Mozart

One of the skills, perhaps considerations might be a more accurate word that I’ve learned over the years that I’ve been using my cutter, is how to efficiently draw the designs. My favourite “buttons” on the top tool bar are “copy” (Ctrl +C), “paste” (Ctrl +V), “Object” - the drop down menu enables a mirror or flip function, and “Group/Ungroup” (Ctrl+Shift) which enables you to select drawn lines/shapes and group them as one entity.
 

Being familiar with these few keys gives you the ability to be able to draw shapes quickly and accurately and to make the best use of the design software. I am by no means whatsoever claiming to be an expert with these things, more a functional user using what I have found works for me and if I can pass on a few of these tips then I’ll be happy! I love the challenge of having a new set of masks to draw then planning how to go about it. I spent an hour or so yesterday drawing some masks for my Lightning so I’ll add to this thread a little later with some pointers about how I did them.

Watch this space......😀

Max 

Silhouette is the market leader and I believe offers the most flexibility and range. Another popular brand is Cricut; I have no personal experience with these but users on the Facebook group about mask cutting give the impression that they are not as well suited to the tasks that we as modellers require. 
Max 

Good to see you here Mike, everything that Brian has said is 100% true! 

5 hours ago, Kevin Futter said:

OK, try it now, Brian!

 

Kev

That works Kev, I had wondered about that too! Well done Brian. 😄
Max 

Something I've I've always had to research is the way in which national marking evolve, the roundel and German crosses for instance.  I know Thomas has uploaded some very useful masks for different categories of roundels, and very useful they are too but it would be good to cross reference this to photographs for positions, dates, dimensions and critically colours linked if possible to the range offered by companies such as MRP, Tamiya, Vallejo etc.  I'm struggling at the moment to tie down a good Cold War colour range for my Echelon Lightning for instance.

What are the differences or advantages of Artool over Oramask 810 (my usual choice) Mal?

I’m a Silhouette Cameo 2 + Designer Edition user. I draw all of my masks just using the inbuilt software so I haven’t explored any other types yet. I love the potential that cutting my own masks gives me to be able to build the individual aircraft that I so often need, allied to the fact that I’m useless at applying decals! Looking forward to seeing your new venture develop Kev, good on you! 
Max