Kevin Futter

Just another minor software update, and another obligatory test post. Kev

This is a general announcement that contains information pertinent to all members, so please read and take note! For a long time now, the server Scale Model Paint Masks is hosted on has been slowly becoming obsolete, and I've been trying to find the time to either upgrade it or migrate to a new one. Things are coming to a head now, however, as there's a new version of the forum software coming out soon that absolutely won't work on our current server configuration. This means that sometime soon - possibly as early as next week - I'll be organising to have the website and forums migrated to a brand-new server. This will inevitably entail some down time, and perhaps a few quirks afterwards. I'll endeavour to keep everyone as in the loop as possible. With regard to the new version of the forum software, this will introduce quite a few new features, and some important changes, one of which I'd like to flag here, as it will affect most of us. Once the new forum software is installed, we'll no longer be able to log in using your forum display names - email addresses will be required instead. I'm pretty sure you're able to log in with your email addresses now (will confirm shortly), and if so, I recommend everybody starts doing that immediately, so that the transition to v5 of the software is as trouble-free as possible. Just to clarify: the server migration and forum software upgrade are two different things, and will be happening at different times. But the latter requires the former, so one step at a time. This will also affect the KLP Publishing and Large Scale Planes websites, the latter of which uses the same software as we do here. Stay tuned! Kev

Welcome aboard! 3mm does seem a little too thick to me. I couldn't imagine trying to cut that on my Portrait 2. Kev

Welcome aboard, sir! The Cameo 5 is an impressive machine from all I've heard and seen. Kev

Welcome aboard, Bogdan! That's a beautiful collection of builds. Kev

Thank you, sir! I left some things off the model, including the prominent tail rigging, but it still passes muster I think. Kev

Thanks, Mike. My stash is full of these old kits, so there'll be plenty more to come! Kev

I finished this build earlier this year as part of the Silver Jubilee Group Build over at LSP. In case you're not sure, this is a resin kit of the Fokker D.XXI in 1/32 scale by Silver Wings. I had a few issues with the build, but most of them were self-inflicted. The main markings were scanned from the decals and cut as masks using my Silhouette Portrait. Only the smaller insignia and stencils were used from the kit decals. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for looking! Kev

It was a bit fiddly I have to confess, and they didn't turn out perfectly, but then the real things were probably a little agricultural too. I think they look OK. I painted them first and then masked them off for the main camo colours, which I thought would be easier than doing it the other way around. Kev

I started this kit a few years ago as part of a Group Build on LSP, but quickly stalled out. It made a couple of returns to the bench, before I finally committed to getting it finished earlier this year. Initially it was meant to be a quick build, so I elected not to rescribe it, or fix the inaccurate main wheel bays, but with a bunch of legacy aftermarket in the box, it quickly evolved into something more complicated. 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

Welcome aboard, Mark! Kev

Welcome aboard, sir! The Oracal products are hard to find here in Australia, too. The one source I know of is a distributor, so you have to sign up as a faux retailer to order anything! Not helpful for you, but at least know that you're not alone. Hopefully someone can give you more useful information than that! Yes, I wish the site was more popular too. Kev

Welcome aboard, John! Kev

Lovely work, Duncan! I took the liberty of fixing your image links for you. The forum software no longer supports bbCode (the stuff in the square brackets), so you only need to paste in the direct image URL now. So instead of this: [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] ... you just need this: https://photos.smugmug.com/Box-art/Edit/i-vhmdK7b/0/MZ4K8nhBNm4K7WLjPRK8Xh883GSmPvF7fjgC9pLDz/L/IMG_1978_zps6vdg9iwd-L.jpg Kev

Welcome aboard, Duncan! Kev

I had no idea those Arma files existed - thanks for the link, Milo! I'd be looking to scale them up to 1/32, but I do have a Hasegawa 1/48 Hurricane in the stash... Kev

Welcome aboard, Carl! Kev

Well, that does indeed look like an interesting machine. I'd never heard of it, so it will be interesting to see some reviews and comparisons with the more well-known brands and models. Kev

What's a "Siser Juliet"? Kev

There's a really good build of that kit (test shot, I believe) on LSP: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/100173-north-american-f-86-a-5-sabre-148-clear-prop-models/ Kev

Welcome aboard, Jean! You could try superimposing the mask designs over your original scans, and making them match up. Not sure if that's actually possible in practise, but just an idea that popped into my head. Kev

Wow, that's annoying! If I were you, I'd take this issue directly to Silhouette, as this seems like a failure of the machine to perform properly. I think some tech support might be in order here. Kev

I meant to report back on this ages ago, but one of the updates released since I made this post fixed the issue, and subsequent versions of Silhouette Studio have all been fine - not that I've really had any time to test them! I've just (finally) upgraded from the Basic (free) edition to Business Edition, so being much more productive at the workbench so far this year (4 completions already), I'm hoping to be able to use the Silhouette solution for my projects more often. Kev

Yep, just upgraded from Basic to Business myself. Total cost was about AU$76, and I had a bit of trouble with the payment process, so Silhouette support helped me out nicely there. Now I just have to find the time to use it! Kev