1:48 Spitfire Tr.9 FOAM flexibel wheel bay mask for Airfix

What the masks are for

Undercarriage bays belong to the places that are hardest to mask during spraying. Paper tape crumples in them and the paint runs into the corners anyway. A foam mask solves this problem differently: a shaped piece of soft foam is pressed into the bay, where it holds by its own elasticity and fills it even in places tape could not reach. Nothing is stuck down, so no remains of adhesive and no imprints of edges are left on the surface.

The real subject

The Spitfire Tr.9 is the two-seat training modification of the Spitfire with the Rolls-Royce Merlin vee twelve-cylinder engine. The instructor's cockpit on it moved forward and is raised, so that the instructor has a view over the pupil's head. The undercarriage bays stay well visible on a Spitfire if only because the wing is thin and the undercarriage retracts toward the fuselage.

• Foam masks for the undercarriage bays for 1:48 scale
• Intended for Spitfire Tr.9 kits from the Airfix company
• The foam holds in the bay by its own elasticity and is not stuck down
• It saves work with tape and prevents paint from running into the corners

How they are used

Insert the mask into the bay before spraying, not after it, and check that it fills the whole space and does not protrude anywhere above the outline of the wing. Spray in thin layers so that the paint does not build up on the edge of the foam. Once dry, pull the mask out with tweezers in an outward pull, not by tearing it sideways, so that the fresh layer on the edge does not peel. With careful handling you will use the foam again; as soon as the paint saturates it and it hardens, it stops seating properly.

Who they are for

For modelers who spray with an airbrush and want clean undercarriage bays without lengthy masking. The kit and the paints are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.