The Little World

In the social world of liquid masking agents, Humbrol’s Maskol is the one you rarely invite to the cocktail party. It is purple, stringy, and smelly. A lot like some people I know.

I’ve tried it for masking camouflage patterns in 1:72 and found it to be problematical. It sticks, alright, but sometimes long after you want it to. It can attack the first layer of paint, leaving tide marks. It is said to be difficult to remove after three days.

I agree with the complaint about the smell – it contains ammonia as part of the formula. I agree that it can leave marks on paint. But I have found by experiment that it is no more problem to remove after two weeks than it is after two days.

And it has some delightful properties:

a. It is more liquid than the alginate gel made by Micro Scale or the rubber solution made by GSI Creos. You can flow it into tighter cracks.

b. it sets faster than these other materials. I can poke it on with a cocktail stick and blow dry it in a minute. This means that second coats are quick to apply.

c. it is the ideal final seal for awkward tape masking joints when you are about to spray paint.

d. It is a perfect cover for canopies when you use them for sealing cockpits prior to airbrushing. Do your work, let it dry for a day, then peel off the Maskol and paint the canopy.

e. If you can hide the purple colour it is a good fast-set flexible re-inforcement for fine joints. It will be rubber eventually.