| Infini
Easycutting
Type B
Item #: IT-3002V1 Infini Model
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| CUTTING MAT | ||||
| The Infini Models series of cutting mats aren't really
a mat, they are black acrylic covered in an orange surface, possibly simply
an orange layer of paint, upon which lines and designs are laser-cut. The
cuts are wide enough to allow an X-Acto or scalpel blade to pass, guiding
the cuts. There come in four varieties, this one being type B, that I picked
for the ability to do circles and complex geometric shapes. The other varieties
allow one to cut large curves, straight parallel stripes, and smaller designs.
I tested the mat with Tamiya tape. Place a piece of tape onto an area, burnish it down with a finger or eraser, make sure the blade is in the groove, and make the cut. It's really that simple. I noticed that it helps to run a fingernail along the groove before cutting, so that the blade is less likely to wander. And while this is called a mat, it isn't self-healing rubber like most cutting mats, it's hard acrylic, so too many cuts outside of the laser-etched grooves will damage the surface over time. As stated, I used thin Tamiya masking tape in this test, as well as some of the super-thin Nichiban rice paper masking tape. They both worked really well, due to their thin nature and ability to settle into the laser cut surface, but also because they are translucent and it's easy to see the grooves with the black-on-orange surface beneath. I also tested with thicker, traditional blue masking tape. While it does work, the blade is more likely to wander out of the grooves due to the thickness, and it's nearly impossible to do a center cut in the tape, as it's completely opaque and you can't see the underlying grooves.
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| CONCLUSIONS | ||||
 The
Infini Models series of cutting mats are those tools that are so simple
in concept and so useful, that it causes a "why the @#$#$@*!! didn't I
think of that?" reaction. I can see many uses for them in ship modeling,
from cutting strips for masking boot tops, director and gun warning circles,
and flight deck stripes. I can also see these being useful for other types
of model making, such as aircraft canopy masking, custom markings, and
sci-fi ship details.
This tool was purchased by me from the good people at Micromark. |
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