Introduction

When Uschi released this product onto the market there was a lot of interest shown by members. I was sent a set of the DPC-35 Disc camouflage masking stencil and ED-35 Extra discs for DPC-35 for review. These were sent loose in a zip lock bag, not as a packaged product for the market, so I will concentrate on just the product at hand. Also, as there were no instructions I will not comment on those either. An online tutorial is provided on Uschi's website:
Tutorial

the masking stencil

DPC-35 Disc Camouflage Masking Stencil is five strips of a smoky clear self adhesive tape that has a pattern cut into it by Miracle Masks affixed to a single carrier that can be used again to store the product on for future use. Each of the strips are 21mm x 133mm. The pattern consists of 3 sizes of circles, and as a side note the 'waste' pieces that are left on the carrier can be used to create some interesting patterns of their own.

Adhesive qualities are good with the piece I used sticking and holding in excess of ten times of use, after which it still stuck down but I incurred some minor damage around the edge of the mask. I should add that the first time this product is used the sticking power is a little strong making removal a little tricky, after two or three uses the sticking ability of the masks is a lot easier to work with. It is because of the excellent sticking properties of this product that I would like to have had an extra piece of carrier for storage, yes you can place it back on the carrier it came from but you would need to remove all of the tiny pieces that were left behind when it was removed.

Upon removal from the carrier I did notice that some of the cut out (waste) pieces were still attached to the mask, a quick way to fix this is to stick it on some scrap plastic and then remove and apply to your model. This removed all of the excess pieces that should not have been there.

ED-35 Extra Discs for DPC-35 has all of the same properties as DPC-35 Disc camouflage masking stencil. It consists of 3 sizes of circle and gives you 80 x 3mm, 4mm, and 5mm circles.

In use

I found a guide to using this product on the Uschi website (linked previously). It instructs you to paint the area of the model where these masks will be used brown and green, apply the mask and then spray the yellow colour. You then remove the mask and spray the block yellow in where wanted/required.

The mask attaches well to flat surfaces, rounded and sharp angles, but you will hit an issue if you try to use the mask around more than one angle. You also need to consider placement on the part to obtain the correct look to the effect the mask imparts.

Removal of the large masks is simplicity itself but removal of the separate circle masks can be a pain the first time they are used. The overall effect is very pleasing and I am sure when used on a full model where more care will be taken with mask size and placement the effect will look the part.

Just for the fun of it I tried three different approaches to this product, I used the masks on its own, the mask with the addition of some circles, and the circles on their own. The results of these methods are included in the pictures. Please note that no attempt was made to get a conforming camouflage pattern as my intention was to show three methods across the one part.

Conclusion

As more sets of these masks are released I am sure a lot more models with this pattern will be seen, and the use of the masks aimed at specific vehicle types is the way forward for this product in my opinion. The only real weaknesses to the product are that you have to be sure you know where the breaks in the pattern will occur and that you need to cut/shape the mask material accordingly.

The adhesion properties of the product do reduce with each use but I was able to get full adhesion in excess of 10 times with it just becoming easier to remove from the plastic with only minor damage/breakage occurring around the edges. If you wish to utilise this camouflage pattern then this product/s are a solution worth consideration.