Kevin Futter

Sadly, I'll be having to stick with the old Revell kit for the time being, as my days of being able to afford expensive model kits are all but over. Long live the stash! Kev

Glad to see you posting this wonderful build here, Max! It's truly a stunning kit, and you're doing wonderful work on it. Kev

I've put together a quick'n'dirty grass mat base for the Trumpeter Emil. Anybody who's ever placed a large scale 109 or Spitfire build onto a glass shelf will be well aware of the dangers of the undercarriage splaying over time - and eventually collapsing altogether. This is really just to prevent that, and like the rest of the build, is deliberately low-effort! Kev

For those of you wondering if it's really worth the bother to ditch the convenience of decals and paint your markings on, here's a model I built in 2008... In case you're curious, the decals were from Eagle Strike. The rest of the paint work is fine, other than being a little dusty. Kev

Welcome aboard, Pascal! Is there any possibility you could post in English? Unfortunately most of our members don't read French. And for those members, here's a Google translation of Pascal's post: "Hello everyone My name is Pascal, I'm 65 years old, French, and live near Grenoble. I've been a model maker for many years. I mainly build 1/72 scale aircraft, with a particular interest in Free French (FAFL) pilots during World War II. I'm gradually replacing kit decals with stencils made using Silhouette. I'm a beginner with stencils, so I've joined you to learn more. Thank you for the welcome." Kev

I think it's not unreasonable to expect better results than that, but I can't really give you any concrete advice, other than to perhaps try some Oramask if you have some. If you can afford to sacrifice the material, it might be worth setting up a series of circles to cut on a single sheet, starting with something fairly large, and then decreasing by increments in size, right down to where you are having problems. Then see if there's a particular size boundary below which you start to see issues. It won't help solve the problem, but will at least give you an indication about whether the issue is related to the size of the circle, or circles in general. If the latter, then there could potentially be an issue with the settings or hardware on the machine. Kev

I started this build as part of the Messerschmitt Bf 109s & Derivatives Group Build on LSP, and have just wrapped it up. I chose to use the Bulgarian markings supplied in the kit for something different, and am grateful to Dany Boy over on LSP for providing some very useful reference material. It's quite an unusual and striking scheme for a 109! 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

Not directly. You'll need to post them to a third-party hosting site (such as Imgur, ImageShack, etc), and then paste links to those images into your post. Kev

I think cutting them should be fine, but as you allude to, the application would be the tricky part. The key would be to come up with a process that avoids having to lay down a thin outline mask on the model. Instead, try to organise it so that the black outline appears as a consequence of the rest of the process, if that makes sense. Also, I'd strongly advise making some test runs on a paint mule first! Kev

Welcome aboard, sir! Kev

This is a tricky one. I'd say if you were just buying one for yourself, for use in scale modelling only, then the Portrait would be the way to go. But if you have other family members who want to also use it for all kinds of other tasks, then maybe the Cameo is a better recommendation - especially since the price difference isn't huge (they both seem pretty cheap to me). The Cameo is a much more capable device, certainly in terms of the size and range of materials it can handle, but is also much larger. I think it's overkill for scale model paint masks, but probably a better choice for a wider array of use cases. Kev

All the downloadable files are contained within the Downloads section of the site: https://www.scalemodelpaintmasks.com/index.php?/files/ Kev

Welcome aboard! Kev

That's very odd, Geoff, and I've not come across this before. I'm based in Australia, so I don't see why donations from New Zealand wouldn't be supported (maybe still mad about the underarm thing?). As far as I know, there are no country settings involved, but I'll take a look. Thanks for trying all the same! Kev

I don't see any harm in having multiple options available. If it's something you're happy to do, then I say go for it! Kev

Thanks, Max! Kev

Welcome aboard, Mark! I use a Mac also, so you're not alone. Kev

Thanks for the updated report. Sounds like you're getting some positive results now! Kev

Welcome aboard, Henrik! We hope you find the site useful. Kev

Welcome aboard! I've not heard of the Creation P-Cut before, so it's interesting that you find the Cameo 5 not as good. I only have a humble Portrait 2, so I'd love to hear more about your thoughts on and experiences with the Cameo. Kev

Welcome aboard! Click on the "View File" below the image in the original post, and you'll have the option to download the actual cut files, which are in ".studio3" format for use on the Silhouette series of machines. Kev

Welcome aboard, Mike! There's a version of the airscale Defiant kit decals represented as cut files here on the site, produced by Max Williams. Of course, if you're planning on different markings, then this isn't really relevant! Looking forward to what you come up with. Kev

Welcome aboard! Kev

Welcome aboard! Kev

Asking for money is good way to drive people away, I think. Even my plea for donations has largely landed on deaf ears - though I am eternally grateful to those few of you who have indeed contributed! Just that simple act (whether financially useful or not) helps keep me thinking that the site is worth persevering with. Kev