Eduard

Mask for the 1/72 Mi-26 “Halo” For the Zvezda kit

Sheet Number: CX229

Reviewed by  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $9.95 Website: www.eduard.cz I just finished my Zvezda Mi-26 last night (read review here). It’s been a long, strange trip (a Grateful Dead reference), but it was helped by this mask set, particularly the windscreen … but more on this later. The mask set comes as a single sheet of die-cut which looks like Tamiya tape with a backing sheet. It’s tricky to get the pieces off the backing, but with a good light, a sharp pointed knife and a little perseverance, you can get the mask off the sheet and onto the model. The instructions are very good, showing where the masks are on the sheet and which part numbers the particular mask goes on. The wheel masks for the main wheels require that you paint the wheels black, then apply the little ring around the hub and paint the center with the hub color. In my case, since I was doing a Mexican Mi-26, the color was green drab. My airbrush doesn’t spray fine enough to stay within that narrow mask, so I had to use some tape to prevent overspray. This worked perfectly. So when I continued with the nose wheels, I painted the wheels black, and then checked the instructions. Murphy’s law in action. The nose wheels are painted the color of the hub, then a "spot" is put over the hub and the rest of the wheel is painted black. Again, these worked perfectly, after I painted the correct color first.

When I got to the point where I needed to put the windscreen on the helicopter, I made a discovery. The windscreen was not going to fit nice and clean, which was a disappointment, as almost everything else was pretty good. The windscreen mask withstood several sessions with Gator Glue, Spot & Glaze putty and Mr. Surfacer, which were needed to get the windscreen to stay in position without great gaps at the top and bottom. I didn’t use the masks for every window, although they were available. The small window above the left back seat was too close to the seam and putty to use the mask. Instead I used Micro Krystal Kleer ® for this window. Where I did use the masks, they went on cleanly, stayed where I put them, and came off with no residue. My thanks to Eduard for making life easier for modelers everywhere! If you’re going to build the Zvezda Mi-26 Halo kit, I highly recommend that you get this mask set. You may not have the same windscreen problem that I did, but they certainly makes assembly and painting much easier. The photos below show how clean and clear the mask kept the windscreen.