type, e.g. a shingle-like look. Zimmerit was discontinued from factory application on 9 September 1944 and from field application on 7 October 1944. This was due to concerns that projectile impacts could ignite it. These proved false, but the order was never rescinded. Applying and drying the paste added days to the production of each vehicle, which was unacceptable as there was a shortage of tanks. Following the war, the British carried out trials of a similar material on Churchill and Cromwell tanks and some trials were conducted in Canada with a similar material applied to self-propelled guns but it was not implemented. No similar material was used on post-war tanks as the widespread use of man-portable HEAT rockets such as the Bazooka made magnetic mines obsolete. Ingredients The paste was composed of the following: 40% barium sulfate – BaSO4 25% polyvinyl acetate – PVA (similar to wood glue) 15% pigment (ochre) 10% zinc sulfide – ZnS 10% sawdust In the raw paste, polyvinyl acetate was used in the form of "Mowilith 20", a 50% benzene solution. During the drying process, the benzene evaporated and the mixture hardened. Vehicles with factory application References Citations Bibliography Appendix 'A' to 21 Army Group AFV Technical Report No.26 on the application of anti-magnetic compound as camouflage Further reading External links British Zimmerit - Tank Design & Development Armoured Archives, YouTube World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Germany Coatings