# What's with the pattern on Tiger tank armor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392 "2010-11-12T04:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392/21 "2010-11-15T14:34:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That would make them show up under thermal imaging, but was that widely used in WWII? > [@Absolute](#): > > I interpreted his comment to mean that they were smoky and noisy when moving. That’s what I meant. A 1,400 cubic inch gasoline engine with open pipes would be loud at even a moderate distance. The surface coating might help break up the pattern of the tank, but there would still be something roaring around out there that’s as big as a small house. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392/22 "2010-11-15T14:35:29Z")
> [@cornflakes](#): > > I think that the Germans used it, but only at the end. I seem to remember reading a comment in a book on the Battle of the Bulge that an American officer was surprised when German tanks drove through a town in the dark of night, and he correctly guessed that they had developed thermal imaging. Not thermal, “lower spectrum” infrared-- that was a post-war development-- but active “upper spectrum” infrared. You’d need an external IR light source, like a tank- or rifle-mounted IR spotlight, to illuminate targets. It wouldn’t pick up heat or anything like what people think of today’s thermal imagers-- instead, more like a low-light scope. Think of it as a flashlight only you can see. [German nightfighting Panthers](http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/dio/rwpanth/rwpanth_solutions.htm). [Vampir rifle-mounted IR scope](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zielger%C3%A4t_1229). ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392/23 "2010-11-15T15:03:40Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > For most of the war the Germans were fighting a defensive battle and their tanks were quite often fighting from prepared positions. Minor nitpick: “For most of the war..” should really be, “By the time the Tigers were developed and deployed…” From 1939 to early 1943 they were consistently on the offensive and even managed large-scale offensive actions into 1944. The Battle of the Bulge was, of course, the last real attempt at an offensive operation (aside from isolated units attempting breakouts to avoid being surrounded). Your general point that the Tigers were used mostly on the defensive is one I agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392/24 "2010-11-15T15:27:20Z")
Og, I love the Dope, maybe the only place where discussions of German armor and jokes about _Fargo_ come together! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392/25 "2010-11-15T18:28:52Z")
I was a pretty serious modellor as a kid. But putting the zimmerit pattern on a 1/35 scale Tiger was always too damn much work and the mark of the truly dedicated hobbyist. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392/26 "2010-11-16T02:40:39Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > I just want to say I love that movie! > > _“Well, he never done this before, but seein’ as it’s special circumstances and all, he says I can knock one hunnert off that Zimmerit.”_ You lied to me, Mr. Henschel. (Bucky, please…) You’re a liar… a… a _fooking_ liar! (Bucky, please!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-pattern-on-tiger-tank-armor/560392.md?page=1)