MikeC

Great collection of excellent models.

That seems eminently reasonable.

In fact, this was prompted by the fact that I ordered a Portrait 3 from Graphtec in the UK, and less than 24 hours after hitting the "confirm order" button it's just been delivered. That's great service!

I did wonder whether it would be worth having a "suppliers reviews" thread or area somewhere, where people who have bought a cutter and had good service/value (or otherwise) from their supplier could share their experiences.

I think I may have mentioned that I was considering a purchase. After reading this and other threads here and on LSP, and after vacillating between the Cameo 4 and the Portrait 3, I've gone for the latter. It looks like it will do what I need it to, it's smaller, and I wasn't sure the extra features and facilities on the Cameo were worth the price difference. Looking forward to trying a few masks. Thanks for all the helpful advice. 👍

Thanks for the help everyone. 👍 I think I've got enough generally to make a decision (between Cameo and Portrait), but if you think of anything else I may not have considered, please chime in.

Thanks chaps. Basically it can't sit permanently next to the computer; it could sit temporarily near enough to plug a USB cable in, so I think the next solution is to store it and set it up only when actually cutting. Does that sound viable?

Thanks Dave. The PC does have Bluetooth on board, so that may be better The issue is I have no room near the PC to put another peripheral, so I'll have to work it out.

Thanks everyone for your comments - all helpful. Dave, roughly how far away was the Cameo 4 from the PC? Under my current plans, the PCC is downstairs and the cutter will be in the room directly above - but perhaps I need to rethink that.

Thanks Kev, this is all useful info. I do still need to take a more detailed look at footprint, and how siting it elsewhere will work. As for the Cricut, I've just seen the thread you refer to; that's Cricut out of the equation as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks @Mozart Max, that's useful. I thought some of the blurb on some sites must mention it, but I couldn't find a clear statement in a technical spec. Perhaps I wasn't looking hard enough? I'm really looking at just the Cameo 4 and the Portrait 3. I gather from various posts that you're quite happy with your Cameo, and a friend from my club has a Cameo 1, so I'm leaning towards that; but Kev has said on this forum that he's happy with a Portrait as that meets his needs, so I'm trying to work out what my needs actually are and whether a Portrait will meet them, taking into account things like maybe doing masks for other people (not commercially); or "renting" cutter time out to my granddaughter who's into all sorts of crafts. Silhouette seems more popular than Cricut, I may well look at them as well. At the risk of drifting off-topic, anyone have any thoughts on that?

I'm considering a purchase, and what I'm not really finding in the various descriptions of machines on the retailers' or manufacturers' sites is a positive statement about connectivity. Perhaps I'm missing it, or perhaps it's so basic one shouldn't have to ask, but nevertheless I will. Quite simply, can anyone who owns one or is otherwise in the know please tell me how the cutters on my shortlist, the Silhouette Cameo 4 and the Portrait 3 (is that the current model?), connect to a Windows PC: - USB? - Bluetooth? - WiFi? Or any/all of these? [Edit] I ask because space considerations would make it more convenient to site the cutter somewhere other than next to the PC. Thanks.

That's different! Very well imagined.

I'm still here, but I'm afraid I'm one of those who haven't checked in that often. Perhaps if I do I may be enthused to buy a mask-cutter instead of yet more "stash-fodder".

Hi Kev, I'm here, and thanks.

Great model, love the presentation.

You may recall that in my intro I said that I was working on a Tamiya Mk VIII, and a friend was cutting the masks for me. Well here's the result: an aircraft of 54 Sqn RAF (despite the markings and serial), 1945. The basic kit was enhanced with various Barracuda bits, including wheels, rocker covers with "RR" logo, and some cockpit parts, and I also used a Yahu instrument panel. The masks (made from Oramask I believe) worked very well, even the rather small serial. Thanks JD. I've never liked large decals, and I'm now rather hooked on masks, despite rather enjoying the process of decalling. To start with, a pic of the subject. (If this infringes your copyright, please advise and I'll remove it) Thanks for looking.

Hello People, Good to be here, and I can see a few familiar names from the LSP forums. I'm relatively new to using masks, although I've dabbled in the past. I don't have a cutter (one day perhaps), but I'm fortunate to have a friend in my IPMS branch who does, and he's done me a set for a Spitfire in RAAF markings that I'm working on at the moment. Lots to learn, looking forward to it.

I agree with the OP; Artool Ultramask is the best I've used.