Maketar Paint Masks Review

[ronnieraaf]

I was recently given the opportunity from the guys at Creative Models Australia to provide an everyman’s review of the Maketar range of paint masks. CMA has become the Australian distributor of the Maketar series of stencils. Other then providing the masks for review, I have not received any financial reimbursement for this review…..

I was given the following sets to review:
Insignia Series, 1/48 RAAF WWII Roundels Type B and;
Fighter Series, 1/32 USAF P-47D Thunderbolt II ‘Lethal Liz’.

For this first review I will be mainly focusing on the RAAF roundels, I will be playing with the Thunderbolt soon (as soon as I can locate a kit!). Watch this space. Very excited about this one.


First impressions:
Cool! Upon opening the ziplock bagie I found 3 pages of roundels of the following sizes: 18” 24” 27” 30” 36” 48” and 54” each accurate in scale size. Six of each roundel is provided. The roundels are very neatly cut on yellow masking paper, the same feel as Eduard canopy masks. The roundels are easy to remove from the backing paper, although care needs to be taken to remove the masks in one piece. Tamiya tape helps here and is recommended in the instructions.



(Hard to see but there is a roundel there!)

A sheet is provided for instructions but these are vague and offer only very simple advice in picture form. We are lucky that the RAAF have simple roundels and using them was actually straight forward. No instructions were provided for the Thunderbolt and I had to contact Maketar by email for help. More on that later, but I will say they have fantastic customer service. Unfortunately the instructions do not have colour recommendations and some research is required.



In use:
Easy! The roundel masks were actually easy to use. I admit when I first looked at them I was a bit hesitant about how they work. I’ve never used such a product before and always relied on decals. But when you start applying them they were easy and payed nice. For this review I am using my Tamiya 1/48 Mosquito FB Mk. IV and I used Tamiya acrylic paints.



Using Tamiya tape to remove the entire mask, I applied it to the model surface.


I then removed the inner two circles leaving the outer edge. I surrounded the edge of the mask with 3M painters tape to prevent overspray. I then sprayed the white for the inner circle




Once dry I reapplied the inner circles. I used some reference lines that I marked on the mask at the start. I then removed the outer circle for the blue.


I then painted the blue. Once dry I removed the inner circle. I was left with a beautiful Type B RAAF roundel!


Some problems I encountered were of my own making. There is a slight white edge around the outside of blue. I’ve put this down to not fully spraying the edge at the blue painting stage. I also smudged the white with blue when I removed the inner circle due to being impatient with drying times…. Other then that, the masks are easy to use. This was my first attempt and I have to say, I’m convinced. These masks will be a staple item in my tool box.

Highly recommended!

Thanks to Creative Models Australia for the review samples. Available at: http://www.creativemodels.com.au/sho...p?cat1=MAKETAR