What Material Do I Use To Seperate Colors On My Plane ?

[schooner]

​​Hi Guys ( Newbie Still Here ) :smiley24:

 

​​What material do you guys use camouflage ​​​to your airplane ?

​I ran across a product called: PARAFILM M

 

​Have any you guys ever heard of this STRETCHABLE

 

[dmorrissette]

I mask my planes with Tamiya tape of the like.

 

Parafilm has been around and I know people that swear by it. It does stretch but I never could get it to stay in place well.

 

Dave

[ghodges]

Tape is the most useful, and most used stuff to mask off between colors when you want a HARD line demarkation. However, don't just grab the Scotch tape or regular masking tape, as they usually are too "sticky" to use without the danger of pulling up your paint.

 

You need to get some LOW tack tape. As Dave mentioned, the best around is yellow Tamiya tape. It's the gold standard in our hobby! However, you'll only find it at hobby shops or on line.

 

There are two other tapes that can also work well and that can usually be found at Lowes, Home Depot, and some other department stores: 3M "blue" painter's tape and "Frog Tape". Both are essentially low tack styles of masking tape, though they have a bit more tack than the Tamiya tape. But, they also have the advantage on coming in much larger rolls and sizes, making them MUCH more economical in comparison.

 

A third tape is Sherwin Williams yellow tape. It's a step down from Tamiya tape, and comes in bigger rolls and sizes; but can only be found at a Sherwin Williams paint store.

 

The problems with ALL of the tapes listed above is that they DO NOT like to bend around compound curves and lay flat (they bind and pinch). If you're going to mask a round(ish) surface, you'll need some plastic tape. The easiest and cheapest to get is 3M plastic tape. It can be cut into thinner strips which you can easily bend around curves and curve the tape itself to mask things like shark mouths. The downside to this stuff is it does have more tack, and sometimes the adhesive will come off, especially when being stretched and curved severely. The good news is that Tamiya now makes a plastic tape that seems to combine the best of both worlds: flexibility without excess adhesive.

 

If you want to mask a SOFT line, then get some silly putty or poster tack putty. You roll it into long, thin, "snakes" and apply the snakes where you want to demark between colors. You fill in the spots you want to protect with regular tape. The rolled, slightly raised edges of the silly putty masks will make a very fine feathered edge line instead of the hard line regular tape makes. Another more tediuos way to do "soft" masking is to cut a piece of tape to the shape of the area you want to mask, apply sewing thread along the edges (to slightly raise those edges), and then stick it on the model. Again, the slightly raised edges of the mask will provide a feathered line instead of a hard line.

 

There are other things to use for masking such as Bare Metal Foil, liquid masks, and the Parafilm you mentioned. All have their advantages and drawbacks. If you search U-Tube for some tutorials on masking, and also add those "names" to your search, you should find plenty of help in learning the ins and outs of using them.

 

One last tip: if you don't have any low tack tape handy, you can lower the tack of Scotch tape and regular masking tape by pressing it to your forehead. The skin oils will make it less sticky. Hope this helps!

 

GIL :smiley16:

[Nick Filippone]

One can mask many curves with regular Tamiya (or other ) masking tape by simply incorporating a curve as you cut along the long axis of the strip of tape. This will allow it to conform to the curved surface without kinks, bends or pinches. I, personally, would not describe Tamiya as " low tack." My understanding of low tack tape is, for example, low tack Scotch or cellophane tape. It is so low tack as to have very limited use in our hobby. The only time I have found it useful was in doing natural metal finishes when I wanted to protect adjacent panels while polishing a particular panel. It did not mar the surface because it does not stick to it very well. I would never attempt to use it to protect a painted section of model from a subsequent colour. The new colour will leak under the edges. Gil is correct. Tamiya masking or other kibuki-type ( have I spelled kibuki correctly?) such as in Eduard and Pee Wit pre-cut masks are your best bet. Nick

[spiralcity]

Ha, I'm a simple thrifty guy and I like post-it's for most applications. If I need hard, crisp lines I run to the store and grab some type of label paper with a self adhesive back. I also use silly putty in very small chunks for covering odd areas and making small odd shapes.