Masking for two tone paint

[rossfox]

So, I admit, I am beaten by this two tone paint. I painted half of the car with Tamiya acrylics. Waited a week for the paint to cure. Put Tamiya masking tape carefully on the new paint in order to paint the other part. Painted other part, waited 40 minutes and pulled the masking tape off very carefully from the previous painted part. Previous paint had tape marks all in the paint. Sanded all of that off, and cured the model in Hydrator for 12 hours. Tried again, and even putting the Tamiya masking tape down on a clean surface and pulled it off several times to reduce the stickyness. Painted second part again and removed the masking tape from previous paint in 15 minutes. Paint had tape marks all in the paint again. Any suggestions.

[stitchdup]

thats the same problem i get with tamiya. it used to be good but now something in the glue is reacting with the paint. i'm using frog low tack cut into strips now and its like tamiya used to be. you'd think it would at least work with their own paints

[sidcharles]

along that same thought line, could a well cured clearcoat act as a barrier? **

would the immediate edge be sharp & well adhered if you cut up post-it notes to form the boundary?

maybe aluminum foil the painted body. then,  use the minimum surface possible to hold the notes against your paint line, and then tape the livin' bejeepers out of the remaining paper to the foil.

which in theory should stay put due to its memory. 

** when staining, then clearcoating, furniture, i was taught to use a layer - "spitcoat" - of a clear finish of a dissimilar base as the stain (usually clear shellac cut with alcohol 50/50).

that way when the topcoat of clear was applied, it did not reactivate the vehicle in the stain and obliterate the grain pattern/ turn it to mud.

i would seek out a clear coat compatible with your paint brand, but Not of the same brand.  that may take some hunting since conventional wisdom suggest using finishes within a range.

[StevenGuthmiller]

There are so many individual issues with different paints that it's becoming nearly impossible to figure out what's going on with many of them anymore.

All that I can tell you is that if you're using automotive type acrylic lacquers, most of these problems go away.

At least they have for me over the past couple of decades.

Short of the fact that you need to be certain that your primer barrier is sufficient to guard against plastic damage from hot solvents, every other problem that I've ever had with other paints is pretty much a thing of the past.

Using automotive lacquers, I've had to strip possibly 2 bodies in the past 10 years, and neither one of them were due to issues with the paint itself.

 

 

 

Steve

[Fat Brian]

This is the same issue that caused me to strip a body 4 times. What I found is needing to work in very light coats and double up on the tape or switch to an automotive grade tape. I find it very odd that Tamiya tape doesn't protect against Tamiya paint.

[Shark]

Like Steve mentioned, automotive lacquer is my go to on any paint job requiring more than one color. Did a nascar body with 5 colors one time. As soon as I cleaned my air brush, re taped and on to the next color. Done before lunch.

[rossfox]

Lot of good replies and looking for more.

[Dave G.]

I haven't tested this, but I'm pretty sure that we have seen this before, in which cases the Tamiya acrylic was thinned with Tamiya X 20 thinner. I suspect it may not happen if thinned with lacquer thinner. Tamiya's own statement on a harder X series finish is to thin with LT. I'm thinking the X20 thinned paint may stay soft enough at the surface to be affected by the tape. And or the solvents in X20 may be what interacts with the tape.

Secondly, the fact that automotive acrylic lacquer is not affected supports my theory. Automotive acrylic lacquer is a hard surfaced paint. Quite hard actually.

I also don't experience this with properly cured waterborne acrylics, including craft paints, Createx paints and even artist acrylics. Though I must say that I moved from Tamiya tape some years ago now. I either cut strips of blue painters tape with a razor or use FineLine tape. And if using Tamiya acrylic I thin with LT, always have since day one of my acrylic journey.

[rossfox]

Well okay, so I had a breakthru. I took my body, the one with the masking tape marks in the paint, and I put it in the hydrator again for 6 hours at 122 degrees. Took it out and had no idea, but the tape marks are completely gone. Luck??? Just don't know.

[Straightliner59]

I have been using Parafilm for masking, the last few years. Use the warmth of your fingers, as you apply it, to seal the edges. It's low-tack and residue-free. It can pretty much be applied, as soon as paint is dry to the touch.

[Bills72sj]

5 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I have been using Parafilm for masking, the last few years. Use the warmth of your fingers, as you apply it, to seal the edges. It's low-tack and residue-free. It can pretty much be applied, as soon as paint is dry to the touch.

That is my go to as well. It NEVER leaves residue. It is superior in stopping bleed under such as panel lines. I can be left on for MONTHS with no ill effects. The tricky part is using it for straight lines or curves. For accomplishing that, I use 1/16" vinyl tape as an edge guide over the top of the Parafilm. I trim along its edge with a NEW hobby knife and use the thin line tape to remove the unwanted portion. Parafilm also has the benefit of being able be "fudged" into place with a toothpick for very precise placement.

[Straightliner59]

4 hours ago, Bills72sj said:

That is my go to as well. It NEVER leaves residue. It is superior in stopping bleed under such as panel lines. I can be left on for MONTHS with no ill effects. The tricky part is using it for straight lines or curves. For accomplishing that, I use 1/16" vinyl tape as an edge guide over the top of the Parafilm. I trim along its edge with a NEW hobby knife and use the thin line tape to remove the unwanted portion. Parafilm also has the benefit of being able be "fudged" into place with a toothpick for very precise placement.

I am going to use that technique with the tape! Great call!

[rossfox]

So another question pertaining to my original post. I have not included a picture, as I cannot get the file to convert from pdf to one accepted here, but you know what I am talking about with the Corvette. So my 57 Corvette is painted and I am okay with it. I need to add the chrome stripping in the area where the white meets the red. The ridge is very narrow. Near the front fender well it goes down to maybe 1/64 inch narrow, and gets slightly wider as it goes toward the rear of the car. I am trying to figure should I try the Molotow pen I have, or Bare Metal Chrome Foil. I am afraid that I will slip with the Molotow pen and get chrome on the paint. With the bare metal foil, because the ridge is so narrow and very shallow, I wonder if I won't botch that up trying to trim it with an Exacto knife. I don't want to mask the paint because of my troubles in the past with tape leaving marks in the paint. Any suggestions? Also can Tamiya Clearcoat be used over Molotow, if I go that route?

[peteski]

7 hours ago, rossfox said:

I have not included a picture, as I cannot get the file to convert from pdf to one accepted here

Bitmap (a photo/picture) stored in a pdf format is a bit unusual as it's not a native format for bitmap.  I'm curious how you ended up with that file.

A quick and dirty way to get that picture stored in a forum acceptable format would be to open the pdf on your computer then take a screen capture and save it in a JPG or PNG format.

[Bills72sj]

10 hours ago, rossfox said:

So another question pertaining to my original post. I have not included a picture, as I cannot get the file to convert from pdf to one accepted here, but you know what I am talking about with the Corvette. So my 57 Corvette is painted and I am okay with it. I need to add the chrome stripping in the area where the white meets the red. The ridge is very narrow. Near the front fender well it goes down to maybe 1/64 inch narrow, and gets slightly wider as it goes toward the rear of the car. I am trying to figure should I try the Molotow pen I have, or Bare Metal Chrome Foil. I am afraid that I will slip with the Molotow pen and get chrome on the paint. With the bare metal foil, because the ridge is so narrow and very shallow, I wonder if I won't botch that up trying to trim it with an Exacto knife. I don't want to mask the paint because of my troubles in the past with tape leaving marks in the paint. Any suggestions? Also can Tamiya Clearcoat be used over Molotow, if I go that route?

I would BMF with burnishing with a round toothpick. Then some help from some 1/16" vinyl tape. It will help keep your blade on the straight and narrow.

[Straightliner59]

I agree with Bill. Bare-Metal is going to be your best bet!

[rossfox]

Dave G. I didn't know that about Tamiya thinner X 20 versus regular laquer thinner to thin Tamiya acrylics. I will give that a try on pieces of plastic. Getting my nicely painted body messed up by Tamiya masking tape is not what I was looking for. Thanks again.

[rossfox]

Thanks Peteski. I didn't know about screen capture. I do now. I used the Snipping Tool and saved as a JPG. I will send a picture of my Corvette after lunch.

[rossfox]

So here is a picture of my 57 Corvette showing the side view. Thanks for all of the advice. I will use it for sure.

[rossfox]

On 6/27/2025 at 9:00 PM, peteski said:

Bitmap (a photo/picture) stored in a pdf format is a bit unusual as it's not a native format for bitmap.  I'm curious how you ended up with that file.

A quick and dirty way to get that picture stored in a forum acceptable format would be to open the pdf on your computer then take a screen capture and save it in a JPG or PNG format.

I used my Sony pocket camera to take the picture.