1ManArmy High Definition Airbrush Paint Masks - Spitfire Mk.I/II & Me.262A-1/A-2 (1:32)

[Mike]

High Definition Airbrush Paint Masks (1:32)

Spitfire Mk.I/II & Me.262A-1/A-2

1:32 1 Man Army

 

 

Every now and again a new product comes along that’s just a little bit unusual, and makes you stop and think for a moment why it hasn’t been a thing before now.  Part of the reason at least is that we’ve been waiting for technology to provide us with the tools to accomplish these things.  1 Man army is a Belgian company that was begun by a gentleman by the name of Sven, and one of his interests is making aircraft models more realistic.  I feel that stencils make a model look more realistic, but with decals you get the carrier film edges to hide, which can be quite the task, taking up lots of time applying clear varnish and flatting it back a few times over.  Sven clearly feels the same, and has come up with an ingenious method for applying stencils in the same fashion as they’re applied to the real thing.  By applying an actual stencil and spraying paint through it.  Surely that’s too tricky for a model that’s 32 times smaller than the real thing?  Ordinarily, yes, but now it isn’t.  Sven has figured out a way to produce the tiniest of holes in kabuki tape with a laser cutter, allowing the modeller to press the tape down, spray a very thin coat of paint through the airbrush and create their own authentic-looking stencils.

 

 

We’ve received two sets of masks for review, and helpfully Sven has included a couple of sample masks and even an example of the finished product sprayed onto a piece of white plastic card.  To give it a personal test by a stencil masking “n00b” however, I decided to demonstrate the stencils on a piece of my own white styrene, to mimic the substrate on which we are most likely to be spraying on, and I also used some black paint through my airbrush so that it shows up well on camera – Sven recommends a dark grey for authenticity.  I did my usual trick of not reading the instructions too, which didn’t even occur to me because I’m an impatient bucket-head.  It turns out I didn’t need them, as they’re un pièce de gateau to use.

 

 

 

I removed the individual sections of stencil from the backing sheet with a pair of sharp tweezers, which was a simple task.  The tape sticks well, but doesn’t have too much adhesive power that could remove any paint beneath them, and could safely be left for up to a week if necessary.  I tapped them down with a fingertip, then masked around them with some standard kabuki tape from Tamiya to prevent overspray.  My paint choice was some Alclad Gloss Black Primer that was nearby, and it was applied using my awesome Gunze PS-770 airbrush, which has a 0.18mm needle and is the best airbrush I’ve ever used.  I sprayed the paint in successive light coats until the area was looking suitably dark and blackish, but I didn’t want to overdo it and flood the masks, ruining my efforts.  A few minutes later, I removed the Tamiya tape and gently lifted the masks to reveal some rather impressive-looking stencils.  I couldn’t help but utter the immortal word “Wow!” when I first saw the results, and each one I removed was equally inspiring.  You can see how good they are from the picture below, but you can also see the benefits of extensive masking as I managed to get overspray around the edges of the tape.  If in doubt, mask the bejeezus out of your model to avoid overspray getting on your hard work.

 

 

Each set arrives in a clear resealable foil bag, with the folded A3 instruction diagrams and a standard thick card User Manual, all printed on both sides on quality glossy paper.  In between the outer leaves you will find the masking material, which is a slightly muddy yellow colour, and is backed by a brown transfer paper that imparts some of the muddiness to the masks.  Each mask is cut into its own section, with its reference number etched into the corner for identification purposes.  The instructions consist of several drawings that show where the stencils and markings should be placed, with additional text to help with the process.  As well as the stencils you get a set of national markings, tail and fuselage codes, serials and other markings that will make your model totally awesome.

 

 

Me.262A-1/A-2 Masks (32DET004)

This sheet is full of stencils, crosses, swastikas, squadron codes and other useful markings, such as unit badges, dotted trestle markings and step outlines.  The more complex masking is discussed on the pages of the User Manual, which shows the steps to create them, and how best to do it.

 

 

 

 

Spitfire Mk.I/II RAF (32DET013)

The Spit didn’t have a huge quantity of stencils applied, but due to the size of early WWII roundels, the set arrives on two sheets, with the majority of the space taken up with the various roundels, which are multi-step masks.  Advisory stencils, lubrication notices, tail codes and fuselage codes are also included, as are wing walkway lines and other truly tiny stencils that you can barely even see.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

What a time to be a modeller.  So many new and innovative products are coming to the market thanks to technological advances and the inventive nature of our fellow modellers.  Sven should do well from this marvellous range of masks, and if you’re a 1:48 modeller like me, he’s currently looking into the possibility of scaling some of the sets down to our preferred size.

 

Sven is looking for distributors at the moment, but if you visit their site here you’ll be able to see an up-to-date list of where you can pick the sets up from.  As our first review of his products, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best with this line.

 

Extremely highly recommended.

 

You can see the full range by following the link below

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Denford]

Looks interesting though I'm only ¹/₇₂

However a minute scoring with a pointed scalpel is required to correct the spelling: AUFBUCKEN to the correct AUFBOCKEN

[Mike]

18 hours ago, Denford said:

Looks interesting though I'm only ¹/₇₂

However a minute scoring with a pointed scalpel is required to correct the spelling: AUFBUCKEN to the correct AUFBOCKEN

That was just a test sample, so I think we’ll live

[JohnT]

I think this is a great idea. My bugbear about decal stencils is that black ones tend to be, well, very BLACK

 

IMHO which not everyone shares it tends to overemphasise the stencil and if enough are applied the models looks like it’s got a dose of spots. Maybe a scale colour effect?

 

This way I think you can dull down the paint and get the best of both worlds maybe?  Just thinking out loud and not tried it. 

PS

another thought. Wartime stencils tend towards quick and sometimes imperfect application/ wear. Decals tend towards the perfect finish. Just another possible benefit in using the masks 🤔