My wife recently acquired a brand new Cricut die cutting machine. Unlike previous versions this one now allows you to import drawings to reproduce. I would love to be able to create my own paint masks with it. I took an Eduard set I had, copied it and imported it and it was able to exactly reproduce the masks. But aside from being illegal to copy someones work it is kind of self defeating as I would have to buy a set to copy from so why bother.
I am wondering how those masks are designed in the first place. Does anyone have any pointers or suggestions on how I could design my own? Is there somewhere I could obtain the necessary measurements for say canopies in a particular scale, meaning the individual panes?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Hi Robert,
I have a Silhouette machine, same idea - different company. I've not used it too much, but I've seen a few others use it online. One future project I plan on doing with it is scanning some racing stripe decals and using them to cut masks, as I'd rather paint the stripes on the model instead of using the provided decal stripes for color matching simplicity.
For canopies, people have been successful in applying tape over the canopy, then using a pencil to trace the outlines of the raised panels onto it. You can then lay it flat, scan the pencil lines, and cut precise masks. I imagine something like this is how the manufactured ones are done - a scanned outline converted to CAD and then test fitted and tweaked to perfection, then cut out by the thousands.
Thanks for the quick response! Yes we looked at the Silhouette machine as well, both do basically the same thing. I suspect you are right as to how the masks are developed and thats a great idea. I am going to get some onion skin tracing paper and give that a shot. I have done masks that way myself but I have developed a significant hand tremor so I need to use masks now as I can no longer cut that fine without making a mess of it.
Masks are not all that expensive, even with shipping, it just seems that with the machine I could make my own and not have to wait so long for them to arrive etc. Plus I figured if I could make it work I could offer to make masks for anyone as long as my direct costs are covered. Not trying to start a business mind you just thought it would be something nice to offer the local group as well as for myself.
For flat sides, like German aircraft, could take a photo and trace it in the program. Not sure what programs can be used.
A very unscientific approach I have been experimenting with is scanning the part, then scanning the scan after going over the lines with a sharpie. Then importing that into the cutter. It works, but it requires a lot of tweaking!