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Posted (edited)

Use tamiya tape or washi tape. Cut a fresh edge with a sharp knife and burnish down. Then spray a light coat or two of the base colour or clear coat of the same type of paint to seal the edge. Then spray your second colour over that.

Edited by Michael jones
  • Like 2
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, peteski said:

Greg,

Why don't you let us know what tape and paints you are using, and what is your masking/painting  technique?

My Tape:

Scotch Blue painters tape.

IMG_1486.JPG

My Technique

Cut to size and apply to body

Edited by 69NovaYenko
Posted
3 hours ago, Michael jones said:

Use tamiya tape or washi tape. Cut a fresh edge with a sharp knife and burnish down. Then spray a light coat or two of the base colour or clear coat of the same type of paint to seal the edge. Then spray your second colour over that.

You said "Cut a fresh edge with a sharp knife." Is the he manufacturers edge prone to leaking?

And  no I haven't tried spraying a light coat or two of the base colour or clear coat of the same type of paint to seal the edge.

Posted

Ya ..I have found that blue painters tape doesn't work well when spraying paint on model cars. Tamiya tape works best for me, and a quick shot of clear or base colour seals the edge of the tape like Michael said.??

Posted

Sometimes I use BMF to mask some things..... I would use the foil to make the "edge" then use masking tape for the rest. That way you're not using up all your foil........

Posted
3 hours ago, 69NovaYenko said:

My Tape:

Scotch Blue painters tape.

IMG_1486.JPG

My Technique

Cut to size and apply to body

That's probably one of the worst tapes to use for masking edges.

It's literally designed not to stick very well.

Second worst tape to use is regular masking tape.

It sticks too well, but still does not seal well enough on the edges, plus it has the tendency to leave residue behind and can even tear off the underlying paint.

 

Tamiya tape is your answer.

I recently did these stripes with Tamiya tape and all that I did was cut a clean edge, apply it, burnishing well on the edges and then apply light coats of paint.

It will give you perfect lines if you do it right.

 

image.jpeg.272d532f0e6ec276704e931f867602df.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

  • Like 1
Posted

I swear by Tamiya Tape! For doing stripes and such as what Steve showed on his Dodge, it's pretty much the best stuff to use. Here are stripes I did on my '05 Mustang GT. The clear stuff is Parafilm to mask off the rest.

Pb120790-vi.jpg
Pb120791-vi.jpg
Pc160840-vi.jpg

The suggestion of using clear coat along the edges is a good one. Another choice I've used in the past for masking two tones (or black trim around windows) is BMF. Expensive, but you'll get a super clean edge with nary a bleed under if burnished down properly.

Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, 69NovaYenko said:

My Tape:

Scotch Blue painters tape.

 

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

That's probably one of the worst tapes to use for masking edges.

It's literally designed not to stick very well.

Second worst tape to use is regular masking tape.

It sticks too well, but still does not seal well enough on the edges, plus it has the tendency to leave residue behind and can even tear off the underlying paint.

Tamiya tape is your answer.

Steve's correct on all counts. His work speaks for itself.

Blue tape is designed primarily for water base paints on things like walls, where its relatively poor adhesion helps prevent it from tearing poorly adhered undercoats off the surface.

Regular masking tape isn't designed to do crisp edges.

-----------------------------------------------------

One other method: 3M fine-line green plastic automotive tapes, made specifically for obtaining clean color separations on flames and graphics using solvent-based paint.

3M™ Scotch® 218 Masking Tape Fine Line Green 6,3mmx55m ...Fine line masking tape - green

EDIT: One thing that's absolutely imperative for getting good two-toning is to make certain your base color is adhered very well to the surface.

Masking over poorly-adhered paint will guarantee failure.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
Posted (edited)

I wonder if that new crappy BMF would be sticky enough for masking purposes? If one already has some and can’t return it.?

Edited by NOBLNG
Posted (edited)
On 11/13/2021 at 5:53 PM, Zippi said:

 

8 hours ago, 69NovaYenko said:

You said "Cut a fresh edge with a sharp knife." Is the he manufacturers edge prone to leaking?

And  no I haven't tried spraying a light coat or two of the base colour or clear coat of the same type of paint to seal the edge.

A fresh edge is cut to get rid of any crud the tape may have picked up sitting on its side. Lay a strip onto a piece of clean glass and trim the edge with an exacto blade, using a straight edge steel scale or ruler.

Edited by Rick L
Posted
3 hours ago, ewetwo said:

I bought some Tamiya tape and it couldn't get it to stick to the paint on the car.

That’s totally uncharacteristic.

I’ve used dozens of rolls of Tamiya tape and have never had adhesion issues. 
I’d be interested to know the particulars of the paint that it wouldn’t stick to.

Otherwise, you were unlucky enough to receive the only roll of bad Tamiya tape on the planet! ?

 

 

 

Steve

Posted
1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Otherwise, you were unlucky enough to receive the only roll of bad Tamiya tape on the planet! ?

LOL

Posted
5 hours ago, ewetwo said:

I bought some Tamiya tape and it couldn't get it to stick to the paint on the car.

Like others, I'm really surprised.  I never had a problem with it adhering.  Silly question: you didn't happen to wax the paint you were masking?

Tamiya tape is rather pricey -- "Washi tape", which is available in craft stores or online is basically the same as Tamiya, but less expensive.  Still pricier than regular masking tapes, but well worth the extra cost.

Posted

The blue painters tape can work. But, it has to have a cut edge and be burnished well. The scallops on this '37 were masked with a single piece of 2".

20200525_154151-1.jpg.6da8b97cb363c29786c54989db1d1f37.jpg

This Silverado was also done with 2" blue painters tape.

20200829_111346-1.jpg.c8c4aadd4508d0a785bb2a929e83ac06.jpg

But, Tamiya tape is still better for more simple masking. When you buy it, spend the extra and get the dispenser. No ruined edges or lint stuck to it. Just pull it out and use it.

Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, peteski said:

Like others, I'm really surprised.  I never had a problem with it adhering.  Silly question: you didn't happen to wax the paint you were masking?

Tamiya tape is rather pricey -- "Washi tape", which is available in craft stores or online is basically the same as Tamiya, but less expensive.  Still pricier than regular masking tapes, but well worth the extra cost.

No. Just a painted model. I was going to use it as a cut line for foiling the side trim on my black 64 Comet. It is now in the purple pond for the 6th time because my foiling damaged too much of the paint. 

And it was the nova and comet that were Duplicolor Black and clear.

Edited by ewetwo
Posted
18 hours ago, ewetwo said:

I bought some Tamiya tape and it couldn't get it to stick to the paint on the car.

I bought a bum roll too a while ago.  It was the very narrow tape designed to curve etc - wouldn't stick to anything for love nor money.

I did notice that it was not made of the same material as the regular tape.  This tape seemed as if it were made of plastic?  for want of a better word.

It's the only Tamiya tape that I've ever had problems with.

 

Posted
10 minutes ago, showrods said:

I bought a bum roll too a while ago.  It was the very narrow tape designed to curve etc - wouldn't stick to anything for love nor money.

I did notice that it was not made of the same material as the regular tape.  This tape seemed as if it were made of plastic?  for want of a better word.

It's the only Tamiya tape that I've ever had problems with.

 

That's the one I was using as I had to do a curve.

 

Posted

Tamiya (Washi) tape I believe is made of some bamboo-based paper.  It also does not have very aggressive adhesive. so the narrower the tape is, the less area is on it to adhere, and it will make it appear not to be very sticky.  I would not expect very narrow strips to stick very well to anything.  That is true about any masking tape, but if the tape has a more aggressive adhesive to begin with, the narrow strips will also have more "stickiness".

Posted

I worked in body shops for years and use fine-line tape like above, there is also a blue version of it that I am not sure if is made by 3M but it is a little more flexible for those tough corners...

Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, peteski said:

Tamiya (Washi) tape I believe is made of some bamboo-based paper.  It also does not have very aggressive adhesive. so the narrower the tape is, the less area is on it to adhere, and it will make it appear not to be very sticky.  I would not expect very narrow strips to stick very well to anything.  That is true about any masking tape, but if the tape has a more aggressive adhesive to begin with, the narrow strips will also have more "stickiness".

The very narrow tape that I bought (that wouldn't stick to anything) was not made out of the same material as their wider tape.  Understandable too I guess since it's designed to curve but apparently not designed to stick LOL

Anyone have a recently purchased roll of the very narrow Tamiya tape?  Is it still the flexible plastic or have they changed it?  And more importantly...does it stick?  LOL

Edited by showrods
Posted (edited)

Be careful when using blue painter's tape or regular masking tape. Some are not recommended to be used with lacquers or polyurethanes. Read the inside of the tape roll to be sure.

Edited by ZTony8

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