1:72 Masks Painting for Pe-2, for Zvezda

The real subject

The Pe-2 was a Soviet twin-engine bomber that served in large numbers during the war. It has a slender fuselage, a glazed nose and above the cabin a long canopy with a great many small frames; on top of that comes separate glazing for the gunner at the rear of the cabin. For a builder that means a lot of small areas where what decides is whether the boundary of a frame is straight and equally wide everywhere. It is exactly in this place that the difference between a quickly built model and a piece its builder took care over shows.

Who the set is for

According to the name the masks are intended for the Pe-2 kit from Zvezda in 1:72 scale. The shape of the parts differs between the models of different manufacturers, so the set need not fit a kit of another brand. The list and the placing of the individual pieces are supplied by the manufacturer in the instructions. It pays to go through them before building, because some of the masks are laid on before the glazing is glued into the fuselage.

How to work with the masks

First wash the parts, degrease them and let them dry. Lay the mask on a dry surface still before spraying, press the edges down along their whole length and apply the paint in several thin coats. On glazing it is worth spraying the interior shade first and only then the top color, so that the frame has the right tone from inside. Pull the mask off sideways as soon as the paint is dry to the touch, and wipe the sticky trace left by it away with a cotton swab moistened with clean water.

What is in the box

The package contains masks. The kit, paints and glue are not part of it, unless stated otherwise.