One for the spray/paint gurus

[MarkD]

Spraying my canopy this afternoon an I am curious on how you guys mask up a 3d curve. I did mine with tape but I can never get rid of the creases/wrinkles in the tape and when sparyed paint seeps under and ruins the line.

Other than freehand airbrush of which I am nowhere near good enough, how do you get a clean line on a 3d surface

Thanks

--
Mark

[WayneBrown]

start with a thin tape, and work to a larger tape.
there is a 3M 1/8" and 1/4" available at auto paint supply shops.

[MarkD]

That's what I used but the problem I had was that the tape would pucker up on the internal radius and not lay flat on the surface, causing the red to seep under onto the yellow when sprayed

BTW the piccy is a quick photoshop not the actual canopy :D

[Industry]

1/8" auto masking tape should be able to handle almost any curve just fine. :dontknow

[ChrisLaFollette]

I use i think its 1/8th inch 3M tape, kinda tan in color, it is flexible and when I do around corners like the windshield on my Fury canopy I stretched it a little, just dont pull too tight as itll come apart easy if you stretch it too much. Green maskin tape from auto parts store and newspaper on the areas that need to be covered up. Go over the fine line with the green and make sure the paper is under the green tape to cover everything up. Real simple to do once you do it a few times. Can be a PITA to do sometimes though. Harder to mask up a canopy then spray it in my opinion....

To do the canopy line in your picture would take 5 seconds...

[Skiddz]

I get the 1/8" tape from the local Napa Store. Goes around compound curves very nicely. Right before you start to spray, burnish the end down with a thumbnail. 1st couple coats should be nice and light.

I agree with Chris. harder to mask than shoot..

[Matt Lowdermilk]

If your really good with a razor you can apply 2" masking tape and cut out the shape.

But you can get reagular masking tape to bend that radius. Just pull the tape as if to stretch it in length and it will form a curve.

[mrtimbr549]

Another trick I learned while painting pinstripes on a scale Titanic kit is to "seal" the tape by painting it the color you're protecting. For Example if you painted the yellow first and then wanted to mask off to paint the orange area, before you apply the orange , paint along the tapeed are with the yellow, let dry and then add the orange. If any paint seeps under the tape, its yellow.
Great tip that really gave me a razor sharp 1\16th inch line around the entire hull without a single bleed thru.

[vetterick]

The tape your looking for is called fineline tape by 3M use1/8", available at auto paint stores, only use the blue, it will go around anything the green is to stiff.

Rick

[june8781]

you can also use a clear coat before you paint the color coat and that will stop the paint from running under the tape, or if it does you won't see it.

[Unkle_munkee]

if you're not comfortable with the Fineline tape, most hobby stores sell a liquid mask that works really well. But then comes the finesse with the exacto knife.....

[fintz16]

When painting use the outside edge of you bend instead of the inside. :cheers

[Pompano Mike]

Tape is only half of it. Lay your taped designs down with a spray that's on the dry side (thinner paint & wider fan). Putting too much paint down will cause the problems you're running into.

Don't worry about gloss. That's what clearcoat does.

A good airbrush is the ticket here. I like Iwata fine line series but there are other good ones on the market. You might get by with a touch up gun if that's all you have but trying to do small artwork with a full size paint gun can end up a frutrating mess.

Fine line tape should be your best bet. The tighter the turn the thinner the tape.But....guide the tape with your finger while letting it come off the roll with as little effort as possible.

The tape is vinyl and will stretch if you pull it taught while doing your layout. If it stretches it will try to go back to its original length and curl on the edges or shrink your design in spots. Practice on your car window to get the feel of it.

If you do happen to get a little ridge on your design, you can scrape it with a razor blade or use some 1000 paper but veeeeery carefully. Sometimes you're just better off letting it go. Unless it's a real bad one it most likely won''t be that noticeable anyway.

It takes a bit of practice to get it right but its a heck of a lot easier than learning to fly helis. I've done both.

Hope this helps,

Mike

[JC PAINT WORKZ]

1/8" auto masking tape should be able to handle almost any curve just fine. :dontknow

i can take 1/4" blue fineline and damn near make any curve work... even on some of the tightest flames.. its all about the leading edge of the tape.. the other side if it creases who cares, just fold it flat as long as that leading edge is smooth and sharp then thats all that matters.. practice practice practice is all i can say.. and do Skimp on tape.. get good 3M blue fineline or the tan really fineline tape..