Recreating Stranger Things Intro - Using Masks with Images

I am trying to recreate the intro for Stranger Things for a private project of mine.

I created the text for the logo in the intro using Photoshop to add the textures, and get the letters positions right.  I also made a shape that combined 2 letters into one shape.  What I'm trying to do is take the 2 letters letters get them to move into position with the 2 letters combine like how they work on the Stranger Things intro.  What I've tried to do was start with a composite shot, import the individual letters as layers, move the individual letters into position then use a mask on both ends of the individual letters to mask out the ends then switching to the combined letters shape.  But what happens when I use the scale option to get it to scale in, the mask moves away from the position I placed it.