1:48 Martin 167 Maryland canopy airbrush mask for Special Hobby

Framing the glazing of the Maryland

The Martin 167 came about as an American twin-engine light bomber, but the air force at home turned it down and so it went for export. France put it into service in 1940 under the designation 167F, and the British took over the remaining orders as the Maryland Mk.I and Mk.II. It was in the colors of the Royal Air Force and of South African squadrons that the machine made its name over the Mediterranean: its crews brought back the reconnaissance photographs of Taranto before the night attack by torpedo aircraft, and one Maryland began the search that ended with the sinking of the Bismarck.

What is in the box

The film is cut to the measure of the glazing of the kit from the manufacturer Special Hobby in 1:48 scale. The individual panels are laid on the clear part with tweezers, the surplus is removed and the paint is sprayed over the edges as over a stencil. Once they are taken off, the frames stay sharp and the area behind them stays transparent.

Why mask instead of laying down strips

Tape cut by hand never follows the curves of a canopy and the paint creeps under it. A pre-cut shape does away with that work in a few minutes and keeps the frame the same width all the way round, which shows clearly on the glazed nose of a bomber. The adhesive holds only weakly, so a panel that has been laid down badly can be lifted and moved, and once peeled off it leaves no mark on the clear part.

Practical advice

The clear part has to be dry and free of fingerprints before the work starts, otherwise dull patches would show up under the film. Spray the frames with the cockpit shade first and only then with the outer coat, so that the wrong color does not show through from the inside. Lay the coats on thinly: a heavy coat builds a ridge at the edge that stays visible even after the stencil is taken off.