How can I paint really thin stripes?

[alex112666]

Hey guys. I'm currently working on a Tamiya Porsche 959, which is one of my favorite cars. I've got the base coat down, which is white, and I plan on putting Martini Racing livery on it, specifically the Martini stripe along the car from the hood to the spoiler. It's three separate colors and the stripes are going to be pretty small, 1/16in at the smallest and 3/8in at the largest. How should I go about taping the car so that everything is straight, symmetrical, and there are no leaks? Thanks.

[my80malibu]

Rather than taking a Gamble, and Damaging your paint job. Why not try painting the stripes onto decal paper. It may be easier to do that, and cut them out as thin as you like, or just make them thin from the start.

[Jantrix]

I'd check with some of the decal aftermarket vendors like Kieth Marks. He may already have livery for that car.

[Art Anderson]

I've used what I call a "three tape" method for laying out stripes on a model car body for airbrushing:

First, I lay a strip of masking tape on a piece of plate glass, then measure out the width of the stripe I want to paint, and cut that from the tape with an Xacto knife and a metal straight edge. I then lay that narrow strip of tape on the model car body in the pattern or shape I need. Next, I cut two more strips of masking tape in the same manner, but a bit wider, and lay those on the model body shell right next to the "stripe" tape. Once I am satisfied that I have what I want, I simply removed that first strip of tape (the middle of three side-by-side strips of tape) and then mask off the rest of the surrounding area, and airbrush the stripe color on.

It's a bit more time consuming, but a method I've used numerous times over the years.

Art

[jbwelda]

dittos on the Tamiya tape. if you are painting be sure to use it, it will stop 90% of your problems.

I would think about buying some solid color decal paper, the color you want the stripes to be, if possible. then you can just trim out areas to lay down as needed.

I have also painted Tamiya masking tape and then cut it into strips. worked pretty good; its thin enough to not really stand out, and it pretty much got buried under a coat or two of clear.

actually painting the stripes is the hairiest bear of them all if you ask me. I would rather take my chances with some decals or tape that can be moved around and wont bleed.

jb