August 13Aug 13 Hello fellow modelers. I’m new to the site. I’ve owned a Silhouette cutter for a few years now but have not really used it to design and cut more than basic masks, simple stuff. I’m really interested in cutting my own canopy masks since some of the aftermarket masks are impossible to find. Looking forward ramping up the learning curve . Thank you all for helping out the newbies. Brad
August 13Aug 13 Indeed, welcome Brad. Canopy masks can be tricky, take patience and usually many test fits and adjustments, but very worthwhile. On compound curves make sure you cut some lines at right angles to the curve to help the mask to conform. Max
August 13Aug 13 Author Thank you Kevin and Max. Just wondering , is it worthwhile to upgrade my basic Silhouette Studio software to the Design edition to get the autotrace capability? I uploaded a photo of a mask set for the Zoukei-Mura F-4E and loaded it into Silhouette but found that tracing over it with the shape tools or freehand to be very difficult. I watched a YouTube video on using these drawing tools and adjusting the points on the mask but was unable to duplicate the results. I'm not sure if the person had an upgraded version of Studio or not. I appreciate the warm welcome and the opportunity to ask questions.Brad
August 13Aug 13 From memory, the Trace function should be available in the Basic edition, but given that it's not a very expensive upgrade, I'd definitely consider it if you want to take your mask-making further. I ended up going all-in with the Business edition, as I found it pretty affordable - and it's only a one-off cost.Kev
August 13Aug 13 100% yes Brad, the Designer Edition is an absolute must have. Funnily enough I have just this morning upgraded from DE+ to Business so that I can export SVG files to a customer. The free Silhouette version is very basic and clunky, DE is a game changer. Max
September 6Sep 6 On 8/13/2026 at 7:09 AM, Wally86 said:I uploaded a photo of a mask set for the Zoukei-Mura F-4E and loaded it into Silhouette but found that tracing over it with the shape tools or freehand to be very difficult.The Studio Trace tool results in many (!) points to edit since it plots a control point for every niggle, nook, and nuance in the fuzzy bitmap image being traced. You can reduce the number of points using the Simplify function (when you get further into the program), but you'll start losing the precision required for masks. Much better to invest the effort (as you started with YouTube) to learn manual vector tracing and point editing in Studio.You could use another program like Inkscape to produce vector drawings ... then you could import the resulting svg files into Studio (not Basic) as ready-to-cut. However, instead of learning more than one program, I suggest exploring/learning Studio. Like anything, takes practice mastering Bézier curves, but the payoff for creating mask is absolutely well worth it!! Check out Tutorials, Canopy Masks, and Q&A posts here!Gene KP.S. Similar to what you are doing with 1/48 ZM Phantom mask, I did for Tamiya 1/48 F-4B, as well as the Hasegawa and FineMolds1/72 kits ... as posted in the Canopy Mask section on this site.👍
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.