with Geoff Coughlin (and Mirage III.E5 model by Chris McDowell) The issue – how to mask around curves? Recently I added a piece in your SMN Techniques bank showing how I use thin strips of standard Tamiya masking tape to create camouflage demarcation lines and I have used that for a long time and it works very well. It only really works very well using Tamiya tape (the best on the market for us modellers by a mile) – sure it’s a little more expensive than other brands but it’s re-usable and with thought and planning can work really well with less expensive brands (maybe) to cover larger areas and filling in the gaps.

But what if we had a bespoke product in different widths that is designed to bend much more readily? Well now we have and Tamiya have again spotted that need and done something about it.This one has been with us for a long time and I have seen many ingenious methods for getting good clean curves for camouflage patterns and the like. I have to say that I am already a supporter of this material and you’ll see it getting used more and more over the coming weeks in mine and others’ projects here in your SMN. Masking a model for painting can be a real drudge. You might spend what seems an age getting everything ready and then find applying the paint takes just an instant and the next thing you know you are removing all that material that you had put so much time and effort into applying. So anything that cuts down on this is bound to be useful. I’ll write as if we are talking about masking an aircraft model, but obviously the techniques can be applied to any subject, including figurines. Will mask parts of the model or piece(s) you are holding. Try it by hover over different parts of the model or piece(s) you are holding. Not everything has elements. For example you cannot mask off just the bottom part of the funnels on the Iceberg model.

The larger widths like 5mm are ideal for larger scale models when you don’t often need to make such tight bends and if you do or you are masking onto a smaller scale model, then the 2mm works very well indeed. Standard Tamiya tape is really best for thin strips when it bends well enough, up to about 1.5mm – 2mm, something like that. Cut really finely you can even bend it around tiny arches like 1:72 Spitfire windscreens!

The issue – how to mask around curves?

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