In the end, I masked and sprayed the fin, and just extracted the UA logo from the decal. The white carrier titles on the fuselage were ultimately masked and sprayed, based on stencils I traced and cut from the kit decals. (One thing I do for every build project is scan the kit decals, whether I intend to use them or not.)

Anyway, here's a selection of photos of the finished model:

Kev

I used the kit decals for the national markings, but sprayed white squares under them using masks I cut on the Silhouette Portrait. While I was there, I cut some for the white 9 numerals on the upper wings and fuselage sides. The black 9s on the lower wings were the kit decals.

Some final notes. The engineering of the landing gear attachment on this kit is vaguely clever, but also too fussy, and I screwed up the left side twice, and had to saw off the attachment lug both times and re-attach. Even then, I still managed to create a very slight toe-in of the right wheel. The prop is just sat in place, and doesn't really need gluing unless you plan to move the model around a bit. The exhausts are also a very tight friction-fit, given that I literally had to force them in from the outside!  Rigging is EZ Line.

Very pleased with how well it turned out for such a low-effort build. ResKit exhausts, Barracuda wheels, and a minor mod to the prop. Paints are a combination of SMS and MRP.

Thanks for looking!

Kev

The kit itself is very simple, light on details but the fit was much better than I was expecting. My biggest issue with it is the decals which were scaled oddly and looked toyish

As the interior and decals were not that great I decided on closed canopy which would end up being be one of the key lessons learned

I masked both sides of the canopy, prepped the inside then unmasked, cleaned and glued to the fuselage and continued with the rest of the build - at the very end when removing the outside masks discovered I managed to get overspray (which also highlighted some residue) on the inside of the canopy which you can see in some of the pics

This is my 12th build since starting the hobby a couple of years ago and 3rd time cutting and using my own masks, which I am happy I started down this path as the results look much better to me

I have Silhouette Portrait 4 and used Tamiya masking sheet for the Canopy and Wheel masks, and Oracal 810 for the Insignia and Numbers mask

Thank you to the folks contributing to the site library of Insignia's I was able to use

This is my first tri-color Hellcat and I had two goals for this build:

1) practice the tri-color (or more accurately 4 color) scheme using Vallejo USN Sea Blue for the top fuselage, Glossy Sea Blue for the wings and tail, Intermediate Blue and Insignia White

2) practice with the insignia and letters with masks

With the exception of the canopy, pretty happy with this build overall

the kit was a lot of fun, fit was excellent and no real major issues building

painted in RLM 74/75/76

used the canopy masks and insignia from the downloads section here (thank you gents!), I then created the heart and numbers

canopy I used tamiya masking sheets and the rest used oracal 810

I almost had the unit emblem in a mask, but the small black trim along the top and the right side were a little too small so used the supplied decal

the masks worked perfectly with the exception of the swastika on the tail, one of them wasn't placed exactly right and didn't notice until I pulled everything off, but managed to fix up ok by hand

thanks for looking!

Firstly, thanks to Kev for resetting my password. This getting old(er) isn't what it's cracked up to be! 😁

Secondly, a huge thanks to @Mozart for the custom serial and codes for this one. 

I supplied Max with a single dimension and he did the rest. 

Max, you're a star. 🙏 

The remainder of the stencils are the 1ManArmy set designed to replace the Airfix decals. 

They aren't entirely accurate and had to be modified on occasion to get closer to those on MK356. 

Built to honour the memory of Squadron Leader Mark Long who perished at the controls on 25th May, 2025. 

I recognize some of the membership from LSP so I apologize to you since you may have already seen this one. 

Cheers,

Guy

And its final resting place:

This is the first aircraft model I've rigged since I was a kid, and I'm not particularly happy with my process, or the results it produced, but I'm certainly glad to have finished it!

Full build thread can be found on LSP:

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/86475-matchbox-tiger-moth-raaf-air-ambulance/

Kev

It also had an interesting colour scheme according to the reference I found: a variant of Azure Blue underneath, with Dark Earth/Dark Green in a modified pattern above.  The Azure is there as many aircraft in this theatre at this time were diverted from their original destination of the Middle East, so carried a desert scheme originally.    Here's the original courtesy of "tomthounaojam" on Britmodeller.

All markings painted with masks cut on my trusty Portrait 3 - apart from those in the cockpit and on the bombs, no decals were harmed in making this model.

Not my best model, I'm afraid - these things happen - but I'm mostly happy with it.

I've just joined this forum so let me intruduce myself. My name is Bogdan, I'm a modeller from Poland. I build only 1/32 scale models - mostly Italian WWII. I just hate using decals because some of them are undpredictable duing (or after) application process so I definitely prefer masks. I've built several models using Montex mask and MRP paints with quite satisfactory effect but several days ago I bought Cameo Silhouette 4 plotter and my plan is to learn how to cut my own masks so the decals will no longer be needed. And here is short review of my latest builds with the use of masks. Some smal or complicated details are decals - but not too many of them. I hope you'll like them.

1) Bf-109G-6/R-6, 1/32 Trumpeter - in the livery of Tenente Ugo Drago from 363 Squadriglia 150 Gruppo, Sciaccia, Sicily, July 1943 - Montex (tactical) and P Mask (erla scheme on wings) masks, stencils - wet HGW transfers

2) Bf-109F-2, 1/32 Hasegawa - 363 Squadriglia 150o Gruppo Autonomo at the Sciacca airfield in Sicily in June - July 1943 - only Montex mask used, stencils - HGW wet transfers

3) Fiat G.55 Centauro - 1/32 Pacific Coast Models - Captain Ugo Drago, 1a Squadriglia 2o Gruppo Caccia at Cascina Vaga, May 1944 - Montex masks, decals - only squadron badge and producers plate with serial number

4) Fw-190D-9, 1/32 Hasegawa - Hptm. Waldemar Wubke, JG44, april 1945 - Montex mask, decal - only insription beneath the cockpit. Stencils - HGW wet transfers

5) A6M5c Zero, 1/32 Hasegawa - Tetsuzo Iwamoto, 252 Naval Flying Group, 311 Sqn - no decals used - only Montex Mask. Stencils - HGW wet transfers

6) Macchi Mc.202 Folgore, 1/32 Italeri - Serie III aircraft, 96a Squadriglia, 9o Gruppo, 4o Stormo CT, Comiso, October 1941 - Montex mask used for national insignia - the rest are (unfortunately) decals from various sets

Thanks for looking!

Kev

The main aftermarket sets were a Grand Phoenix resin cockpit, resin main wheels (True Details I think), Moskit exhausts, and a Squadron vac canopy (of which I only used the sliding section). The tail antenna and the windscreen rear view mirror were taken from the Tamiya kit.

The main relevance for SMPM, however, is that the nose chequers, spinner, fuselage codes and serial numbers were all masked and painted using custom masks I cut on the Silhouette Portrait. I also tried to do the national markings, but wasn't happy with how they turned out, so I resorted to decals for those, along with the aircraft name and a handful of stencils.

Thanks for looking!

Kev

HobbyBoss 1/48 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat (all markings painted using a Montex vinyl masking set)

[url=https://duncanblack.smugmug.com/Box-art/HobbyBoss-Grumman-F4F-4-VF-6-USS-Enterprise/i-9Lknwfh/A][img]https://photos.smugmug.com/Box-art/HobbyBoss-Grumman-F4F-4-VF-6-USS-Enterprise/i-9Lknwfh/0/L3jczW4hxk8wpj7tgRLQq4g6ckBf8WK6cXmVSLW7F/L/2018-09-11%2014.20.41-L.jpg[/img][/url]

HobbyBoss 1/48  F4F-3 Wildcat (all markings painted with the exception of the Squadron badge, serial numbers and 'US Navy')

[url=https://duncanblack.smugmug.com/Box-art/HobbyBoss-F4F-3-Early-VF-41/i-N8Bk4Lg/A][img]https://photos.smugmug.com/Box-art/HobbyBoss-F4F-3-Early-VF-41/i-N8Bk4Lg/0/KbGBfFgcDnJfDsfzd35fkkGHbfFZcdgCqBQSGB4kM/L/IMG_4333-L.jpg[/img][/url]

Eduard 1/48 Fw190D-9 (all markings painted with the exception of the small stencils)

[url=https://duncanblack.smugmug.com/Box-art/Edit/i-vhmdK7b/A][img]https://photos.smugmug.com/Box-art/Edit/i-vhmdK7b/0/MZ4K8nhBNm4K7WLjPRK8Xh883GSmPvF7fjgC9pLDz/L/IMG_1978_zps6vdg9iwd-L.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://duncanblack.smugmug.com/Box-art/Edit/i-qDHG59z/A][img]https://photos.smugmug.com/Box-art/Edit/i-qDHG59z/0/MhwvTFmfJLz7TW6rds2mP7b7pkqwkgP3CXp9PfS3h/L/IMG_1969_zpsjinbs6uy-L.jpg[/img][/url]

Duncan B

I measured the distance from leading to trailing edge on the kit where the wing walk stripe goes, then scaled the image onscreen to match that distance (just draw a straight line the measured distance, rotate and move it over the wing image and drag that out to match the line size).

Once that was established it was very easy selecting the line "figure of eight" draw tool to (manually) trace the outline of the camouflage lines:

I had already put down a base coat of Ocean Grey so the masks for those areas were pulled off and carefully laid in place on the wings.  It took no time at all to spray the Dark Green resulting in crisp lines when the masks were removed:

That was the easy bit done, then "3D fuselage would be a different matter.  But first I decided to finish the upper and lower wings.  Slight problem, unaccountable problem, with one roundel on which the blue lifted when the mask was removed, no idea why:

but the other was fine:

There was a potential problem with the under wings; the centre of the roundel coincides with a large fairing....."lump" to me, that no mask or decal for that matter is going to willingly conform to.  I sliced around it carefully once the roundel mask was in place then used masking fluid to fill the gaps.  Worked well enough:

Adventures with the fuselage: I wasn't sure of the best way to go about these masks - separate port and starboard ones or a one piece "wrap-over" one.  Well after a few experiments the latter wasn't that practical.  So I used the same technique as the wings - scanning, importing (and flipping one image), scaling, tracing:

which ended up something like:

(but this has now been revised and uploaded to this site.)  Screenshots showing mask positions:

and after applying to the model, spraying and removing:

Drawing the fuselage masks involved a certain amount of trial and error, and there is still a little touch up to do but generally speaking it's been a successful exercise.

Please feel free to download the masks but please read the caveat with the masks.

When I do the fuselage and tail markings I'll add them to this thread.

Max

Thanks for looking! Now I need to get back to one of my many unfinished aircraft projects!

Kev

Here the Tarangus 1/72 SAAB JA37 Viggen, using my paint-masks. I used a Silhouette Portrait for the canopy, wheels and landing gear wheels.
The splinter cammo was made using Maestro Models masking set.

Painted using MRP paints.

Here is my latest model. The second one since my recovery after 18 years of abstinence.
It is the Fw 190 A8 of Josef Priller of the JG 26. Some particularities for a FW 190 A8:
- No outer wing guns and no matching bumps. This is the first series of A8s lightened of the outer 20 mm guns. Later the A8 received the "universal" wing with bumps to accommodate the Mk 108.
- The propeller, new on the pictures, has external balancing weights. 
The model is the Tamiya Fw 190 F8 that was lying in my huge stock. The interior features the Eduard photo etched for this model and the propeller, with external weights, comes from Ultracast.
Paint: RLM 76 Aeromaster, RLM 75 and RLM 74 AK Real Color. Oil finish Abteilung 502. Satin varnish VMS.
Crosses, delimitations of the walking areas and part of the markings to the Silhouette. 

First the real one :

And My model

Eduard's rebox of Hasegwa 1/72 B-26. All marking done on Cameo except for nose art. 

Eduard's 1/48th P-51D as June Nite. 

Here it is as originally built and painted, prior to being disassembled for the rebuild (apologies for the crappy photo):

And after several months' work, which featured lots of scratchbuilding and a complete rescribe, here's the renovated result:

Needless to say, all the markings, save for the tail number and a few stencils, were painted on using hand-cut masks (this was long before consumer-level craft cutters had become commonplace). Still one of my most enjoyable builds!

Kev

What if Howard Hughes had finally got his beloved "Hercules" into service, maybe in time for Korea? Why not?

https://u.cubeupload.com/SAEvans/HK13.jpg

This was my very first use of the Silhouette 3 for creating a full set of markings. So basically I needed something fairly simple, not too intricate for me to get to grips with using the programme and the machine. I practised on a number of types of vynil and transfer tapes...lessons learned for future projects of a more daring nature.

    I joined this forum a long time ago, but it kinda fell by the wayside due to too much time spent on Farcebook.  Here are some of my completed models which I painted while using masks cut by my silhouette portrait.

WNW Fokker D.VII.

Roden Albatros D.I

Hasegawa Bf 109F4

PCM TA 152C

And finally this 1976 vintage Revell Bf 109G6 that has been modified by a few Trumpeter parts.

Thank you for looking!

All the lettering is done with masks cut on the Silhouette, apart from the BOAC stuff on the tail which was just too small in this scale (Tamiya 1/48 kit) which was printed as a decal...crap too it is...never mind, I't all a learning curve.

Internally I made a new floor, with 3 passenger seats as well as the crew-man in the reas, with storage locker, new windows and yes, it even has a toilet? 😄
Hope you like i?