I have seen several pictures of German planes with a black-and-white spiral on the hub. My question is: How does one do this? I've tried masking, but to no avail. Thanks for your time.

Some people use decals, some are skilled enough to paint them on.. I use decals.

And then there our those of us who use a mask. My wife found them at a show (got to love it!) and pointed out the lower blood presure from such a deal. If I find the packing, I will send the company.

Tracy

:-) Masking the spirals isn't to difficult if you use the right masking tape. Paint the spinner the colour of the spiral, Using Tamiya masking tape, cut a piece to the correct width (it will probably need to taper, at the front end) carefully lay the tape on the spinner, work slowly. When it is on, burnish it down. You may have to have a couple of attempts to get it right, Tamiya tape re-positions easily.
The spinner on this FW 190 was done years ago, long before Tamiya tape was on the market. I used painters masking tape, It worked well, Tamiya tape is alot better for this type of masking.

Mal