One of the most handy things to come down the pike are masking sets. These are particularly handy for those of us who generally don't do such a hot job of standard masking techniques.

This particular set is for the 1/72 Academy F-18 and is the most complete I've ever seen. Leading Edge wanted to get into the masking business and this is their second set.

The set is for the Academy F-18A/C single seat Hornt. You get  two sheets of standard mask, two sets of laser cut card masks for the wheel wells and a set of foam masks for the wheel wells and the intakes. The standard masks include wheel masks as well as masks for around the gear wells. This also includes things like the gun panels, nose radome, wing walk areas, exhaust sections just before the burner petals and the lower doppler nav radome. There are three different designs of wing walk area depending on which plane you are doing as the Marines and CAF often have different designs from the USN.

The instructions are most complete, noting which part of the masks should be aligned and attached first. The canopy portions have a thin outer edge mask that covers the gasket lines, and there is a larger section than then fills the rest of the framed area. For walkways, one applies the walkway section, positions the mask around it and then removes the walkway area, providing a cleanly masked area, ready to paint. Of course, my photo of the mask sheets is not very well done, so look at the diagram to the right to get a better idea of what is there.

This is a superb set and is one that I know you will find to be most helpful when doing your next Academy 1/72 Hornet.

Review sheet courtesy Leading Edge Decals. Thanks for your support

June 2008

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