General Discussion

Hello All, Does anybody have a file or know of one for WW2 Au Army tank/armor codes? th ones that are used to identify tanks by serial number an units (including the armor triangle)? Thanks Mark C.

Good morning lads, I am currently building the GWH 1/32 Hawk 81-A2 AVG bird and i want your help. I have the camo poster GW provides, the profile and upper section, i can scan them but i dont know how to design the painting masks in order to have a decent overlap between the wings anf fuselage sections, i hope i explained it in the right way!!!! Any thoughts?? John

I'm currently working on the masters for the Airscale Dornier 17 kit due for release this autumn. Peter has sent me a set of solid test prints on which to design, fit and modify the many panels of the canopy. Every element is cut, tested, altered as necessary, re-cut and fitted at least twice and on most occasions three or four times in order to get an accurate fit. Accuracy is obviously paramount. I will be providing Peter with an SVG file, I believe he plans to have them cut using kabuki tape. For those who prefer vinyl I will be posting the design here, along with the markings on both kits for people who like to paint their markings rather than using decals. …

Dear forum members, I am a complete newbie in cutting plotters. I have thousands of questions about this, but my first question is, what is the best foil for cutting masks? I don't know if my question belongs in this section, and maybe it's a stupid question. I did a test with the mask's material from AK and am not very satisfied with the result, but it could also be due to the setting of my machine (Silhouette 5 alpha). What can you recommend to me, I only have a week of experience!!!!!!

I'm starting the Hobby Boss 1/48 Devastator. I'm still working on the mask, but wanted feed back on the approach. I don't see a copywrite marking on the stencil provided in the kit, so thought just use it as a starting point. I peeled back the surrounding material from the masking that came with the kit. Placed this on a black sheet of paper and scanned. The result was a good image with the masks in black and the surrounding in white. I scaled the image against the original, then uploaded to Silhouette Studio. Silhouette Studio did a good job using the TRACE function. I cut a test piece with Oracal (the less tacky film). Spot checking the results look better than I though…

Just a test post to make sure that posting functionality is working as expected. Safe to ignore! Kev

Hi Kev, I often see people on the web looking for people who make masks. Since there are people here who are quite good at that, perhaps you could add a forum for people who make masks so we could send folks here for help. Just a thot, Mike

Hi all Been using my cameo 4 for about two years now, quite intensively.. Willing to share some work with you all, if found usefull, but how ? I totally forgot about how fora works, so could anyone guide me ? Thx a lot Jeepee

Hi Guys, I’m in the middle of something of a painting renaissance at the moment - designing my own paint masks for several shelf-of-doom builds that have been resurrected now that decaling is (mostly) no longer a deterrent. One of those is my HPH Lavochkin La-7, which originally stalled thanks to the seemingly immortal pinholes - but that’s another story. My question for the masking cognoscenti here: is it worth attempting to mask the very fine red outlines on Soviet national insignia and codes? We’re talking roughly a 1.0 mm border. I’m unsure on two fronts: a) whether a Cameo 4 can reliably cut something that fine, and b) whether it’s realistically possible (for your …

I'm shopping for a cutter, Silhouette dropped the price of their cutters. Buying directly from their site is lower price than Amazon. the Silhouette Portrait 4 is now $129 US, and the Silhouette CAMEO5α is now $229. Can anyone recommend if the 5 is worth the extra $. I'm OK with $229 if it is a good value. My use for the machine will be model masking, and my wife and daughter said once we have a cutter they will use it for crafts. I know almost nothing about cutters and am learning as I go.

I have uploaded camouflage masks in 1/32 scale for the Hawker Typhoon, specifically in my case for the Airscale one but they will obviously apply to the Revell or MDC ones. When used they will need a little extra masking in some areas, on the top of the nose for instance where the port and starboard masks (deliberately) don't meet in the middle. Some built-in user flexibility is always a good idea in my book. Used in conjunction with the Typhoon markings masks uploaded late last year, most Tiffy builders should be good to go. Canopy masks have also been added, they are both for car-door types, one early and one late. Max

I have recently uploaded the marking masks for the Airscale Hawker Typhoon which is due for release in the New Year. The chosen schemes are a) for 183 Squadron R8884, a very early production Tiffy, portrayed in its distinctive markings worn during Exercise Spartan and b) JP843 of 197 Squadron. Both are car-door variants but differ slightly in several areas. The masks include wheel centres on both as are wing walkways. R8884 had a broad stripe running from just aft of the spinner, terminating forward of the cockpit so masks for this are provided. On JP843 there are masks for the black and white ID stripes painted under the wings, 12 and 24 inch in width on the real thing. …

Anyone sitting on the fence about getting into doing your own masks, Amazon has the Portrait 4 for $129 today in the US for Black Friday. https://www.amazon.com/Silhouette-Portrait-Software-Electric-Compatible/dp/B0CHY9CY3Y/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3CXI31AN4M88G&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HXgBJjs-uqWdI6hPh0icUaJ9re48T8Zf_S0anWK_yEMOqvArKcsCIR3ruZwDr7n3OLOK_MoRJyXKNWRhYB3uNS2kKD8H_3kOpy2FBSts8ZlSJnLJqUWxN9M6QKGV63__rUbmkvl1W0r499ufbsuN28QwtsMhe3bZYrwdR4LrXibQGLfPMfAbNnaQYMMzrdkP43fpZ27irfYA4-gVRbkrkcJEFi8LudmtqrVeeQTxDX6eyAwGHsPJVbwFYPDcQjpPv5ZB6BXyDbURbYdLxmVnz5fYnbTjeYvyPHB2eMBE9HU.OUBs-5nm_8sGacJDGZnGwvajr0VmsEaEg-eFwGwI2-M&dib_tag=se&keywords=silhouette%2Bportrait%2B4&a…

Bonjour les amis, Je suis a la recherche des masques pour le camouflage des Phantom F4 au Vietnam (modèle Revell, Academy) au 1/32. J'aimerais savoir si l'un d'entre vous aurais les aurais fait. Par avance merci

Hello everyone, there are now quite a lot of 3d printing accessories on the net. The Arma Hobby stuff looks very nice. Many things could maybe also be adapted quite easily to other aircraft types in a freeware CAD like Fusion360. I am also amazed at these display bases that some people offer for download very cheap:. https://www.armahobby.com/category/3d-files https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/wwii-us-aircraft-carrier-diorama-and-display-base-1-48-scale-200mm https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-diorama-and-display-base-1-48-scale-300mm Who has already gained exp…

I have been working with Peter Castle of Airscale fame to produce masks for his new and ground-breaking venture, a fully 3D printed, highly detailed and accurate 1/32 kit of the Boulton Paul Defiant. His kit, due for release in the near future, has markings for a day and night fighter variant. The kit will feature decals for those who like to go down that route, but paint masks will be available from Peter for a small extra cost in “hard copy” form and also here as a downloadable file on this site. The kit’s box will have a QR code on it which will link directly to these files. Max

Well it's taken a while, and I must admit I've done a lot more than I initially intended, but I'd like to announce that the masks designed for the Airfix 1/48 Avro Anson are now available in the "Canopy masks" section. All the items have been trial fitted, adapted where necessary and now fit to my satisfaction and I hope yours too, however if you come across any issues please feel free to get back to me! If you have already downloaded an earlier version, please delete that from your files and upload the latest version. All the best Max

Hi guy, im new to cutting mask, i just got a cricut machine and i would like to make simple Korean Natural metal Mig-15 marking. Does anyone have a file already maklde or a picture of the kit marking so i can make my own? Cheers

Hi everyone, hope all is well in your neck of the woods. This forum is a magnificent resource for all things masking/cutting etc. but not everyone owns or has access to a printer/cutter. Many however, would very much like to take advantage of the benefits of masks on their models. Since I'm new here I may well have missed a sub forum so please forgive me but, is there anywhere on site here where requests are placed? With so much talent available on tap, it occured to me that there could be a demand for custom masks? Is this something that has already been discussed? Cheers, Guy

I spent some time yesterday evening showing my wife how to use the Silhouette to draw and cut masks, but when I was shutting it down a message came on screen saying “Silhouette has encountered a problem and needs to quit”. Subsequent attempts to restart the software met with the same response, so at the moment my machine is effectively dead. I’ll try a reboot etc this morning then contact the help centre to see what they advise. Damn! Max

This may seem an odd topic for a forum dedicated to paint masks, but bear with me please. I take it that most, if not all, of us here are interested in masking and painting markings because we believe (rightly imo) that it give a better representation of a real aircraft's markings, and we enjoy the process (or we wouldn't do it). But thinking about a Spitfire I'm just embarking on, it occurred to me that the red-doped fabric patches over the gun ports are better represented by decals. The real thing was a doped fabric patch, so the decal is actually better at representing that; and a decal will shrink slightly as it dries (particularly if setting solutions …

Hi I have a Cricut Air 2 that I have had and used on and off for around 3 years. While it can handle Roundels, Stars and Bars very well anything like the serial numbers of 1/48 RAF aircraft or the carrier names for USN aircraft it simply mangles the mask. I use Orascom 810 for creating Vinyl masks. I know that commercially available masks often have decals for the smaller markings. Can a Silhouette cutter handle small markings any better? Will

Hi, Just wanted to say what an excellent resource this site is. I really hope as my skill levels get better in this area I will be able to contribute fully. Currently my skill levels are hovering around zero as I am trying to get my head round the wife's Silhouette Cameo 4 and also the process of designing masks. Looking forward to progressing this area of the hobby Gazza

Thanks Kev for setting up the WiP section, you have been wise in using a broad brush approach regarding how much of the build people want to post with the ultimate aim of a greater understanding of how masks are produced and applied. 👏 Max

Things have been very quiet around here lately, and that's partly my fault, as I haven't had much time to spend here myself in recent times. And sadly, I'm also not an expert in the art and science of cutting paint masks, so it's difficult for me to lead from the front, so to speak. I would, however, hate to see this place wither and die, when it has the potential to be such a useful resource to the general modelling community. So, in the spirit of community engagement, I'm reaching out to you guys to sound off, and let us know that you're still here! I'd like for this site to become a comprehensive online library of masking resources, but we're just at the ba…