Masking material for camo paterns

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Howdy,

I recently picked up Tamiya’s 1/48 M4A1 sherman kit (a real gem). I finished the build OOB as usual, and decided this would be an excellent kit to re-introduce myself to the airbrush with. And painting went great! The OD went on perfectly! But (here’s were it gets funny for you, tragic for me) I decided to use sculpy as a mask for the two tone italian front scheme (brown and OD). In a panic, after realizing the sculpey wasn’t peeling off like i’d hoped, i stuck the entire tank in hot soapy water… that proceded to melt the water based Tamiya paints (i noticed this when i saw the big thumb prints on the turret). I scrubbed the paint (and sculpey) off with thinner after the water logged model dried.

NOW. With an unpainted tank at hand… WHAT should i use as a mask? I tried friskett paper, but it had a hard time conforming to the sherman’s curves.

Thanks,

Sam

2

Silly Putty is commonly used for masking camo schemes.

3

I use Silly Putty Also. Some examples are at the following:

http://matt24.fotopic.net/c699936.html

Hope this helps.

4

Most US tanks that were camoflaged were sprayed and had a soft edge pattern. Some other choides for masking are parafilm M made by Testors, or Tamiya masking tape. I have used both with great results.

5

I use Handi-Tak, available from Michaels Craft Stores. Similar to Silly Putty but without some of the downsides.

Regards, Rick

6

Here’s the link to cut-n-paste for my Silly Putty tutorial that I did last year.

/forums/855636/ShowPost.aspx

7

FWIW, I use Elmer’s rubber cement…