1:43 PAZ-3205 Painting mask (AVD)

PAZ-3205 spray stencil in 1:43 scale from SX-Art

Self-adhesive stencils for a model of the small PAZ-3205 bus in 1:43 scale. They serve to let the color scheme of the body be sprayed with an exact dividing line instead of work by hand with a brush or applying decals. The stencils are laid onto a dry coat and a further shade is sprayed through them.

Straight lines give away every inaccuracy

From the point of view of painting, a bus is more demanding than an off-road vehicle. The body is long, the areas are flat and the eye registers at once when a line is not parallel with the window band or when its height differs on the two sides of the vehicle. So apply the stencil with regard to a reference edge of the body, not by eye, and before pressing it down check the position from a distance, not only from close up. On long straight sections lay the mask down from the middle toward both ends, so that it is not stretched and does not ripple.

The order of the shades, and the gloss

Spray from the light shade toward the dark one. A light color has less covering power, so it asserts itself worse over a dark base and needs more coats, which create a step under the mask. Buses are also usually finished to a gloss, and a glossy surface is merciless to every unevenness. It therefore pays to let the paint under the mask dry perfectly, to lift the masks off slowly and to polish the finished transition lightly with a very fine abrasive before the final clear coat.

Who the set is for

• Collectors of models of utility vehicles and buses in 1:43 scale.
• Modelers who want a two-color body with a sharp dividing line.
• Those who work with an airbrush.
• Anyone interested in a clean glossy surface with no hand-painted edges.

The stencils are a modeling accessory. The kit, the paints and the clear coat are not included in the package.