How do I get a straight mask on a circular shape, like the red and yellow on the nose of the P-51 Old Crow?
I cut a thin strip of Drafting tape & stretch it around. Then mask the rest of the needed area with other thin strips.
Regards, Rick
i agree with rick’s idea, it works great. you can also cut a little wider piece at a slight curve, kinda in the shape of a “C”. if you do this, it tends to go around the curve of the nose a little easier. if you notice, the checkered nose decal for “Old Crow” is done this way, it is made with a slight curve to it, it eases the process of getting the decal to conform to a compound curve. BTW, “Old Crow” is my favoritist bird of the WWII era, with Big Beautiful Doll in a very close second. Cripes O’Mighty being the next in line…i’d better stop, i’ll get carried away. what a wonderful era of aviation that was. good luck. later.
It’s like the yellow stripes on the nose of bombs. The decal or masking has to be curved to start with. The steeper the curve shape, the tighter the “C” has to be.
Darwin [alien]
Well the “C” shape is needed for a decal, but for masking a straight but thin strip of drafting tape will stretch sufficiently to conform to all but the most severe compound curves. Heres a pic of one of Old Crow’s stablemates painted with the method I described.
The Spinner was painted overall yellow, then masked as described, then given a shot of white as a base & finally the red. No “C” shape needed.
Regards, Rick
One method I use…
Get a circle template, will run you a few dollars and have a huge range of openings. On the ‘back’ side of the template, sand the inner edges of the circles so that they have a slight bevel down and outward. This is useful because:
You simply place the template over the cone until you find the correct size for that cone. Then tape over all of the circles in the area. The bevel you created will allow the top edge (front) of the template to rest right up against the edge of the cone. No soft edged line. Keep notes on or around the template so you can repeat sizes.
Spray. Enjoy. Repeat as needed.
no ofense intended rick!! i’s just tellin’ hows i did mine. works both ways obviously.[:)][;)]
No offense taken Chris [:)]. Actually I was responding to Yardbird’s statement that a C section " Had " to be used.
Regards, Rick
oh, i see…i’s gettin’ skeered…thought i’s gonna have ta whup a ol’ man!![:p][:)][;)]