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 am not a major mask user, but when it comes to kits that have a zillion fairly small panes they are well worth the price. Interestingly, the amount of time it takes to apply these as opposed to putting down some tape, holding the transparency to the light, and cutting the tape is about the same. However, with these there is no worry about scratching the canopy when cutting.

This set is for the fairly old but still quite nice Tamiya 1/48 A6M3 type 32 'Hamp'. In addition to the masks for the canopy, there are wheel hub masks as well. Normally Eduard gives you rings for the inner part of the tire which requires using masking fluid to cover the rest of it. Not this time and this is the type of mask that I prefer. I would not be surprised if this set also works on their older A6M5.

For bubble canopies and such, things like these sorts of things are really not needed by most modelers, but for multi-pane 'greenhouse' canopies, they can be very useful, especially if the frame lines are indistinct.

September 2019

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