1:24 Fw 190D-9

An escort above the airfield

The best-known machines of the D-9 type did not serve as ordinary front-line fighters but as protection for the jet Messerschmitts taking off. The pilots of the jets were defenseless during the takeoff run and the landing, and so a separate unit of piston Focke-Wulfs took off over the airfields. So that the friendly anti-aircraft defenses would not mistake them for the enemy, their lower surfaces were given conspicuous red and white stripes. It is exactly these colors that turn a model in one twenty-fourth into a task where you cannot do without proper masking for a moment. The area of the wing is so large at this scale that any unfinished division on it shows up immediately.

A sharp edge between the stripes

Anyone who paints the stripes with a brush will get a shaky edge. Anyone who sprays them needs sharp divisions and then a clean finish on the glazing, so that an imperfect transition does not spoil the whole underside. The set adds framing in both layers for that, that is from the outside and for the reverse surface, so the cockpit can be finished to the same quality as the rest of the surface.

Three sets of markings

Three sets of masks for spraying the markings are enclosed. On a model with a pronounced division of color that is more practical than a decal, because sprayed paint can be applied in thin coats and its coverage can be controlled. The package holds masks only; the builder obtains the kit and the paints to his own choice. Before application it is advisable to degrease the surface and to let the paint cure properly, so that the edge of the mask does not lift the paint beneath it when it is removed.