3M Fine Line Tape

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Hi All,

The 3M Fine Line tapes are what a lot of autopainters use for masking and delineation. Has anyone used it? The tape is supposed to have superior bleed-under prevention but before I spend $10 for a roll, just wondering if anyone had some comments.

Thanks,

RODC

2

It works pretty well I’ve found, stick’s well, very flexible, sharp edge, no bleed & comes off without issue.

A couple of things to watch out for though;

If you’re masking tight inside curves (well outside on the job, inside on the tape), the tape can initially sit down fine on the curve, but then due to it’s flexibility it can start to wrinkle & lift after a minute or so.

It’s bad for collecting trash / fluff on the sides of the roll, which will later show up on the edge of a masking job - keep it in a zip-lok bag or similar when not using it.

3

Tamiya tape comes in a 1/8 inch (3mm) and it adheres VERY well. Testors makes a nice 1/16 inch tape that is nice to work with. Its adhesion is okay, but not up to quality of Tamiya nor 3M, though.