I'm never masking with Scotch tape again!!!

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

Okay, so I just finished up putting my final dullcote on a 1/48 SR-71 I’m doing for a friend. The a/c looks good, and I’m pretty pleased with it (as pleased as any of us are when we finish a project…there’s always something that can be done better [:D]).

But I digress. So I go to remove the masking from the canopy. Now granted, it’s not a terribly difficult canopy to mask, but I thought I’d be different (my first error) and use Scotch tape, since I’ve had it work well once before…I usually use masking tape or liquid mask and have never had a problem with those.

So I go to take the masking off with a brand new #11 blade and my pointy-nose tweezers…and I wind up scratching the canopy. Aaaarggghh!!! Stupid Scotch tape! It took me the better part of 45 minutes to remove it all, because it flaked apart and disintegrated. I’m going back to my masking tape and liquid mask method (like what Swanny outlines on his site).

Anybody else have similar experiences/nightmares with Scotch tape?

2

I only use scotch tape and tamiya tape for masking and its never been that much of a headache for me , I pick the corner so its sticking up and use tweezers to work my way along the edge lifting it , I don’t start to pull it of until I have one edge lifted , then wih the tweezers grab the lifted edge and then slowly start to lift …thats pretty much it for me …I’ve also used tooth picks to help it wont scratch the clear parts…

cheers mike

3

The tape didn’t scratch the canopy, the X-acto did. You must be really careful using the X-acto to remove the tape.

Regards, Rick

4

I try not to mix modeling and liquor…or any products named after liquor…[:P][;)]

5

Yeah, I know it was my knife that scratched it…the problem is that it didn’t come up very well, hence the scratches. More care required on my part, no doubt there. Just seems like it’s more trouble than it’s worth for me. [V]

6

I used Scotch for masking before I was introduced to Tamiya tape. I hver only used Tamiya tape eversince.

7

I found Swanny’s article on his site about masking canopies and I’m trying that right now…so far it works great! This is it for me from now on! [:D]
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Canopies.html

8

Tamiya masking tape is definitely the way to go!! Reserve the Scotch for domestic painting. [8D]

9

I use the Scotch Magic tape and have no problems-- I suggest using a wooden toothpick to scrape up an edge of the tape to use to grab with tweezers to pull it up-- the toothpick doesn’t scratch the clear parts…

10

Sounds like it’s just my ineptitude at this point. My hands shake like crazy when I’m working on small detail parts (something that’s just started recently) and it makes it hard to get a good grip sometimes.

Thanks for all your feedback everyone!

11

My question is, how long was the tape on the canopy? If you don’t get it off within a couple of days, you’re gonna have problems. Also, try bare metal foil to mask canopy’s.
Just lift the corner with a dull tooth pick, and pull it off with tweezers. Any residue can be removed with a q-tip moistened with mineral spirits.

dragonfly