Kit Basher Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Has anyone used chart tape as masking tape? I want some 1/64" and 1/32" tape, and real masking tape in those sizes seems to be unobtainium. Any possibilities would be welcome. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 1017 Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 You can try to tape something that is 1/64 or 1/32 between 2 Exacto blades. Tape the blades together and then cut your own strips. I never needed an exact size but this is how I make fine line tape. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chariots of Fire Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 lay down a piece of Frog tape on a glass plate that is clean. Use a ruler to cut yourself a strip to the width you want. What Mike 1017 says works too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share Posted September 27, 2020 28 minutes ago, Mike 1017 said: You can try to tape something that is 1/64 or 1/32 between 2 Exacto blades. Tape the blades together and then cut your own strips. I never needed an exact size but this is how I make fine line tape. Mike Thanks, Mike. I don't really need exact sizes either. I will give your method a try. 1 minute ago, Chariots of Fire said: lay down a piece of Frog tape on a glass plate that is clean. Use a ruler to cut yourself a strip to the width you want. What Mike 1017 says works too. Thanks, Charles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Check any parts house that caters to body shops. They'll have tape and other supplies you will not find anywhere else. They will have real masking tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share Posted September 27, 2020 3 hours ago, espo said: Check any parts house that caters to body shops. They'll have tape and other supplies you will not find anywhere else. They will have real masking tape. I checked a few of those, and the narrowest tape I found was 1/16". Any suggestions? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 5 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said: lay down a piece of Frog tape on a glass plate that is clean. Use a ruler to cut yourself a strip to the width you want. What Mike 1017 says works too. I don't bother with Frog Tape anymore. Few decades ago (when it first came out) I bought a roll because of those early ads on TV. Back then they only sold green version. To me it was just like ordinary masking tape - nothing special. Later on I found out that the secret is that they coat the very edge with some special chemical that absorbs water, swells up, and seals the edge, preventing paint bleed. But that only works for water-based paints. It was designed for latex house paints. There is no advantage when using solvent-based hobby paints - there is no water in them to be absorbed into that chemical on the edge. I still have the roll stashed somewhere in my workshop or in the basement. I went back to Tamiya, Scotch Blue, and now Washi tapes. As for those thin tapes OP was asking, I don't think those were ever made as masking tape (or sold in body shops). It was a graphic tape used by graphic artists for thin lines, before computers, when graphic layouts were still done by hand, on paper. So, just like the Chartpak or Letraset dry-transfer lettering, that thin tape became obsolete and hard to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chariots of Fire Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 I think the Frog tape is a bit nicer than ordinary masking tape because it has somewhat less tack. I found that burnishing the edges well seems to work. As for the graphic tapes yes, they made all kinds and colors; the one that comes to mind is Chart Pak. Airplane modelers use a variety of tapes, or at least they did. I bought a roll of gold colored and used the 1/64 width for pinstriping on the '37 Seagrave. It came in a variety of widths on the same spool. The only problem is that the edges can pick up small bits of dirt and it is hard to get it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Chariots of Fire said: I think the Frog tape is a bit nicer than ordinary masking tape because it has somewhat less tack. I found that burnishing the edges well seems to work. We all have our favorites as far as modeling supplies go. If I use masking tape, I only use 3M brand (not the cheap non-name brands). The tan color tape's adhesive is quite aggressive, but the blue painter's tape's adhesive is much gentler. They call it "medium". They also make tape with even gentler adhesive, but I never tried it. But since I found Washi tape (same as Tamiya but much less expensive) in my hardware store, I will likely stop using the 3M tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 The tape I was originally looking at was Line O Tape. It came in widths as narrow as 1/64, lots of different colors, and masking tape. It used to be readily available from hobby dealers. I don't know if it is Covid related, but in the last few months it has disappeared. The only thing I can find now in the very narrow widths now is "chart tape". Apparently it is used for making grid lines on white boards. I was wondering if anyone had tried it for masking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Ambrose Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 16 hours ago, Kit Basher said: Has anyone used chart tape as masking tape? I want some 1/64" and 1/32" tape, and real masking tape in those sizes seems to be unobtainium. Any possibilities would be welcome. Thanks. Yes! Don't do it. That tape is very crinkled to let it make curves. It used to be used for manually laying out printed circuit boards. Those same crinkles make it a terrible terrible terrible masking tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 6 hours ago, Dave Ambrose said: Yes! Don't do it. That tape is very crinkled to let it make curves. It used to be used for manually laying out printed circuit boards. Those same crinkles make it a terrible terrible terrible masking tape. Thank you Dave! That is the answer I was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Ambrose Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 3 hours ago, Kit Basher said: Thank you Dave! That is the answer I was looking for. There is no need for you to repeat my mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 On 9/27/2020 at 9:53 AM, Mike 1017 said: You can try to tape something that is 1/64 or 1/32 between 2 Exacto blades. Tape the blades together and then cut your own strips. I never needed an exact size but this is how I make fine line tape. Mike This is a great idea! Even better, superglue the two blades together, and use them to cut strips from 3M flexible vinyl tape. Don't use common black vinyl "electrical tape"--the stickum on that stuff will leave a hella mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 57 minutes ago, Dave Ambrose said: There is no need for you to repeat my mistake. LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SfanGoch Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Snake45 said: superglue the two blades together Why? Dual blade strip cutters already exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 9 minutes ago, SfanGoch said: Why? Dual blade strip cutters already exist. As my Late Great Dad used to say, "You learn something new every day if you're not careful." (Not sure that will get them as close together as just supergluing them, though....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 2 hours ago, SfanGoch said: Why? Dual blade strip cutters already exist. That's new to me also. It looks like the narrowest it goes is about 1/8", but I'm gonna get me one. I can use it for veneer work if nothing else. Thanks, Joe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuces ll Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Yep! I have one laying around.... Somewhere..??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 On 9/28/2020 at 1:44 PM, SfanGoch said: Why? Dual blade strip cutters already exist. I bought one of these and used it to cut the stripes for this GT 40 out of white decal paper. It occurs to me that you could print any color you wanted on the paper, and then cut out the stripes. Thanks, Joe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SfanGoch Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Hugh betcha, Hugh! Those dual blade strip cutters are something one might never need but great to have, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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