Just bought some Masks from Eduard, any advice on them?
About the only advice I can give is to make sure they are not the older vinyl ones, the new ones are a lot like Tamiya tape. The easiest way to tell is the color, if they are green they are the old vinyl ones if they are yellow or off white they should be good.
I have used them and they work really well.
Yeah, I’ve heard a lot about the old ones, these are yellow, same texture as Tamiya tape
Those are good!!! Just used my first set. I’ve tried the other(vinyl) ones…BOOOOOOOO[N]
Just peel em and stick em!!!
Disclaimer: I’m only on my second kit after being away from the hobby for a decade, and probably know less than many on here have forgotten. I’ve also only used Eduard masks on one kit - though that’ll probably bump up to two here in the next day or so.
All that said, I think I actually can offer some tips based on my experience with the P-51B mask.
First, removing the masks from the sheet. I found the best way to do this was bend back the sheet so a corner of a masking piece stuck up, just enough to get the flat of a #11 blade under it (dull is best so you don’t accidentally cut anything). From there, just lift gently.
Once I had a piece on the knife, I’d transfer it to a toothpick to avoid damaging the canopy. Try to use as little of the toothpick as possible.
Align the piece in the proper position on the canopy and, using a second toothpick (it helps if you’re using locking tweezers or something to hold the canopy in position), TAP an opposite corner of the mask down onto the canopy. Go slow, so if you’ve misaligned it you can lift it and redo. Once everything’s aligned, lock down the mask with the toothpick, then slowly remove the toothpick you used to transfer it over.
NOTE: I think with this next go round I might try shaving the toothpick to get it as thin as possible. That millimeter or so of height can be tricky to work with.
Once you’ve removed the transfer toothpick, use the other toothpick to burnish the edges. You can spray or brush a coat of Future to seal the masks and prevent any bleeding, too.
When it’s time for the masks to come off, I found the best way to get them up was use a toothpick and push from a corner. Once you get a little lip sticking up, grab it with tweezers and pull the mask away. They shouldn’t leave any residue. My P-51B canopy was masked for probably two weeks, in my garage, in the middle of July. I’ve had issues with Blu-tac and the Elmer’s equivalent leaving residue, but the Eduard masks left nothing.
Good luck!
The Eduard “kubuki” tape masks work very well. I don’t let them stay on the canopy for very long. If they are on for a long time, always dip the canopy in Future first. It makes cleanup of the adhesive easier.
Dean
First off Eduard masks are great. The investment in $$ is well worth the time saved masking canopies as I have a limited amount of time in which to model. I have left masks on, painted and unpainted, for a month or 2 and they still held up and left no residue. The advice I have is that after putting them on apply a coat of Future. This helps seal the edges from any paint seepage. Also, when removing, lightly scribe the edges witha fresh blade to ensure a clean edge, Bottom line is that I am sure you will love 'em.
Joe
Agreed. Personally I feel they’re a much better investment than Eduard’s PE detail sets, especially the cockpit sets where little beyond the instrument panel and belts are visible anyway.
I did my second Eduard mask last night on my Dauntless WIP. The shaved toothpick helped a ton with aligning the masks, though I’d guess I probably had to lift and reapply about a third of the panels.
Overall it seemed to come out a lot better than the P-51B mask, probably because I already had one under my belt and knew what to expect. Whatever the case, I was so happy with the ease and results that I just ordered four more Eduard masks this morning…one for a kit I don’t even have yet!
I took the link to your pics of that one, great job!
I was wondering, how did you mask the interior of the windshields, because I noticed that they were painted zinc chromate, as they should be. Did your mask set come with interior and exterior masks?
Thanks, glad you like it!
The interior masking was actually something of a last minute job on the Mustang. I’d originally masked all the outer panels, sprayed them zinc chromate to show through on the inside, then laid the OD on top.
I didn’t realize until I was literally done with the kit that, because of the way the B’s canopy opens, the interior of the port and top panels would actually be facing out. Chromate painted on the outside and showing through the clear plastic works fine for sliding canopies, but it looked terrible in this application. I tried to salvage the Eduard masks, but I’d mangled them getting them off and couldn’t get them to lay back down properly.
I ultimately ended up slicing some Tamiya tape into thin strips and using the outer framing to line up the masking job. Wasn’t ideal, but it worked. And next time I build a 51B, it’s going to be sporting a Malcom hood or a closed canopy!
A Malcolm hood would be cool, I love those on Spitfires.
I built the P-39Q, which included a set of the older vinyl masks (black, though, not green, or else it was the darkest green, ever I seed, arrrrr!). Not too bad, but a tendency for some of the pieces along the compound curves of the windscreen to curl at the edges, and that at the most inappropriate time (as the paint left the nozzle and landed on the target). I have not yet tried the newer masks.
I used a similar method to remove them from the backing sheet, folding or bending the sheet, until an edge of the particular piece lifted. I used a fine tweezers, though, to transfer the mask to the piece, and toothpicks to burnish the masks down.
Best regards,
Brad