Masking

[slant6]

I'm always impressed with all the help I get whenever I post a question on here. So here's another on for you guys. Im doing a VW Golf GTI and this is how Id like to paint it.

My questions are about masking off the lines for the "checker board" pattern. Whenever I cut the lines out of the masking for something like this I get "scoring" lines (more or less) in the paint, and no matter what I do they always show up through the finish. Is there mabey a special tape I should be using, that wont require me to cut so hard? Cant wait to see you answers. And feel free to throw in any other tips that you all see fit. Ive only been on this forum about a year, and my because you guys, my skills have already become way better than I could have ever imagined.

[FujimiLover]

That's an awesome Volkswagen, are you going to make the body kit as well? Wouldn't be right without the kit on there as well as the paint scheme.

You might want to try and cutting out the masking tape into the shapes you want before sticking theme onto the model? It maybe more time consuming, but end result might be better than trying to cut the tape directly on the model itselfe. Or, you might want to try liquid masking tape, and "paint" the masking where you want. I'd try the liquid tape on a junk body first though!

[crispy]

Check out Scale Wiki, lots of information there.

It will at least get you started on the right foot or give you an idea.

Chris

http://www.scalewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

[Zoom Zoom]

There are several ways you could approach this.

If you have a drawing program and a laser printer (black toner), you could easily do the checkerboard as a decal, and then bury under clearcoat.

You could scan the body so you'd have your artwork in scale.

You could get a solid sheet of black decal film, carefully cut the sheet to the right pattern, and apply each block separately. Use black paint for the solid black portion at the rear, only use the decal for the checkerboard. Apply this over the orange.

If you want to do it old-school, you'll need to hone your drawing skills to design the pattern on paper, in the right scale, right angles, right spacing (you'll need a good straightedge and mechanical pencil or pigment liner pen). You can make a tape pattern of the area directly from the body, transfer it to a flat surface (piece of glass is best) and draw the pattern, or use a drawn pattern underneath the tape so that you can cut the tape squares you need for the pattern, then carefully transfer the tape masking squares to the body. Or just lay out the tape, draw the pattern, cut the squares, and transfer the ones you need to the body.

The idea is not to lay down masking material on the model and then do the cutting; unless you are a true expert at this kind of job, you will damage the paint and have problems with paint running under the mask, paint peeling up after being applied, etc.

You want to paint the orange first, and mask it off to paint the black.

If it were mine and I prefer paint to decals, I'd do the masks by drawing the pattern on the computer after scanning the body, using the scan as the base layer of the drawing to trace over with my design so I know that the angles/spacing are correct, print it out, cut a test strip to lay next to the body to make sure the design still works in 3D, use my light table to transfer that design to the masking tape by drawing the pattern with a straightedge and pen, carefully cut the pattern (masking tape applied to either clear plastic or glass), and then transfer the cut tape masks block by block to the model, seal the masking tape (Tamiya tape) with a light coat of clear (if any paint bleeds under, it's clear), and shoot the black. Before the black is completely dry, carefully remove the masks. Then more clearcoat to even out the edges.

There's always more than one way to do something like this. Practice the pattern long before you apply it to a model, you want to do your learning on test panels before your final piece. Make your mistakes on your test pieces, not your model!

[slant6]

Thanks for the tips. I think Im gonna try cutting out the squares and sticking them on rather than cutting them out on the body. And also, I dont think Ill be building the body kit, unless you guys have some tips for that too. I would like to try it.

[mountaindewd]

Could you use BMF to mask it? Apply the BMF, draw the pattern and cut it out. You can use a toohpick to remove the unwanted squares. Of course you would probably have to clean off some glue before painting. Just a thought.

Les