An extremely popular aftermarket item has been canopy masks. These have been produced by a number of manufacturers over the years, but the ones that seem to be the most popular are those by Eduard.

Masks have been made from a variety of products including thick and thin vinyl as well as from kabuki paper (basically the same stuff as Tamiya tape, but not quite a thick). Some masks only cover the outlines of the clear part. This is very much the case when it comes to bits with large compound curves such as you see on F-86s and MiG-29s as no material will properly stick to convoluted surfaces like that. In those cases, you fill in the rest with your favorite tape or with liquid masking solutions.

I did not used to be a mask user, but there are some kits where either there are a lot of small panes or where the demarcation lines between pane and frame are so light that one cannot discern where they are. This is the case with the Hasegawa 1/72 P-40E so I picked up a set to use on a project. Like most of these sets, it also includes wheel masks.

May 2020

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