I know I shouldn’t use ordinary masking tape - found out the hard way when my undercoat lifted!- but I found partial roles of both green and blue painters tape in my garage left over from last year. I don’t know what colour has the least ‘tack’ for use on models. Can you guys help please?
Im not sure what thr green one is, but Ive had very good luck with the blue…
I use the blue stuff. I’f Im applying the tape straight onto the surface, I pull out a strip and press it to my pants leg once or twice. This cuts the adhesive’s strength back even more.
Then I cut it on a sheet of heavy glass with a SHARP blade.
Tamiya tape is the best but for what you have I would feel the tackiness of the tape with your fingers and find the least tacky of the two.
3M makes 2 flavors of blue painters tape.
One is Multi Surface. It has a white tube roll core. Its surface is sorta crepe-like - more line your standard masking tape texture. It says it is safe release for 14 days. I use a lot of it for general masking & sticking parts to a board to paint
The second is their Delicate Surface tape. It has a yellow tube roll core. The surface is more smooth and paper-like. Its adhesive isn’t quite as strong as the former – but stronger still than Post-It notes.
I also have a roll of 3M Post-it tape. White - paper consistency. For when I want some real soft adhesive.
I too like Tamiya tape – but sometimes you just gotta cover a larger area, cheaper.
That’s when I use Tamiya for the demarcation line and cheaper tape or paper to cover the rest.
I use the blue tape. It pulls off really easy and I’ve never had a problem with paint underneath lifting off. I’ve found that using the tip of a pencil or other pointy object will help snug it into odd corners and such.
People painting or varnishing real yachts favor a tape known as Fine Line Tape. It produces a very sharp line when removed. That is, the paint does not get under the edge. The blue tape can be left on for a couple of weeks while Fine Line can be left on for a few weeks or possibly longer.
Fine Line is a very pale green and is more like Scotch Magic tape as opposed to a paper-like tape. It would be found at better boat supply stores such as West Marine. I have not seen it in a LHS. I believe it is also made by 3M and is also the most expensive of the tapes. But, if you need a really fine line, it should be considered.
Regards, Jay
I use 3M (blue) *Safe Release Painters Tape, product number #2080. It has the familiar “thin” quality of Tamiya tape and is more flexible than the standard Multi-Surface type. It works just as well for general masking and for canopies, etc. I have’nt had any problems with bleed-under or damge to underlined painted surfaces either. It’s great stuff, give it a try…it will raise an eyebrow or two.
I’ve used both “flavors” of the blue 3M tape, too. I’ve only had problems with seepage a couple of times, and both times I got in a hurry and didn’t quite burnish down corners where 2 pieces of tape overlapped each other.