Has anyone got any experience with Eduard’s pre-cut masks? I just got a small shipment of them, including both types of hinomaru, a pre-cut Hurricane camo scheme (Scheme A, which they mistakenly call “1”), and various canopies and wheels (including sets for my two unbuilt AcMin B-25s, which already come with masks that were made under contract by, I think, EZ Mask).
Since I have to do another Zero, an A6M3 Type 22 (still can’t find decals for it), after this Sabre is finished, I thought I might as well paint my hinomarus on, but I found that the masks that came with a WW I Eduard kit I’m building right now (Morane-Saulnier Type N) did not stick well at all. Someone at the company told me last week they have stopped their production line and are retooling to use Tamiya tape for their masks from now on.
I suppose my question is, should I risk a canopy on these babies, or wait for the new ones to come out? Sure hate to dump a bunch of good canopy masks (assuming they are) since that is my least favorite step in this entire hobby.
Advice?
Tom
Tom,
For the canopy masks, place them on the canopy and then burnish them down good. Seal the edges with Future (the modelers friend) and let ti dry. Then paint. This should eliminate the bleed under problem.
Missile
Eduard masks worked fine for me except on compound curves. Dawg gone thing kept popping up.
I’ve only tried the ones included in some of their kits & wasn’t impressed. They may be OK on flat surfaces, but they don’t conform or hold on compound curved surfaces, which are 99% of an aircraft. I tried to use the wheel masks included in the P-39 kit & they were useless. I sure wouldn’t buy any based on my experience.
Regards, Rick
On my M-S Type N, I had the problem with compound AND simple curves, even though the mask was shaped specifically for them. I got perfect results on the less complicated WW I-style linen-covered wheels, but I sliced the radius of the round mask to make it slightly conical to fit the wheel shape, because it wouldn’t lie down at the edges. Now I know why they are switching to Tamiya tape. I’ve heard it’s good, but haven’t used it. Looks like these olive colored ones are no more. For what they charge to include such bells and whistles in the kits, they ought to work. Thanks. I’ll give the hinomarus a try on a wing and see what happens. I can always paint over it and use a decal. Thanks.
Tom