We see helmets advertised as "zimmerit camo". Here is a good article on what it actually is, its composition, and application:
http://www.stugiii.com/zimmerit.html
Zimmerit
Zimmerit was first made available during the summer of 1943 as a counter to magnetic and adhesive anti-tank mines. The British had an adhesive "sticky bomb" for this purpose, and the Germans had lost several panzers to it during the attacks on France and the Low Countries, Greece and North Africa. Oddly, the German’s were the only large scale users of magnetic AT mines.
How It Works
The coating worked by providing a non-conducting, irregular surface that would reduce the area of contact between a mine and the tank's hull, as well as putting more distance between the hull and the mine. This would cause a magnetic mine to fall off due to its own weight and the vibration of the vehicle. Zimmerit possessed no anti-magnetic properties of its own; rather it defeated the mines by simply disallowing contact and providing distance.
The reported anti-magnetic properties of Zimmerit stem from a British war-time report, "'Zimmerit', Anti-Magnetic Plaster for AFVs", ( by Major J.W. Thompson and Mr. C.E. Hollis, July 1945).
According to the report, Zimmerit was a mixture of:
40% barium sulphate
25% polyvinyl acetate
10% saw dust
10% zinc sulphide
15% ochre pigment
Zimmerit was factory applied to all tanks and closed top SP guns but rarely to anything else. There are however, pictures of a Marder III Ausf. M and a SdKfz. 251 Ausf. D with Zimmerit application.
http://www.stugiii.com/zimmerit.html
Zimmerit
Zimmerit was first made available during the summer of 1943 as a counter to magnetic and adhesive anti-tank mines. The British had an adhesive "sticky bomb" for this purpose, and the Germans had lost several panzers to it during the attacks on France and the Low Countries, Greece and North Africa. Oddly, the German’s were the only large scale users of magnetic AT mines.
How It Works
The coating worked by providing a non-conducting, irregular surface that would reduce the area of contact between a mine and the tank's hull, as well as putting more distance between the hull and the mine. This would cause a magnetic mine to fall off due to its own weight and the vibration of the vehicle. Zimmerit possessed no anti-magnetic properties of its own; rather it defeated the mines by simply disallowing contact and providing distance.
The reported anti-magnetic properties of Zimmerit stem from a British war-time report, "'Zimmerit', Anti-Magnetic Plaster for AFVs", ( by Major J.W. Thompson and Mr. C.E. Hollis, July 1945).
According to the report, Zimmerit was a mixture of:
40% barium sulphate
25% polyvinyl acetate
10% saw dust
10% zinc sulphide
15% ochre pigment
Zimmerit was factory applied to all tanks and closed top SP guns but rarely to anything else. There are however, pictures of a Marder III Ausf. M and a SdKfz. 251 Ausf. D with Zimmerit application.
