Eduard | Mask JX029 P-36 Hawk (for Special Hobby kit)

Reviewed by Rato Marczak

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If you haven't used pre-cut masks yet, you should give it a try. It's an effective concept that saves a lot of time. There are basically two types of pre-cut masks on the market: the vinyl type and the kabuki (rice paper) type. The former is not much flexible, and may not conform very well on surfaces with double curvature. The paper type is pretty much like a Tamiya tape. Therefore, it conforms much more easily to compound surfaces. This item by Eduard is a set of pre-cut, paper type (as all later Eduard's releases) mask set for the Special Hobby P-36 Hawk in 1/32 scale. If you pay attention to the P-36 canopy, you'll note that the corners of the windows are rounded, resulting in a daunting hand cutting task. So, unless your cutting skills are comparable to a CNC cutting plotter, this stuff will help you to achieve those crisply painted canopies that the pros do.

The set comes with masks for the windscreen, sliding canopy and rear windows precisely cut to conform the Special Hobby parts. You also have circular masks to paint the wheels - a great time saver, since the Special Hobby wheels don't have separated hubs. The adhesive is strong enough to avoid any change of paint bleeding under the mask. Just a matter of pressing them down properly against the surfaces. And once removed, they won't leave any residue (as I said, just like Tamiya tape).

The set comes with a well laid diagram instructing the modeler about the application sequence. Note that the curved windscreen uses overlapping masks to effectively avoid any chance of bleeding under the mask (a single piece would probably wrinkle to conform the part).

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By experience, you can use these masks at least a couple of times, if you don't damage them during the removal (avoid grease fingers on the tacking surfaces). And a hint: you can even use more times if you apply a coat of Microscale Metal Foil Adhesive (or similar) when you feel that the masks are loosing their tackiness.

I believe pre-cut masks will be regular items in plastic models in the future (they already are in some cases). Until then, save your time a get great results with them.

Recommended.

Review copy courtesy of Eduard (via Peter "Mikolaj" Mikolajski at Plastikowe.pl).

© Rato Marczak 2007

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This review was published on Saturday, July 02 2011; Last modified on Wednesday, May 18 2016