Kevin Futter

Probably around $500 or so, off the top of my head. Kev

I've just paid the annual license renewal for the forum software that runs Scale Model Paint Masks, and along with the other associated costs of keeping the site online (hosting, domain renewal, security certificates, etc), it's quite a costly exercise. All of this comes out of my own pocket, as we have no sponsorship, or any other way of generating revenue to help cover costs. So if you could see your way to making a small donation to help offset these expenses and keep SMPM online, I'd be very grateful! There's a "please donate" button in the top right section of the homepage: Thanks in advance for your generosity! Kev

Welcome aboard, Russ! 👋 Kev

That's lovely! Great work. Kev

Hi there, You seem to be having some trouble. Can you provide some more details? I'm going to presume that you're referring to the ".studio3" files that make up the bulk of the downloadable content on this site. These are the native file format for the Silhouette family of cutting machines, which are by far the most commonly used type in the scale modelling community. These files are opened in the Silhouette Studio application (itself free to download), and from there sent to the cutting machine to cut the designs. I'm not sure what you mean by "a well know App", but since the files uploaded to this site are designed to be used to cut paint masks, they need to be in a format that can be opened and read by the specialist applications required to talk to the cutting hardware. Any other kind of application wouldn't work, and while there are other file formats that do work, they would need to be converted first, depending on the hardware and software combination you have. All that said, you should still have no issue downloading any of the files on this site, even if you can't use them. I hope that answers your questions, but if it doesn't, we might need to some more details from you. Kev

Hi Nick, Looks like something went wrong here. Pop on over to the Downloads section and click the blue "Submit a file" button. Once you've completed the upload, the software will automatically make a post in this section about it. Just reach out if you have any trouble with the process. Kev

Thanks for that info, Harry. I bought a large roll from the Australian office several years ago, but had to sign up as a reseller to do so. Have not needed to buy any since, but I don't do a lot of cutting generally (very little time for modelling, sadly). I haven't noticed any deterioration, but it wouldn't surprise me. Kev

Welcome aboard, Ken! Kev

Welcome aboard, Casey! Kev

I've fixed the image link for you, Mark. You just need the direct image link (the one that ends with ".jpg" or similar), rather than any of the bbCode (the stuff in the square brackets). Mask alignment and registration is something I struggle with myself, and am still trying to get better at, so I feel your pain! Kev

Encouraging results, Guy! Kev

I'd venture to say that this is still much better than any of the blade cutters could manage! Kev

Can't help with the serial numbers, unfortunately, but that's looking very interesting at this point! Kev

It will eventually - probably later this year. But it should also come with the same options for changing your preferences. Kev

Let's hope they keep supporting it, as it seems they have a strong preference for the new style! I don't mind it personally, but I do appreciate its drawbacks. Kev

It's come to my attention that the interface for these settings is quite different in the latest versions of the Silhouette Studio software. I'm using v5 of the software (5.0.219ssbe Business Edition), and I found them by going to the SEND area, then clicking on the MORE button in the Modify Settings area: This opens up a long list of material types, but there's a settings panel at the bottom, which contains the settings in question: And a couple of parameters you can adjusted when selected: Kev

Progress is progress, Guy! Good to see you getting somewhere with it. Kev

With the new v5 of the forum software comes a new interface, which is radically different from the previous one, and takes some getting used to. It's also not everyone's preference, so if you prefer the old style view, you can change this in your profile settings. Here's how: Firstly, edit your profile by choosing the "Edit Profile" option from the drop-down menu you get when you click on your forum name at the top right of the screen: Then choose the "Content Preferences" option at the bottom of the list of settings on the left: Enable the "Change layout views" setting, which will then reveal all the options and settings you have for viewing the forums: Kev

This is actually a user-controllable setting now. Edit your profile from the menu at the top right of the page, and then select "Content Preferences". This will give you something like this: Enable the "Change layout views" option at the bottom, and you'll be able to select how you view the forums: Kev

This handy article on the 3DCuts website discusses a feature introduced in v3 of the Silhouette Studio software that helps make sharp corner cuts better: https://3dcuts.com/silhouette-line-segment-overcut-tutorial Thanks for Leon over at LSP for posting the link! Kev

Just ran another minor software update, so consider this a testing post to make sure everything still works! Kev

Nice work so far, Rick! Kev

Welcome aboard, Michael! 👋 Kev

That's a shame, Guy. I hope you can get it resolved without too much mucking around. Kev

It looks like Imgur doesn't want to give you access to the proper image link, which is a bit annoying. The easiest way to get at it is to right-click on the image (assuming you're using a desktop browser and not a mobile device), and choose your browser's version of "copy image link". Then paste that link into the post edit window here. This should give you something like so: Very nice build, by the way! Kev