Stripes white film 1,5mm

What 1.5 mm means once converted to scale

The easiest way to decide on the width of a mask is to convert the size back to the real subject. One and a half millimeters works out at 5.3 cm on a 1:35 build, at a full 7.2 cm in 1:48 and in 1:72 at as much as 10.8 cm. One and the same strip therefore stands in for a narrow line in one scale and for a substantial band in another, and that is exactly why it pays to calculate rather than to estimate by eye.

In 1:35 it is the width that the painted outlines of registration plates and tactical numbers on the sides of vehicles tend to have. In the smaller scales the same strip serves to divide a camouflage pattern, and on aircraft to define the anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit or to bound the wing root leading edges.

Working with a curve: the film can be stretched into a gentle arc, but it becomes harder as the width grows. At one and a half millimeters the difference between the inner and the outer side of a bend is already noticeable, so on sharper curves build the run up from several shorter sections and press the transitions down carefully.

Before spraying: it pays to go over the laid edge with a weak coat of the color that is already on the model. If anything does get under the carrier, it will only soil the shade that belongs there anyway, and the next application will then create a genuinely sharp division. It is a simple trick that saves a great deal of repair with a brush.

After removal check the whole run against the light; small irregularities are evened out by polishing with a very fine abrasive. On longer runs it pays to go over the edge once more with a fingernail, which levels it even without a tool.