Maketar Productions | #32059: Luftwaffe Shevrons No Outline
Reviewed by Kevin Futter
Maketar Paint Masks burst onto the modelling scene several years ago with a range of paint masks for a variety of aviation subjects across several scales. With a heavy focus on 1/32 scale subjects, they were popular with LSP modellers in the newly-burgeoning trend towards using paint masks for major markings. They are now back after a short hiatus with even more sets, and here we examine a set from their "Luftwaffe Series", "Luftwaffe Shevrons No Outline".
The first thing to note is the misspelling of "chevrons". This is unfortunate, but obviously makes no difference to the quality of the masks. Perhaps it can be rectified for the printing of subsequent sets however.
The package features no less than eight sheets of masks, which are pre-cut from self-adhesive kabuki material (similar to the material Tamiya uses for its familiar masking tape range). They are divided into two sets of four, labelled "left" and "right":
Unfortunately it's nearly impossible to photograph these masks so that the pre-cut lines are visible, so my apologies for what just looks like two piles of sticky notes. Helpfully, the rear of the packaging jacket contains line drawings that delineate the designs each sheet contains:
One thing that's missing compared to earlier releases is application instructions. This could make using these masks a little tricky for the novice, but modellers with some experience of paint masks shouldn't find this a problem.
Conclusion
Paint masks are ideally suited to LSP subjects and it's great to see an ever-growing range of commercial sets reaching the market. Ideally you would have some prior experience with using paint masks before tackling this set, but otherwise I can heartily recommend it to any modeller looking to paint their Luftwaffe chevrons on rather than use decals.
Many thanks to Maketar Productions for the review sample.
© Kevin Futter 2014
This product is available from the following LSP sponsors
This review was published on Tuesday, March 04 2014; Last modified on Wednesday, March 05 2014