To accompany their superb 1:48 kits of the Henschel Hs 123 (see Aeroscale's review of the Hs 123B-1 HERE), GasPatch Models also market a set of painting masks for the early-style 3-colour splinter pattern topsides.

I must admit I’d normally cut my own masks for a colour scheme like this, but I’m working on a project that will, among other topics, cover the use of commercial painting masks - so it seemed an ideal opportunity take the “lazy” option and let GasPatch Models do the work for me.

The set arrives in a resealable bag and contains a sheet of die-cut translucent grey Oramask film and a page of simple instructions. The die-cutting looks good, and spot checking a few masks showed they were fully separated, so there shouldn’t be any need to resort to a scalpel to free items.

The Hs 123 has areas of noticeable compound curves, so it will be interesting to see if the masking film is able to cope with them. If it can’t, you could always use the masks as templates and transfer the patterns onto kabuki tape, which is my prefered medium.

The instructions provide a diagram of the layout of the masks and basic generic instructions for using them. It will be up to the modeller to work out their own plan of attack, because there’s no step-by-step guide included. You’ll need to refer closely to the painting guides in the kits’ instructions and decide on the best sequence, depending on whether your subject has an A or B scheme (with the colours reversed). You’ll definitely want to tackle the bulk of the painting before attaching the upper wing - and, quite likely, the tailplanes too.

Conclusion

GasPatch Models’ painting masks are nicely produced and good value for money, but inexperienced modellers may struggle with the basic nature of the instructions. Nevertheless, the masks should represent a considerable time-saver over cutting out your own patterns and, so long as you’re careful, you should be able to use them for more than one build.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE.