1:48 Heinkel He.219A-7 Uhu German Crosses airbrush mask for Tamiya

Crosses sprayed, not applied

A Balkenkreuz from a decal always shines a little on the large surface of a wing, and once the varnish has dried the edge of the carrier film shows through. Spraying through a template does not know this problem: the cross is part of the paint layer, it holds its shape even across rivets and panel grooves, and during subsequent weathering it behaves just like the camouflage around it. The set contains pre-cut self-adhesive pieces for all the national insignia the machine carried on the wings and on the fuselage.

The Uhu that flew at night

The Heinkel He 219 was designed specifically for night combat and for its day it had a number of novelties: a nose with tricycle landing gear, a crew of two seated back to back and ejection seats, which no other production aircraft had anywhere at that time. On the night of June 11 to 12, 1943, Werner Streib shot down five British bombers during a single sortie. The A-7 version was the most heavily armed production variant.

Working with the templates

The templates are applied to dry and degreased paint, the edges are pressed down with a toothpick and the spraying is done in light coats so that the paint does not seep under the edge. They can be removed shortly after the paint has set, while the layer is still flexible. The material is cut for the specific outline of the parts of the kit mentioned, so it fits without any trimming.

• Spraying instead of decals, without shiny edges
• Pre-cut shapes for the wings and the sides of the fuselage
• Suitable for water-based and lacquer paints alike
• The aircraft model is not included in the package