masking mediums

[Paul Payne]

I have never had much occasion to do masking, but I have a project which would benefit from a very thin stripe. Micromark has advertised Parafilm masking material for years, but I would like a precut straight line. Has anyone had good experiences with Scotch tape? The stripe would be over the main paint color and I wouldn't want to damage it when it's removed. Any tips or suggestions more than welcome.

[TarheelRick]

If you are referring to the clear type Scotch tape, I would not recommend it at all. It does not conform to curves of any scale and it will often leave a sticky residue which is difficult to remove.  What size stripe are you considering.  If it is a smaller pin-stripe then it may be possible to find what you are looking for on a decal sheet.  If you are able to print your own decals, MS Word has a place where you can select different widths of stripe and the font color wheel may be close to what you need.  If the stripe is wider I would suggest masking the edges with Tamiya tape and the rest with blue painter's tape.  Tamiya gives a very nice crisp separation line.  Another suggestion would be to spray a light coat of the main paint color over your tape before painting the stripe color. That will seal most of the bleed-thru areas and if by chance there is any bleed through it will be the main color.  Hope this helps and answers some of your question. Just reread your post and you did mention "very thin stripe", my primary suggestion would be to try to find decals for it.

[Paul Payne]

Ricky, thanks for the tips and info. The line will extend the entire length of a rather long car so I would have to splice decals together. Another thought- what about very thin striping tape? Another thing I have never used- how does it stick and can it be clear coated?

[Fantom]

Tamiya tape…comes various widths including some very thin. I have had very good luck with it not leaking.. they even make tape suitable for compound curves. Works very well too!! Best tape I’ve ever used. I recently used it to mask between the black and red here. A very clean line.

[peteski]

Take some Tamiya tape (or Washi tape, which is the same stuff), place it on a piece of glass, and using a steel ruler and a fresh hobby knife blade, or single-edge razor blade, cut your stripe.

Edited September 9, 2021 by peteski

[StevenGuthmiller]

28 minutes ago, peteski said:

Take some Tamiya tape (or Washi tape, which is the same stuff), place it on a piece of glass, and using a steel ruler and a fresh hobby knife blade, or single-edge razor blade, cut your stripe.

I agree.

Cut a fresh edge on Tamiya tape.

You'll get a very neat, crisp line.

Be certain that you burnish the edges down well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Paul Payne]

Thank you all for sharing, and nice 442!

[Michael jones]

Tamiya tape or equivalent washi tape works great, but also bare metal foil is really great the few times I have used it. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Michael jones

[Bugatti Fan]

In the UK besides Tamiya tape available from model suppliers Wilkinsons (Wilcos as it is mostly referred to) have their own brand Washi tape that is a lot less expensive than Tamiya's but only sold in one width, so will need cutting for pin stripes etc.

I have used it often. To cut strips I have an old thick glass lens from a halogen security lamp to stick the tape to for cutting using a steel rule and a sharp craft knife.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Bugatti Fan

[ZTony8]

On 9/8/2021 at 8:13 PM, Paul Payne said:

Ricky, thanks for the tips and info. The line will extend the entire length of a rather long car so I would have to splice decals together. Another thought- what about very thin striping tape? Another thing I have never used- how does it stick and can it be clear coated?

There is no tape narrow enough to be in scale for a narrow stripe( pin stripe width) on a model.

[Bills72sj]

BMF makes good masking material if you can bring yourself to use it for that purpose.

I have heard of a trick of stuffing TWO #11 blades in an Exacto knife to make a precise width line that can be curved.

Preventing bleed under is the biggest challenge. Ricky's suggestion of a layer of original paint after masking but before contrasting color can help with that.

 

[maxwell48098]

To prevent the bleed through, you can also use clear if you are short of the original base color.

 

A.J.