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  1. Here are a few recent completions using my Cameo4. 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.
    13 points
  2. I've been doing the serial numbers for my Lightning this morning so here's the way that I went about it, but firstly a reminder of the main tools: I scanned the decal sheet that came with the kit and put the image into my photographs folder. then dragged the image into the Silhouette drawing area, scaling the image to a convenient size and clicking "send to back" (top tool bar) so that I could draw over it. I'm doing XS901, so I could trace the X and S and the 9. I started with the 9. The centre looked circular to me so I selected the line/circle tool and drew the inner. I copied this and enlarged it for the outer concentric circle. I grouped these two together, copied and pasted and moved this below the first circles: I used the straight line tool for the small horizontal on the 9's "tail" and a couple of verticals on the back of the 9: Then with the erasure tool I started to get rid of unnecessary bits - take the erasure tool close to the line but not too close at this stage. When I'd cleaned up most lines I went to an increased zoom for the detailed clean up - I moved the verticals slightly to one side then erased the curved line: then replaced the vertical, adjusting its length slightly if necessary. Within no time, the 9 was complete: Click on all line elements whilst holding Cmd+Shift and go to Group items then click for your finished 9. The S needed a bit more thought and a different procedure because there was no symmetry in any axis. So on the line select tool I chose the icon that looks like a figure 8 on its side, the curve drawing tool. Again remember I'm tracing over the decal onscreen. Click on the start point then click frequently following the outside line, more frequently on tighter curves. Be as accurate as possible but adjustment is easy later if you're slightly off: Stop where the curve meets a straight line, this tool will not go round sharp corners! Add the horizontals, if you go wrong at any point just go to the edit tool on the top tool bar and click on the undo button: If you want to fine tune your lines double click on the line and you'll then be able to move each point as much or little as you want to produce that smooth line. If you're working as I do to an enlarged screen any small variations will disappear as you reduce scale/size. Again finish by grouping all the elements and saving. For the X I traced one half of it. When drawing straight lines when you come to a corner do a quick double click to continue drawing in an "uninterrupted" way with a double click when you end. I grouped these lines: copied and pasted: then went to Object on the top tool bar, selected Mirror horizontally from the drop down menu: then moved the two halves together and grouped: The number "1" was very straightforward! The 0 could be done in different ways; clicking around its perimeter as with the S or drawing as with the 9. I copied the 9, ungrouped all the line elements then copied the longer vertical on the back, pasting this on the front side of the shape: Then with the erase tool I took out all unnecessary elements as before, re-grouped all and saved. I then assembled "XS901" together, grouped all and scaled to the correct size. The underwing serial was complete, from a further copy I scaled to the fuselage size, job done! The stencil was cut using Oramask 810 with a blade setting of 2, force 4, speed 5, 1 pass. Hope this has been useful to those of you new to cutters. Max
    13 points
  3. I originally built this model some time in the early '90s, after just getting back into the hobby from a long layoff. In 2007, I decided to rebuild it rather than toss it out, and can actually present before and after photos! 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
    12 points
  4. My recently completed 1/48 Hasegawa Typhone Mk Ib with Montex Masks. Only decal was the pilots kill board. First time using masks successfully. The issue I see for me it transferring and getting the right things to stick. Did a little test before with Stars/Bars and that was entertaining. Maybe I'll just stick to Japanese aircraft! 🤣
    10 points
  5. Hello, 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.
    9 points
  6. KH North American T-6 1/32 scale finished as Harvard III. All markings, canopy masks and walkways via Silhouette Cameo 2 + Designer edition software. The (inner) middle canopy section was also cut with the cameo from ten thou plastic card. Max
    9 points
  7. I've done the nose of my Lightning this afternoon so recorded the masking sequence that I followed. This isn't the only way of doing it, there are shortcuts when transferring the mask to the transfer piece for instance but this is how I did this particular one today: Firstly I prepared an "empty" mask, a negative one if you like just to get its position right and to spray the background white areas ready for the roundel and the chequerboard: Then I took my transfer piece and placed it over the mask, carefully lifting it from its backing sheet onto the transfer piece. This is fiddly and needs care: The transfer piece/mask was placed over the "negative one", making sure all lined up as well as possible. Clear Frisket film makes this slightly easier but in this case I found the 6mm squares didn't stick well enough to the Frisket so moved out of alignment. Once in position the roundel centre mask and squares to be sprayed red were removed: When dry, the roundel centre mask was replaced using the register marks for accuracy. The mask for the white middle ring doesn't need to be touched. The outer ring mask is removed, this is the blue area. The chequerboards can simply be covered up with tape, no need to replace the squares individually. Then the blue is sprayed: When dry, all masks removed for the final reveal! I've never yet done chequerboards that don't need a bit of touching up: Hope this helps a little. Max
    8 points
  8. Hello, fellas ! Here's how I create masks with my Silhouette Cameo for my example of W.Nr for 1/32 German aircraft. Of course, it also works for letters. I noticed that the masks featuring numbers with an inner recess (0, 4, 6, 8 and 9) were torn. The cause was that the Cameo's blade passed too close (the numbers are really very small) to both the outer contour and to cut the recesses. To solve this problem, here's what I do: 1-I select the "text" function in the left-hand column and on the right I choose the font and also the size of the text so that it's as large as possible while still fitting entirely within the Studio window : 2-I duplicate my text and position it below : 3-Use the "eraser" tool to remove all inner recesses from the top text : 4-And on the bottom text, I do the opposite and remove all the text outlines, leaving only the recesses : 5-I select the set, group it together and then cut it to the right size for my model : 6-For my FW 190 the W.Nr will have a size of 10.18mm : 7-I cut out the assembly, place the main mask on my model, carefully detach the 3 recesses and place them gently and precisely in position, apply a light coat of black paint with the airbrush and you're done : That's all folks! For today that is. I hope this little tutorial has been of interest to you. See you soon for new adventures with the Cameo! Denis.
    7 points
  9. View File Codes-RAF I saw a thread on LSP recently, in which the OP described the difficulties with installing certain fonts, which are recognised by MS Word and other software, but not picked up by the Silhouette Studio software. The process the poster described was basically the one I used: Type up the lettering you want in MS Word, scan it in, and manipulate it until you have your codes in your studio 3 file. What a bother! But there is no way round it. However, the thread reminded me that I had created this file, but not uploaded it here. So better late than never, here it is. It contains all the letters and numerals in two of the most common font styles used by RAF aircraft. You can use them for squadron codes, serial numbers, or whatever you choose. Just copy and paste the characters you require into your own Studio 3 file, size them and arrange them to suit your subject, and off you go. Applicable to all scales - although the smallest I've managed to cut are the 4" characters that the RN use for serials in 1/32 scale. Hope this is useful. Submitter MikeC Submitted 11/24/2023 Category Aircraft - Military
    7 points
  10. View File Stars & Bars - 1/32 P-51D At Kev's request, I'm re-posting this content from Large Scale Planes. It shows in some detail how I used the attached cutter file to paint a simple insignia on my 1:32 P-51D. I started by making a cutter file in the software that comes with the Silhouette Cameo machine. I did this by scanning the decal sheet and tracing over it, although for something as common as the US fighter plane insignia you could find a vector art file or pre-existing cutter file many places on line. I made my own because I wanted to tweak them a touch for my planned painting process. I made the outside shape (only, not the stars and bars themselves) for the inner mask (top left, the mask that covers the blue when I spray the white) very slightly smaller than the shape in the mask below it (middle left, the mask that defines the overall blue shape) so that it will be easy to lay down inside the outer mask without the edges overlapping and making it hard to stick the vinyl down. By slightly smaller I mean 0.3 mm per side. I will tape over the junctions between inner and outer masks before spraying the white paint so that none can get through the small gap between them. I then cut a piece of Oramask 813 about 9x5 inches in size and stuck it down on the tacky support mat that allows it to feed into the cutter. The cutter can take 12x12 (or even bigger with a roll attachment) but that's overkill for my uses. This is about as big a piece as I ever use. It's quick - less than 60 seconds to cut this pattern. It makes very crisp clean cuts. This is a very simple pattern because all the shapes are large. For sheets with very small details (like the federal serial number on the vertical stabilizer of this plane) I run the cutter at its minimum speed to reduce the tendency of the blade to pick tiny pieces of masking film up off of the backing. To get ready to spray the blue area I simply remove the inside part of the mask while it's still on the backing paper... Then lay a small piece of frisket paper (a standard airbrush artist's supply you can get anywhere that sells airbrushes) over the top to hold it in place as I lift it off the backing. This is important to do even for a very simple shape like this because the vinyl is flexible and the frisket is not (at least it does not stretch in length/width). If you just peel the vinyl off and try to stick it down to the model, it's easy to stretch it subtly and distort the shape. This is doubly true if you stick it down and then decide (as I did twice) that you want to move it a bit. The frisket allows you to do this without damaging the mask itself. Here it is stuck in its final spot with frisket still on it. Remove the frisket and mask around the vinyl to control overspray. I've gotten into the habit of doing this with scrap paper from the printer and very narrow pieces of tape. It takes a little extra time, but minimizes the amount of tape you are putting on already-finished painted surfaces. Risk management and all that. Same thing on the wings. And just like the squadron colors, I'll need to paint a little corner of the insignia on the disassembled gun bay covers as well). And we're ready to paint. Right before starting to paint I try to always remember to double check the edges of the vinyl and burnish them down with a fingernail if they are lifting anywhere. It's important to check that between coats of paint too. I will be painting with my GSI Creos 0.2mm double-action airbrush. This is my go-to airbrush and the one I use 95% of the time. I have a 0.5 mm version of the same brush that I use when I need to cover large areas quickly (for example I used it to paint the gloss black undercoat on this model). My old 0.5 mm Iwata is reserved for those rare occasions that I want to shoot something water-based. The GSI airbrushes I use for lacquer only. This is the blue I'm using And after it this white. This model is the first time I've used MRP paints, and I have to say I like them a lot. The convenience of not having to dilute them is very attractive, and they are very easy to get a good result with. I still have a place in my heart for Mr Color, though, and will probably continue to use both brands. I started with a light "tack coat" - painting slowly and building up a very thin layer, just enough to initiate a strong bond with the layer underneath (it was thinner than this picture suggests). Painting with masks like this you want to avoid ever getting a "wet" surface - if you do it will form a meniscus against the edge of the mask and that will dry to an obnoxious ridge at the edge of the painted shape. I'm spraying here at 10 psi (2/3 bar), which is what I almost always use. I did all four insignia with the tack coat, and by the time that was done the first one was dry to the touch and ready for coat two (this is the #1 thing I love about Mr Color lacquers - superfast drying). The second coat got the blue all the way to opacity. I could probably get away with a couple hours' curing time and move on to the second mask and the white layer, but I'm feeling extra paranoid so I'm going to leave this until tomorrow before doing the white. Why take chances when it's *this close* to done? After I do the white I'll pull the inner mask and hit the whole insignia with a light pass of clear matte to kill and shine and unify the surface appearance. Phase 2 today. Started by removing the vinyl from around the part of the mask that I want to use. As before, lay a piece of frisket paper over it to pick it up with. Carefully lay that down inside the mask that defined the blue area... And peel the frisket off, making sure to buff down the edges of the new mask. Cover the junction between outer and inner masks with tape The first of five coats of MRP white I was able to do this continuously - paint a coat on all four insignia and the first one was ready for the next coat. Took maybe 20 minutes all told to get to this. Gave it a couple hours curing time and removed the second-stage masks Nice and sharp, but the blue is too shiny. I will give it a quick shot of MRP clear matte before removing the outer mask. The final result, after matte varnish. Submitter Alex Submitted 02/23/2021 Category U.S. - WW2  
    7 points
  11. No, I'm not trying to blaspheme, but you can make the thinnest decals in the world this way. There are circumstances where masking the surface of your model is simply not going to work as I discovered during my SBD build HERE. So, keep this idea in you bag of tricks for future reference. You will need a quality clear decal film like the one available from Microscale and LACQUER paints. Assuming you have your Oramask 810 masks ready get started by painting your decals. Make extras! Carefully sliced through the clear film only leaving a small area to grip with my clamping tweezers. Do not cut the decal paper close because as you pull the paper out from under the decal you need the paper wide enough to support the width of the decal. Kinda like the slow motion version of getting a pizza off the spatula, or whatever it’s called. The decal is so thin that if you don’t support it, it will fold under itself and you’ll drive yourself insane trying to fix it. Make extras! Wet the decal from the bottom side so as not to dilute the adhesive, and removed the excess film with tweezers, but the part being clamped remains. The discarded film is that shiny thing to the top and right of the picture below. First some generous drops of Micro Set then carefully keeping the decal paper close to the model’s surface pull the paper out from under the decal. Then use a wide wet brush to work out the wrinkles the and then roll a cotton bud over the decal to work out the excess water and trapped air. You need some moisture under the decal because as the moisture evaporates the decal displaces the moisture. Setting solutions soften the decal to make it more pliable. Let it sit for a few minutes and airbrush a couple coats of Micro Sol over everything. This is typical of the results I got in all 6 positions. I chose this photo because you can see how well the decal was sucked down around the latch. So, how thin can a decal be? I defy anyone to tell the difference between a decal made this way and markings painted directly on the model. CAVEAT: Unless there is a situation like my SBD I will always paint my markings directly to the model. It's just too gratifying not to.
    7 points
  12. Phantom II F-4s VF-161 lo-viz View File Hello, my first contribution. Best Regards Michel Submitter Gruson Michel Submitted 02/03/2021 Category Specific Aircraft  
    7 points
  13. This is the last model I "completed" and is a what-if scheme I came up with. Scale is 1/32nd. All the markings save the actual camouflage itself and the JG 27 badge were done on the Silhouette cutter. This also includes the very small and intricate crossed swords and leave 200 kills badge. Some of the masks made for this (upper and lower crosses, fuselage hakenkreuz ect) have been uploaded here for anyone to use: I also have an actual JG-27 badge in Silhouette cutter form, so will try to upload that here as well. Cheers!
    7 points
  14. So these are the masks that I drew for the Lightning, all in 1/32 scale. Firstly it's worth saying that I draw everything with the page really enlarged so that the positions, points and edges of my lines are as precise as possible. You can reduce the page size to check every now and again. My starting point was the sheet of markings provided with the kit, I measured the diameters of each part of the largest roundels then selected the circle tool from the left hand selection box - it doesn't actually draw circles per se though. The latest update to the software includes a centring cross to everything you draw, it's so useful for alignment purposes. See below for the main tools in this article: I drew the inner circle, noting the distances shown on the x and y axes as I drew it, making sure they were the same! I changed to the "edit" or "move" tool at the top of the left hand selection and dragged the circle so it was centred on a grid. Then I copied it and pasted another circle, dragged it out to the required size and centred it over the first one. I then repeated this operation for the largest circle. To group these three, press and hold "Cmd" + Shift then click on the "Group" icon on the top bar. The roundel should now move as a whole design. To do the smaller roundels it's simply a matter of copying the first one then scaling down to the required size. For the nose art I was lucky that the roundel was the same size as the underwing one. The original transfer sheet had a chequer design which again I measured; 6mm squares. I reset the grid settings* to that size which helped with line length. Once I'd drawn the first 24mm horizontal I copied and pasted two more, then dragged and spaced 6mm apart vertically, lined up on the first one. Next was a 12mm vertical, again copied and pasted three times then dragged to position which gave me the main longer chequerboard design. Again, group this as a unit. One little complication is that the edge next to the roundel has a slight curve on it to "fit with" the curve of the roundel, though spaced from it. To achieve this I moved the correct roundel into approximately the right place, then copied and enlarged another roundel so that part of its circumference looked right over the "mating" edge of the chequers. Then I used the eraser tool to get rid of the rest of the large circle and cleaned up the other edges. Note, if you erase any part of a grouped design, it automatically ungroups the whole lot, so you have to go over it all and re-group. *Note: you can select "Snap to grid" but I haven't found this at all useful, I prefer the control I get with "freehand" drawing. Once this was done I copied the chequer, went up to "Object" on the top menu bar, selected "mirror" + "horizontal" so I had both sides. One of course was too long so I ungrouped this, reduced the size of the horizontals (either with the eraser or by grabbing the handles and moving) and cut out (Cmd + X) the unwanted verticals. That just left the fin flash colours, a couple of words of caution in this little bit! To get the angle right so the flash aligned with the front edge of the fin, I scanned a drawing from the instructions and saved it to my photos. With the Designer edition (but not the basic one) you can then simply drag the picture onto your drawing screen; it effectively "sits" on top off what you've already drawn. You'll undoubtedly need to reduce it to a workable size and then before you can draw "on top of it", ie trace it, you go to the top bar where, next to the Ungroup icon (see above) are some more little juxtaposed squares. Click on the one that has Alt text saying "Send to the back", this brings your drawing to the front so you can draw lines over the picture! Clever stuff!! 😃 I drew a line about a third of the length of the front edge of the fin, then a horizontal about the width of the three stripes, all approximate because I have no set dimensions so it's Mk 1 eyeball stuff. I copied the horizontal line and dragged it to the bottom, then copied the sloping first line thrice and spaced them according. Click on all and group. As before, once you've got one, copy, go to "Object - mirror - horizontal" done! Word of warning through bitter experience! DO NOT HIT THE "Save" BUTTON ON YOUR DRAWING WHILST THE PICTURE IS UNDERNEATH IT! If you do, you will have saved the whole lot together and I don't think you can "unstick" it? So do your design, move the picture well out of the way, then hit Save. And that was that really. Just about as basic as you can get, but it works.
    7 points
  15. Good day everyone! I am a modeler from the city of Grand Rapids, USA. (We happen to be getting a blizzard right now.) I mostly build aircraft in 1/72 and 1/48 scale, and I have been considering getting into creating my own masks for a year or so. My initial interest here is painting aircraft graphics and lettering/numbering instead of using decals that are hard to find, expensive, or damaged. Yesterday, I came across a previously owned, well-maintained Silhouette Cameo 3 with some extras for $60. Seemed like a good entry point, so I jumped on it. I use Hyperscale Forums regularly, and saw this website posted by a member several months ago. I just joined this forum now that I have a cutting machine. Looking forward to learning from everyone here as I get into this new aspect of modeling. See you around! -Steve EJ
    6 points
  16. Kotare Spitfire Mk. Ia Masks View File Kotare Spitfire Mk. Ia Insignia Masks ... these have been drawn based on the kit's decal sheet (ie nothing has been traced). Obviously these haven't been tested (yet) but should hopefully give you guys a basis to move forward with and save you a bit of time Working on the canopy masks, but that could take a bit more time Submitter CB_357 Submitted 03/18/2023 Category Specific Aircraft  
    6 points
  17. This is a tale of what NOT to do! Designing and cutting the masks for the wing Balkenkreuz was straightforward but using them was not my finest hour! Let me say first of all that I got away with it, more by luck than judgement but boy, did I make life difficult for myself: Anybody with half a brain would have used an "empty" mask of the whole cross to spray a white background, then simply apply the four white L masks and spray black....voila, job done, easy peasy! But for reasons unbeknownst to me I applied the whole mask to the wing, left the "white Ls" in place and then sprayed black. This then entailed putting the fiddly narrow outer "Ls", four to each cross, back in place plus the large central cross, weeding out the "white section Ls" then spraying white. The margin for error was huge, the method was stupid, but the result was gratifying! Never again....think first! Max
    6 points
  18. Here are the settings I use when cutting Oramask 810. NOTE: Since this picture was made I've increased the speed to 6. Perhaps it could be set at a higher speed but that's your decision. OVERCUT simply extends the corner cuts beyond the apex and guarantees the corners are sharp and the mask pieces separate completely.
    6 points
  19. Some sort of Vendors Board, similar to what we have on LSP, has been part of my thinking for SMPM from the beginning, but I wanted to let it grow a little first, as it's hard to attract vendors to a site that has little traffic. Sadly, we still have little traffic. So now we have a chicken-and-egg situation. Much of this is largely due to my inability to spend more time being active on the site, and leading from the front. Life is quite emphatically in the way at the moment, but once the smoke clears early next year, I intend to take a hard look at SMPM, figure out what's working and what's not, and do what I can to not only ensure its continued existence, but also hopefully foster some growth in traffic and interest. And that will probably include adding a section where mask makers can promote their services, and members can make requests. I'm also happy to consider any other suggestions anyone might have! Kev
    6 points
  20. The idea behind this was to create something for the Spruce goose. 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.
    6 points
  21. Version 1.0.0

    247 downloads

    These masks were drawn from the Tamiya instructions for their Mk IX Spitfire but are probably useable on many types as a generic scheme. Please note, I drew these for my own use, they are not perfect and not professionally produced so will probably need "tweaking" if you decide to use them. The screenshots show location of the camouflage sections, it presumes that a base coat of Ocean Grey has been applied so these allow for Dark Green only. UPDATE 26/3/21 I've amended the file for the fuselage; on fitting the masks to my model I found that I had omitted to provide a mask for the port side above the tailplane, this is now included and positioned on the sheet in the bottom right hand corner. Also amended are the engine panels, the original versions were too high. UPDATE 27/3/21 Another amendment, the fin flashes were slightly too large but have been altered to fit. I've also added the mask for the upper engine panel, shown on the sheet as "Nose". Max
    6 points
  22. On with the job! So here we are with the model substantially built and primed ready for paint. The upper wing is just resting in place: You can see clearly here that the undercarriage, interplant struts and cabane struts are white metal. The struts have a very solid and robust key into the upper wing. First application was trainer yellow: I later saw that the yellow needed to come further forward on the port side, so that was amended. The struts were also sprayed then masked along with the rest of the yellow ready for the Dark Earth background: I could have "free-handed" the camouflage but decided to make masks. One of my reference books had some useful scale drawings which I scanned as guides: ....and these were used as shown below: The vertical line drawn on the Silhouette to the dimension of the leading to trailing edge enabled me to get the right scale for the drawing by reducing or enlarging it as necessary, this technique is used on all the masks I produce. This was all very easy for the wings and empennage: And before too long: I considered doing Silhouette-produced masks for the over-fuselage camouflage but to be honest it was more fuss than it was worth, so some ordinary masking tape with a slightly wavy edge soon did the job. And when all the masking tape came off: Inevitably there are one or two small areas to touch up, but for a model that was so heavily masked I'm pleased with how little I need to correct. The final fuselage painting task is the nose panels. I'm going to firstly investigate using Bare Metal foil, cutting the panels with the Silhouette from a scanned image, but the default will be natural metal paint finish.
    6 points
  23. And finished. I'll do some proper photos in due course. It just fits in the IKEA display cabinet: turn it port quarter to the front and the door causes the pitot to bend a little.
    6 points
  24. HI everyone, 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!
    6 points
  25. This is my second attempt at using the Silhouette Portrait 3 for paint masks. A little more involved this time and I have to say it seems like a pretty good result for the markings. ALL of which were sprayed on, so no pesky decalling to fight with. I've uploaded the Silhouette image into the downloads section if anyone wants to try them out in the future. They are a straight replacement for the Tamiya decals, with a few tweaks to get a more accurate set of markings. (eg. Size of the upper wing crosses and style of the tail numbers)
    6 points
  26. I knocked this one out for a bit of fun in-between more indepth projects. Knife blade for scale. I later painted in the details on the dragon by hand. Just a bit of fun to practice some airbrushing! Denzil
    6 points
  27. Thanks, Max. As it happens, I'm completely hopeless with vector drawing, so I guess we each go with our strengths! Here's the finished build: Kev
    6 points
  28. Thanks all! Now that I've had a chance to play with it, the transfer tape I already had has been working really well with the 810. Letting me do exactly what I had hoped I'd be able to.
    6 points
  29. So I've had a Cameo 1 for a couple of years but only used it to a relatively small degree. I have the full boat of software up to and including the business edition (mainly so I could import AI images. Thanks to Kevin we can share our knowledge and experiences with these contraptions.
    6 points
  30. ICM's excellent 1/32 scale Gladiator I shown in 56 squadron colours. K8000 was definitely a 56 Squadron aeroplane, whether it had the famous red and white chequers has yet to be proven! All markings including the firebird on the tail fin designed and cut using the Cameo. The firebird was the limit of the cameo's capabilities I think and was tidied up afterwards with a fine brush.
    6 points
  31. First attempt at using my new Portrait 2. National markings and numbers were painted using the masks, the heart nose art is a decal and the wolf's head is a mix of masks, decal and brush paint. I used the Zotz sheet, scanned in the parts I needed, edited them and cut on the machine...
    6 points
  32. Dear all, I want to show you the result of the work that Max did ! The letters turned out a bit small, (my fault) but I can live with that! I needed to to some small touch ups, easy to do. A big thanks to, and a round of applause for Mozart for his work! With regards, Rob
    5 points
  33. Scratchbuilt RC model, 42” LOA. I bought my Cameo4 for projects like this. I used it to make the masks for the flight deck, including the elevators and numbers. A little OT for this group, but I also cut a lot of little parts with the Cameo, out of .010 and .020 sheet styrene. The Cameo is a great tool when you need about 50 little triangular brackets, all the exact same size!
    5 points
  34. Ok... this may be considered to be a shameless plug of my YouTube channel; but it is actually a tutorial 😄 Hope you find it useful 😉
    5 points
  35. FINISHED!! This one seems to have fought me most of the way: perhaps that's my fault, perhaps the kit, perhaps a bit of both. But here it is, warts'n'all, and I'm now rather pleased with it: it's been a useful learning experience from the masking point of view, not least the checks. I'll do some proper RFI shots in due course, but meanwhile, here's some "taster" pics: A small touch of artistic licence: I'm not one of those who insist that all invasion stripes painted in the days before D-Day were scruffy ("hobby-horse" alert!!), but the black straying up the aerial was deliberate on my part. The other stray black on the stripe behind wasn't, but I decided to leave it anyway. Did you wonder "Will it ever be finished"? I know I did. Thanks for staying with me, and for all the encouraging remarks along the way.
    5 points
  36. Hello, 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
    5 points
  37. Oh my! I tried it out now (still need to process the images of the final model so will need some time for pictures) but .... this thing is awesome! I practically did a whole 1/32 Tomcat without any decals! The Portrait can do letters down to less than a mm thickness and less than two mm hight. If you are familiar with modern US Navy lettering you might grasp what it can do but I did masks for things as tiny as the little aircraft type letters above the already small BuNo and I also was able to cut the small "danger / jet intake" letters within the warning stripes of the intake trunks, heck even the small "no step" markings are possible. Granted applying that small stuff to the model is an aweful hassle and takes a lot of time, a magnifier and a steady hand but it pays off in the end. I'm sooooooo happy I made the jump. 200 bugs well invested. As soon as I'm fully done I'll show some images.
    5 points
  38. Now, I know the Beaufighter is a classic but just imagine for one moment if BOAC decided to use this amazing aircraft on it's wartime passenger runs instead of the Mosquito? It might look something like this: 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?
    5 points
  39. Final stages, whole roundels put back in place then red centre removed, replaced and blue outer done: The transfer piece here is sold for Cricut machines - low tack, completely clear (which is a distinct advantage) and with the grid on it which helps: and before very long at all:
    5 points
  40. Version 1.0.0

    51 downloads

    Hello, my first contribution. Best Regards Michel
    5 points
  41. It's been too long and busy a day to open the box but tomorrow morning I'm gonna start playing with it. I bought some mask sheets at the store to learn on but also ordered a bunch of Oramask 810 sheets that should be here next week. I'm sure I'll have questions but I hope I'll be able to contribute to the site soon too. Al
    5 points
  42. I've been hacking away at this beast for the last few weeks now, in the hopes that it would help restore my mojo after a long hiatus from the bench. It's by Fantastic Plastic, in 1/144 scale, and represents a Northrop concept design for a nuclear-powered flying-wing bomber: The included decals were a bit rubbish, and both USAF decals were damaged, so I decided to finally break out my Silhouette Portrait for the first time in the more than two years since I purchased it, and make my first set of masks. I simply scanned the decals, cleaned them up in Photoshop, imported the result into Silhouette Studio, and used the trace function to give me the necessary outlines. Here's the result: I'm quite chuffed with the way they came out. It's baby steps for sure, but this was the perfect task to cut my teeth on, and I'm now looking forward to using it on other projects, and for more complicated tasks. I'll post a photo of the final result when it's ready. Kev
    5 points
  43. Created masks for the airbase and commander codes ("SP" and "52FW") to replace the included decals. Everything else is decal. Things that worked well: scanning the original decals and using them to align replacement text in Inkscape. Also scanned the painting/decal guide from the kit, scaled it to fit, and cut the mask to align with edges of the stab and panels. Love that the color matches the body color perfectly, unlike the original decal, for example the "AF91-352" bit. Things I need to work on. I must have laid the paint on too thick, as I ended up with fairly obvious ridges. I either need to use less paint or figure out how to feather it into the layer below. I also made some simple masks for wheels, the formation lights below the stab atop the fuselage, and the air-refueling door. Loved being able to quickly and accurately create these with the Silhouette. Overall, pretty happy with how this kit turned out, and looking forward to being more creative with masks in the future.
    5 points
  44. Hallo to all! Here one of my last work.... canopy/wheels masks and numbers realized by Silhoutte Portrait. Hope you enjoy... ciao! Valerio. MB.326-115 by Valerio, su Flickr MB.326-116 by Valerio, su Flickr MB.326-130 by Valerio, su Flickr MB.326 end-7 by Valerio, su Flickr MB.326 end-4 by Valerio, su Flickr MB.326 end-20 by Valerio, su Flickr 11998908_442586189260246_7379382820028146589_n by Valerio, su Flickr
    5 points
  45. Howdy everyone, another LSPer here! I'm an aircraft mechanic during the day, and after seeing the results guys were getting with paint masks, I thought I could apply the technique to full sized aircraft. The shop I worked at did a lot of high end avionics upgrades, and the need for unique stencils and placards allowed me to convince the boss to buy a Cameo III for that purpose. Since It was my idea, I got tasked with learning and putting it to use. Here are a few results. This is a circuit breaker panel from a Cessna 172 An entire brand new panel for a Piper Commanche 400
    5 points
  46. A small addition to the earlier "tutorial", this time cutting plastic instead of vinyl. For my Lightning I needed to make two ventral fins from 30 thou plastic card. Accurate scale drawings were part of Echelon's instructions, so I scanned these: ....saved the scan to my photo album then dragged the image onto the Silhouette screen: the drawing again being scaled to a workable size. Then the fin was traced, the only slightly tricky bit (not really!) was the curve. When you click on the drawing tool icon, one of the options given is to draw a curve. Select this, click your mouse at the starting point then makes series of clicks following the curve till the end point. "Sign off" with a double click, then group with all the other elements. When you've finished the design and saved it, click the "SEND" button, top right and a drop down menu gives you a choice of materials - on my machine plastic card isn't one of them! So you have to tailor the cutting speed, the number of passes and the force. The maximum force is 33, I chose this, 10 passes and speed 5. The standard blade will cut 10 thou card but for anything thicker you need a heavy duty blade, I set it by eye so that a reasonable amount of blade was showing! Not very scientific I admit. When you load the cut mat and plastic sheet, the latter tends to move about because of the force and reduced "stickiness" of smooth plastic, so I just hold it lightly in place whilst cutting. The blade won't cut all the way through the plastic, but scores deeply enough that with a little bending the fin pops out. Then a sand, clean up and hey presto......! 😁 Wonderful machines these Silhouette cutters!
    5 points
  47. I had always planned on picking up a cutter, and now I have a very good reason to 🙂 Hope to contribute here once I'm up n running, open to machine suggestions also, drop yours below!
    5 points
  48. One of the areas I'd like to explore here is the ability of the various software packages used in mask production to convert to other formats used by other packages. For example, are there converter utilities for the Sihouette Studio format, or even DXF? Can someone who uses a Cricut machine download one of Brian's files, and convert it to a Cricut-compatible format for use with their machine? What formats do the various software packages support natively? I think answering these and similar questions here in the forums could provide great value to the community. Eventually I'd like to establish an FAQ section, where modellers can get their common questions answered quickly and easily. Kev
    5 points
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