Newbie's got some more questions!

IMO future works better brushed on than airbrushed. It has self levelling properties which for some reason create an orange peel effect when airbrushed if you get something wrong.

Masks are pre-cut peices of masking take so you dont have to spend ages masking out the windows of your model to get the framing right. Quite handy, even for us brush painters.

Jailcop,

Both of your questions can be answered with a definate yes!

A masking set for an aircraft typically contains precut pieces of masking tape for covering the wheels and canopy while you paint the plane so your assumption was correct. Being a stingy dutch guy i do like em but would not buy it unless its part of a kit. With a bit of patience one can mask canopies with masking tape just as well... but thats my opinion...

And i used to brush on my future exclusively myself. Being a floorwax kind of thing it has excellent self levelling properties so brushmarks are not an issue.

However, a brushed on paint (or future coat) will usually be heavier and thicker than one applied with an airbrush. Therefore your model will most likely have a heavier shine effect. Airbrushed future will give a more satin finish.

Hope i am making your day

richard

Yes, thanks guys.  Masks definitely won't be needed for every kit, but its nice to know they're there.

Could I maybe put the base coat of future down, decal, seal them with another coat of future then use a satin clear coat from a rattle can for a flat look, or would that be too much?

Probably wont be enough i guess... two coats of future would rather need a matte coat to tone it down to satin... I have had excellent results with this sequence myself.

Richard

Ditto what everyone's said (though I don't use Future for glossing anymore...had too many bad experiences with the stuff).

Personally, I love mask sets. I don't think they're needed on everything, especially clear parts that contain rectangular shapes. But for the curvier ones - Malcolm hoods on Spits and P-51B/Cs, the teardrop curve at the back end of the P-47 canopies - I love them. 

If you get them, I've found the best way to apply them is with a very fine set of tweezers. Hold as little as you can, position to a corner, then use a toothpick to burnish it down. Getting them up, a toothpick shaved into a chisel shape with an xacto works wonders, and is soft enough that it won't gouge the plastic.

I don`t know why, probably my rotten luck but I seem to have to trim the masks in a factory set most of the time so I stopped using them and make my own with Tamiya tape. It`s less expensive but more time consuming, especially if there`s a ton of little windows like the canopy on this G3M "Nell" I`m building for a group build.

I lost the feeling in the tips of my fingers doing theses..lol. I feel that I get as good ,or better results making my own.

Now, for the Future, I`ve used Future forever and never had trouble until recently. I`m sure it`s something I`m doing to create my trouble....grainy spots on the model, using an airbrush. I may have the pressure set too high making it dry a little on the way to the surface of the kit. I`m planning on using it on the Nell, just have to remember to dial it back a bit. I remember getting alot more than one kit out of a can of Testor`s Gloss Cote too...are you going a little heavy with it?

Mask sets are fine but learn to make your own and save yourself some $$$!

Good luck,

Len

I remember getting alot more than one kit out of a can of Testor`s Gloss Cote too...are you going a little heavy with it?

Mask sets are fine but learn to make your own and save yourself some $$$!

Ditto to both points.. If you're not getting three or four models outta the GlossCoat, then you're puttting way too much onto a kit...

Mask sets... Phooey... I don't buy 'em, not for nothin'... Can't justify the expense of them when a little masking tape will do nicely, and is FAR cheaper... Also, if get any of 'em Tango Uniform, there isn't a spare mask in the set...  IMNSHO, it's best to cut tape...

For canopies, I don't paint them on the model (unless it's got a rough seam that I have to blend in) but rather by themselves, and a mix of mask and free-hand...

Doing it my way, it's simply a matter of being patient, and not trying to do the whole frame-work in one sitting...  Do a few lines, put it down, then later do a few more, etc...  Doesn't have to be one session, and with some of the really "busy" ones, those that will give you an aneurysm, like a Heinkel 111 or that cursed FW 189 from MPM I ain't gonna build...  Also, they only come in certain models, and the AM mask don't help much either, since they too are only for certain manufacturers, forcing one to buy what THEY think I should build.. Hammer don't play that...

So, in a nutshell, I forego the pre-cut types and do it m'self... Working with a razor-knife and cuttin' intricate designs is about  No. 3 on the  "Use it or lose it" modeling-skills list

Future... Some swear by it, some swear at it... I'm in the latter group... I know it's far cheaper per ounce, but I've used it on a few models in the past (WAY back in the past, when men could wear bell-bottoms)...  I use it on floors though, and I even used it on my Display Boots, lol.. 

Guys dip canopies in it but no operational birds have canopies THAT clear.  Canopies get myriad little scratches, nicks, and scrapes (usually from the pilot's helmet in high-G manuevers and for scale purposes, it's better, IMHO, to leave 'em a little "grimy" lookin'...

It can only be air-brushed ( if you want it too look right) and cleaning an airbrush for a five-second squirt is a PITA...  So I'm a rattle-can user... All I need for decaling is a coat that's somewhat shiny, a satin-look will do.. It doesn't need to be shiny as a mirror to decal... All you need is a semi-gloss...

If you're properly scaling down the gloss after the decaling, it will only need to be semi-gloss... Gloss-coated aircraft, like the Blue Angels' and Thunderbirds' aircraft, will, up close, reflect like a mirror... But no operational aircraft, even those painted with gloss finishes, will look that shiny at scale viewing distances...

The closest that a human eys can focus oon anything is about 4 inches, and in 1/48th scale that's about 16 feet, so you only need to keep that in mind... One inch on the model equals 48 inches on the prototype... So from 16 feet away, we aren't going to see a high-gloss finish... It'll just be shinier that the aircaft with flat finishes... 

Again, if you used an entire three-oz. can of Testor's Glosscoat on ONE kit, you're using far to much of it...  You should just shoot it once or twice, in areas that the decals are going... Check to make sure that the gloss won't change the paint-color though... If it will, then shoot the whole thing.. Light coats, and not overly sprayed.. 

I discovered Future about a year ago and I will never use a rattle can for clear again.  I never really have a problem shooting it out of an airbrush either I just drop the pressureto about 20-25 PSI.  butbrushing it works also.