After an extremely long hiatus form modeling I am jumping back in feet first. While surfing the zillions of web sites for info (nothing like this last time I was active in the hobby), one of the “hobby shops” had something they called a mottle mask. It was available in different scales and patterns to paint the mottling on the fuselage. Now, of course, I have absolutely no idea what site it was.
Has anyone used this mask? How well did it work? And most important… where did you get it?
If you want a really good instruction on this subject, try swannysmodels.com, I don’t know if he used the AM mottle masks, but it is a very interesting tchnique, give it a look.
I do mottle free hand with an AB, but Eduard makes photoetched mottle masks. I’ve never used them, but they should be available from web stores such as Squadron or Great Models.
I have the Eduard P-E mottling masks but I wouldn’t recommend them. Being metal they are somewhat stiff and a little hard to keep in place. The second drawback is if you do a lot of one type of aircraft (I do a lot of 109’s) you’ll wind up with the same mottle pattern on all of them which really isn’t realistic since the mottling was field applied in most cases.
I’d go with creating your own mask out of paper or the Silly Putty/Blue Tack method.
Thanks for the answers but of course it raises just a few questions. What is blue tack and where do I get it? Is there an advantage to that over silly putty… cause that I know where to get.
Tell me if I am envisioning this technique correctly. Once the first color ois applied, make little pieces of the mottle pattern and stick them on. Now apply the second coat… spraying perpendicular to the surface so there is a little over spay under the rounded edges of the putty.
I believe the mask would make things go faster, however, the mottle should have a soft edge as opposed to a sharp edge that you’ll get with the mask. Try to freehand the mottle. Take your time, practice, you can do it.
I digress, and may have shamelessly swiped this idea from another part of the forum without realizing it, but has anybody ever used silly putty for canopy masks? It seems like it would work well. Place the silly putty on the canopy, cut out around the frame with an eleven blade, and then maybe seal with future. Opinions?
Thanks for all the responses. Luftwaffle… you are right, it will get repetitive as I plan on building a lot of 109s. So I upgraded form the old single actions to a Badger 155 dual action today. I have traced a 1/48 109 profile and made tons of copies to practice with the new tool. When done with the project I will post some pix. I am doing a 109G with resin cockpit, engine and… well… basically everything forward of the leading edge. An ambitious project considering it is my 1st WWII model in over 30 years. I did do a couple of years of modern jets fighters in 1/48 about 8 or 9 years ago. WOW talk about eating up the shelf space.
I somehow wound up with a set of Eduard’s PE mottle masks. I’ve always freehanded them, since it’s one of the more fun parts of finishing Luftwaffe a/c. However, if you want to use these masks to make it quick, you can get two different patterns out of one set. They are shaped generally like the fuselage front and rear, with left and right side masks (a total of four pieces), with lobes added on as handles to hold them in place as you spray. It still seems like a three-handed job to me. But you can turn them over, and use the left side on the right and vice versa, and you’ll have different mottle patterns on two different 109’s. Mine is marked specifically for a 1/48 Me 109G or K model, though I don’t see why it wouldn’t be for any other variant. It came with an Eduard Big Ed set, and I had never seen brass masks before. Somehow, I don’t think this idea will last.
TOM
