Of the many modeling aids available today, one of the most welcome for aircraft modelers is a good set of canopy masks. Furball Aero-Design delivers well with its 1/48 set designed for AFV Club’s F-5E/F Tiger II kits.

The single sheet of black die-cut vinyl masks will handle a single F-5E or F-5F kit – masking the edges of all canopy sections and the entirety of all wheel hubs. The die cuts are sharp and the masks lift cleanly from the sheet and adhere well to the model surfaces. Only two minor concerns were noted: First, there are no placement diagrams, which leads to the second issue of the masks for the F-5F windscreen being a bit short, thus requiring augmentation from the F-5E windscreen masks to cover the masking perimeter. Masking tape was used to fill in the remainder of the canopy surfaces.

As with many projects of this reviewer, the masks remained on the canopies for a couple of weeks as the model went through the painting, decaling, and weathering processes. While some other masking media tend to leave a lot of adhesive residue behind, the Furball product left only traces of adhesive after removal, and that was easily dabbed up with a piece of tape in a matter of seconds. Finished edges were sharp and true, with very little noticeable paint intrusion.

All said, the masks did a great job in protecting the canopy and left good, crisp demarcation lines. I highly recommend this masking set.

Thanks to Furball Aero-Design for the review sample and to IPMS/USA for affording the opportunity to share this review.