I was wondering what everyone uses to mask different colors on aicraft. Specifically, I am about to paint my Harrier and don’t have the luxury (time to learn or money to buy) of an airbrush, so rattle cans are it. What are some good ways to get a “soft” line between colors? Thanks in advance.
There are several ways you can do it. You can use Blue Tack or Silly Putty to mask off the demarcations between colors. One way that worked well for me was to cut the areas out of stiff paper and then stick them on the model raised from the surface about 1/32 to 1/16". The higher they are off the surface the softer the line will be. You can use rolled pieces of masking tape to hold them to the model.
Scott said it right on… I just built a Harrier a bit back and that will work for ya… basically there are three levels of camo on it… a base of light gray, a medium gray then the darker gray… for the medium take a sheet of paper and put it over the model and trace the basic outline… then draw the pattern shown in the instructions inside the outline… cut it out… paste it down with blue tac or silly putty or masking tape, and spray… you would probably want it about 1/4 inch or above off the surface to give you a hazy line (spray as vertical as possible and spray light coats to keep the spray from going under the mask)… then take that same template idea and draw the other and paint it the same way…
good luck!!!
Cool, thanks, I will try that in a couple of days when my first coat dries.
jj -
The raised paper thing works well, but there’s an easier way to do it. I keep alcohol pads on my work bench to wipe down parts or help remove acryl aint. When they are dry, they can be cut to shape and taped to the model. That have a soft edge that give a nice soft, and apparently scale correct line between A/C colors. Works great with an air brush, and should work with rattle cans. Just remember to spray perpendicular to the surface.
BTW - this was in the Readers Tips section on the last FSM. I guess I’m allowed to post it here, as I’m the author!!!
Archer out.
I use Play-Do. Just roll some up & lay out the outline of the mask, then use post-it note paper or whatever to cover the larger areas left in the gaps. Being water-based there’s no risk of the oily residue that blue-tac can leave (& it’s cheaper). Spray from only one angle for a feathered line or rotate the model around & spray from all angles to get a sharper line. The thicker the roll of play-do the more feathered the effect.
I’m using this method right now, but I’m using rubber cement to adhere the paper to the kit. We’ll see how that goes, this is my first attempt.