Hi

 

I have a Cricut Air 2 that I have had and used on and off for around 3 years. While it can handle Roundels, Stars and Bars very well anything like the serial numbers of 1/48 RAF aircraft or the carrier names for USN aircraft it simply mangles the mask. I use Orascom 810 for creating Vinyl masks. I know that commercially available masks often have decals for the smaller markings.

 

Can a Silhouette cutter handle small markings any better?

 

Will

I think any consumer-level cutter would struggle with 1/48 scale aircraft serial numbers. I certainly don't imagine my Silhouette Portrait 2 could handle them. I've heard of modellers having success with 1/32 scale serials, so I guess that at least is possible. Perhaps some other, more experienced members can offer their thoughts.

Kev

The aircraft serial number was done with a mask from my cameo 4. They're a little smaller than 3/16". The aircraft numbers (6Q-R) were also done with a mask. It's one of my first attempts so it's a little heavy on the paint. I should have painted white, then yellow, and then the green but I had originally intended on using all decals. The A-20 was started at least 10 years ago and became an experiment.

 

I imagine that some experimentation with speed and force settings on the Cameo might result in a little better cuts.

 

My Portrait 3 can do 4" lettering in 1/32, so 0.13", which is also a 6" serial in 1:48.  Have a look at a test spray towards the end of this post, in particularly the "Royal Navy" legend and see what you think.

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/90601-p-51d-5na/&do=findComment&comment=1300034

 

 

You can do 1/48 serial numbers, my Anson proves the point!  Not easy by any means and getting to the limits of my Silhouette Cameo 2 (or is it 3, can never remember!):

 

 

Max

I saw a post on the internet some time ago where a guy was cutting 1/32 data stencils with a Cameo 3 and his approach made sense. He claims that it's not the cutter, but the material that makes the difference. I've tried cutting small things and the problem I had was the blade lifting the 810 and kabuki off the sheet. What this guy used was Oracal 641 which is not designed for stencil making but because it's thinner than 810 and has a more aggressive adhesive the blade doesn't pull it up.

 

Made sense to me.

Thanks for that insight, worth a try I think for smaller lettering. There’s some useful background and setting recommendations here.

Max