1:48 Messerschmitt Bf-109 E - Luftwaffe Insignia Mask Part Two - 4 part mask set and decal sheet

Crosses on the wing layer by layer

The German Balkenkreuz bar cross is not a single solid shape. It is made up of several colors which follow on from each other: a dark core, a light border and, in some periods, a thin outer edging as well. That is precisely why the mask is divided into four separate parts, which are applied one after another. The resulting marking has sharp edges, lies directly in the paint of the airframe and merges with it completely once the final overcoat is on.

It serves best on machines of the Emil version from the period 1939 to 1941, when the proportions of the arms of the cross changed several times. Anyone building a machine from the Battle of Britain will appreciate being able to adapt the shape to a period photograph instead of being tied to a single printed shape.

What the enclosed sheet is for

Alongside the stencils the package holds a printed sheet. It covers what cannot reasonably be managed by masking: the small markings on the rudder, the manufacturer's plates and similar details on the edge of legibility. The rest of the markings therefore stay in paint, and only the smallest items are transferred from paper. This division has a practical point: on large areas a printed backing would give itself away by its sheen under matte varnish, whereas on a marking two millimeters across nobody will notice it.

Seating the individual layers

The parts of the mask have register marks by which each further layer is set exactly onto the previous one. It pays to work on one side of the model and not to hurry, because every color needs its time. When a film is taken off into a fresh coat, it tears away what should have stayed as well. Anyone who wants to be sure will practice the sequence on an offcut of plastic sheet.