1/48 Balkenkreuz Black Contour

[Lime]

Hey there,

 

I have a Cameo 4.

I've made some masks to, what I believe to be, the correct size for the lower wing balkenkreuz on a Fw190.

The process I'm using is green goes down first, spray white, then put the blue mask over the top of that. I am having difficulty getting the outer border. To scale, the slits end up being 0.593mm wide. I have made them in the fashion one of the manufacturers sell them.

 

The questions I am left with are:

a) Is 0.593mm too much of an ask for the machine, or even my own placement ability?

b) Is there a better process? For instance- black first, then white?

c) Should I restrict the white to the area I wish to actually paint white, rather than the blanket approach used with the commercial masks?

 

Any and all help appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Lime.

[Kevin Futter]

Welcome aboard, Lime!

 

 

I think @Mozart might be our most experienced practitioner here, so we might beseech his wisdom and expertise. Just to clarify, however: are you experiencing difficulties with cutting the blue mask due to the 0.593mm size, or are you having trouble placing them once cut because they are 0.593mm?

 

Kev

[Mozart]

Hello Lime,

Just out of interest, what scale are we talking about here? All of mine are 1/32 and in that scale I’d do what you have suggested, overall white first, replace the entire mask and weed out the pieces that need to be black. I presume the “slits” are the narrow “L” shaped pieces in each corner? If so, spray black first of all then replace the mask (I assume you’re using a piece of transfer mask to do this precisely) then you can weed out the broader “L” pieces that need to be white. 
Hope this helps

Max 

[Lime]

28 minutes ago, Kevin Futter said:

Welcome aboard, Lime!

 

 

I think @Mozart might be our most experienced practitioner here, so we might beseech his wisdom and expertise. Just to clarify, however: are you experiencing difficulties with cutting the blue mask due to the 0.593mm size, or are you having trouble placing them once cut because they are 0.593mm?

 

Kev

Hey Kev,

Thanks for the welcome, the site, and the help. No problem cutting the mask, the issue is the painting!

8 minutes ago, Mozart said:

Hello Lime,

Just out of interest, what scale are we talking about here? All of mine are 1/32 and in that scale I’d do what you have suggested, overall white first, replace the entire mask and weed out the pieces that need to be black. I presume the “slits” are the narrow “L” shaped pieces in each corner? If so, spray black first of all then replace the mask (I assume you’re using a piece of transfer mask to do this precisely) then you can weed out the broader “L” pieces that need to be white. 
Hope this helps

Max 

 

Hey Max,

 

I'm in 1/48. I hadn't considered removing and placing the second mask down, but that might work better than placing a mask over the top of another, especially for the finer details.

 

Yes, that's correct I'm using a low tack transfer mask (it is probably lower tack than the Oramask, but it works with a bit of persuasion, and most importantly keeps everything straight). And yes, the thin black edging- I have had good success with the bigger white and black components, but the finer edging is proving elusive.

 

I weed prior to applying the transfer vinyl. Is it possible to use one mask, apply to the model, then weed while it's on the model and replace the little bits of mask? 

 

I moved up to 1/48 from 1/72 because I figured I'd make better use of the Cameo and get some practise in before going back down in scale. I probably need to experiment a little more.

 

I appreciate the advice, thank you.

 

Best,

 

Lime

[Mozart]

"Is it possible to use one mask, apply to the model, then weed while it's on the model and replace the little bits of mask?" 

 

Yes, absolutely it is.  Like all things it takes practice but it's what I do with all of mine, even complex masks like this:

 

 

 

 

What is important for all masking processes is to think carefully about the order of painting and masking so that you have the minimum of mask removal and replacement.  With the serial number for instance it was not necessary to replace the numbers, a simple piece of tape over the whole thing was used as can be seen in the middle picture. 

Max

 

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2023 by Mozart

[GeneK]

On 7/24/2023 at 4:35 PM, Lime said:

I hadn't considered removing and placing the second mask down, but that might work better than placing a mask over the top of another, especially for the finer details.

 

I apply Oramask 810 masks one over the other using this Parchment Paper Perfect Placement Plan  to align the pieces:

 

 

Many other parchment videos on YouTube -- works a treat.

 

Gene K