White tac masking...erm help

[Ian M]

So I thought I would try something new(ish) for me, and give the White tac sausage trick a try.

Story so far, have now got an airframe with squiggly white lines all over it.

So my first question is this. What does one use to fill in the sections that you don't want to get paint on. Having used a good hour to get the camouflage in the right place, I am stumped with how to proceed!!!!

What's the best way to proceed...

Ian M

[yak face]

Low tack masking tape Ian, the decorators type about 1" wide. this will stick to the white tack very well so be careful ,and make sure there are no gaps. Its really easy when you get the hang of it and gives a lovely feathered edge , looking forward to seeing the results , cheers tony

p.s. of course Tamiya tape is just as good but obviously a lot more expensive than the masking tape

[Ian M]

So drop it on and cut it with a new blade? I'll have a go on a box first. Its that feathered edge I am after...

Ian M

[eddiesolo]

Only Issue with masking tape is that you can get edge bleed if your not too careful.

Si

[rickoshea52]

Like Tony said. I used the same technique on my A4 Skyhawk but with blu-tack and got oily tide marks but a lovely feathered edge.

[yak face]

So drop it on and cut it with a new blade? I'll have a go on a box first. Its that feathered edge I am after...Ian M

I just cut it to roughly the right size and stick it to the rolls of white/blu tack, ive been trying to find a pic to illustrate but i cant find one in any of my 'in construction' threads

[Guest]

Ian. just take some thin tracing paper. Trace over the white tac. Trim off the parts no required. Then press the edges of the tracing paper into the white tack making sure of good contact.

Nothing touches the model other than the white tac.

Works perfectly as there is no release on the paint work.

Laurie

[Ian M]

Thats why I use the white stuff Rick. No oily marks.

Well the deed it done and I am now waiting for the paint to dry.....I went for the postage stamp method. I just tore the tape up into little bits and worked my way around. I don't think I missed any bits.

Thanks for the tips.

Ian M

[Ian M]

Ian. just take some thin tracing paper. Trace over the white tac. Trim off the parts no required. Then press the edges of the tracing paper into the white tack making sure of good contact.Nothing touches the model other than the white tac.

Works perfectly as there is no release on the paint work.

Laurie

I'll try that next time. Hopefully not repainting this one!!

Ian M

[Guest]

White tac v blue tack. Found recently that white tac does leave a ghost mark but this disappears quickly..

Thought blue tac was similar as the ghosting remained after it is removed. Found that that cIt just takes a lot longer for the blue tack ghosting to disappear.

Seems that the sticky bit of the tacs. Disappears.

Laurie

[BarryW]

I use thin Tamiya tape around the edge of the white tac then fill the middle with wider tape. No cutting or shaping needed using small pieces where needed.

[stona]

To avoid marks from the Tac (white or blue) wash your hands thoroughly before rolling and applying. The contamination comes from your hands, not the Tac. On a large scale model, which takes a while to do, I stop and was my hands again every fifteen minutes or so.

I've masked a lot of models with Blu-Tac and have not once had any kind of marks left by it. I've left it on for at least a couple of days, I usually use enamels.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

When I did my first feather edging I put white tack sausages on the model, then filled in the parts between where I did not want painted with cut pieces of Tamiya tape stuck to the top of the sausages. The cutting of that tape to shape was very tedious and afterwards it was very difficult to get the tack off the tape. On my latest two planes I reversed the procedure. I cut out Tamiya tape to mask the areas not to get paint but cut them about 3 mm smaller all round. (This is to prevent the areas being masked taking up to much area of the wing etc.) There was no need for the tape to be firmly pressed on to the wing because the paint must not touch the edge of the tape, so bleeding is not relevant. Then I rolled sausages of white tack about 4 mm in diameter and put their centre lines directly over the edge of the masking tape. Keeping the airbrush at right angles to the surface, using a low pressure of about 10 PSI, and using paint not too over-thinned (to avoid it washing too close to the edge of the tape and therefore producing a hard edge). I have got a very good feather edge.

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I sprayed two coats, to avoid paint washing too close to the edge of the tapoe. Apart from masking the area not to be painted, the edge of the masking tape is simply used as a guide for the positioning the sausages. It was quite a quick method.

[Ian M]

That Steve young man is brilliant. ! Did you figure that out yourself.I would patent it if I where you!!

I will definitely be giving that a try next time.

Well I think the clear coat is dry now so I might just throw a few decals at the darn thing.

Ian M