Paint Masking Question

[Mike Glasgow]

I have been using drafting tape (tan/yellow color) for masking the hull for paint on my ship hulls. I still end up with a little "feathering" between the colors. What is everyone using for paint masking tape?

[johndon]

I use Tamiya masking tape without any problems even on acrylics with no primer underneath.

John

[Vlad]

Tamiya masking tape, your local hobby shop should sell it. When I bought my first roll the guy at the counter said: "Try this, you'll never want to use anything else again". I laughed...but after I used it to mask the camouflage on my USS Iowa I decided he was completely right, so now I tell you: "Try some, you'll never want to use anything else again"

[Devin]

Tamiya tape. I remember saying "THAT much for a roll of tape? Are people nuts?" Then I picked some up on sale dirt cheap and tried it. Now I can't use anything else. It's great. I still de-tack it a bit before use, though.

-Devin

[Sparrow]

Well, they DO NOT sell Tamiya masking tape at my local hobby shop. They do not sell it anywere one hundred miles around. So I tried half a dozen of different kinds of tape with poor results, till I came across Scotch "Magic Tape". It is that kind of "invisible" tape used to repair your homework after the dog has chewed it for a while. You can write on it also.

It is much cheaper than Tamiya�s, and works just fine.

[Devin]

I used to use only Scotch brand tape before. Every now and then I'd have problems with residue if I left it on for more than a day or two, but otherwise it worked okay. I like the Tamiya stuff much better. I order it online; most major online shops have it, and a roll will last a long time.

-Devin

[les]

Tamiya hands down. Stay away from Testor's as it doesn't stay down. You can also use the blue painter's tape made by 3M. It comes in several widths and you can get it at any hardware store.

[Rob J]

love my scotch tape it works great and its cheap! i almost never get any bleeding and did I mention its cheap!

[Vlad]

I've had bad experiences with scotch tape ripping up the paint after only a few minutes on the model, maybe I was using a lousy copy. Anyway it's all Tamiya for me now

[Sparrow]

My personal approach to the use of Scotch Magic tape is:

1: Extend a strip of tape on a plastic sheet.

2: Cut the desired length/width with x-acto knife and a steel ruler. Use AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE tape

3: Apply the tape on the model. Do not press in excess. Adjust tape using a blunt instrument i.e. the back tip of a brush, ONLY in the border side of the tape, the one that is going to be covered in paint.

4: Leave the tape AS SHORT TIME AS POSSIBLE.

5: Remove the tape carefully pulling whith a tweezer FLAT ON THE MODEL�S SURFACE, in the opposite direction. Do not rise the tape, but "tear" it, if I explain myself correctly.

6: Swear, curse, jump on your feet, take a deep breath.... and start over the whole process from the very beginning.

Well, I was kidding on step 6, of course.

[patiens]

Scotch also produces a black plastic hobby tape (not unlike electrician's tape, which also works) that is perfect for masking. No stick, no feathering, no mess. Been using it for several years now. Best to take the tan masking stuff and use it for spray painting the car body.

[lrankine]

Hey guys, a novice question here. I get it that the Tamiya tape is the hands down favorite here. Since I've been sold on their paints I guess it's only natural to follow through with their tape. Anyway, are there any considerations in masking when you're applying the tape to a painted surface? I'll be airbrushing a Seawolf sub and there will be two tones of black. One for the main hull (some type of semi-gloss) and a flat black for the non-skid area on the top of the hull. Do I need to be concerned about this and if so how should I handle it?

[Devin]

The only thing I'd suggest, and this goes for masking with any sort of tape, it to first stick it to a piece of glass, burnish it down, and then cut it to shape and remove to apply to the model. This will remove some of the adhesive and make paint pulls less likely.

-Devin

[kevinb120]

The only thing I'd suggest, and this goes for masking with any sort of tape, it to first stick it to a piece of glass, burnish it down, and then cut it to shape and remove to apply to the model. This will remove some of the adhesive and make paint pulls less likely.

-Devin

YUP do it all the time Usually a fresh razor-cut line on glass also gets much better results then the standard factory edge(which can get dinged and is exposed to dust)

For brands: Tamiya for critical long straight mask lines(camo and waterlines its the best), Blue 3M Masking tape for general masking of large areas(cheaper and pretty safe on pulling paint and not that bad on lines) . Tan hardware-store paper tapes tend to bleed easy, leave residue, and pull paint, there is a reason for a $1.29 roll and a $5.99 roll. Tan 'painters tape'(the more expensive tan hardware store tape) is still no match for Tamy or the blue 3M stuff, it is made for painting wall trim and does not stick well to plastic.

For small stuff on flat surfaces and crisp lines, de-tacked magic tape and for the ultimate mask, Parafilm "M" for the ultra-small details and very complicated small parts(1/350 aircraft paint schemes and any-scale perfect canopy frames). Magic tape and Parafim are translucent and makes it very easy to cut out areas, the canopy example and masking/painting colored control surfaces on aircraft(mask area-cut out by panel line) are perfect examples where its perfect. Parafilm can be stretched to cover and mask any curve you can think of. Takes some practice though and is hard to find in a store(ebay).