Admitting that as far as my modeling experience goes, and compared to a good number ‘you-all’, I am somewhere between Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal. I am about to start working on the windshield and side glass panels of the dive boat, and not wishing to booger up the works, I was wondering if there is a paint-on, peel-off masking product out there. I figure if one exists, it would be much easier than trying the tape mask the clear plastic ‘glass’ parts when I do the dark gray / black edge ‘rubber’, especially as my eyesight and steadiness of hand are starting to decline.
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I use vallejo liquid mask and find it great stuff for masking… Use silicone painting brushes(nail art brushes) to apply as it will destroy ordinary brushes just peel off the silicone brushes when dry…
For liquid mask, I’m using Bob Dively’s Model Aircraft Liquid Masking Film. Might not be the best choice for masking along the edges of window frames though, because its really difficult to get a crisp edge with it. A Tamiya Masking Sticker sheet would probably be better for that. I used one recently to mask the glass panels in the front of the Sniper ATP pod I put on my recently completed F-16, and it gave me nice, crisp, red edges on the glass panels. Those panels are pretty small, and the masking sheet material is extremely resilient…but also easy to cut. The adhesive on the back hangs on nice and tight, even after peeling and sticking a few times to get the positioning right. On a larger area, you can use that to mask along the edges of the frame, and use the liquid masker to fill in the large areas. Its pretty much the same kind of stuff that Eduard masks are made of, as well as the canopy masks Tamiya includes in a lot of their kits.
Thanks much folks, that’s just the info I needed. Perfect.
Have you tried putting a piece of masking tape over the individual frame, press down a bit then use the side of a pencil point to expose the frame edges on the tape. Remove and stick to a clean piece of glass or ceramic tile then trim with a sharp #11 blade. Way easier than running thin strips along the edges.
Five years? Not much buzz about masking parts. I’m new to the site so this is my first post about masking parts.
I’m assembling a Tamyia Jeep, circa 1997. 1/35 scale, small parts, but goes together quite well. I can see why Tamyia is so well respected. However, like most model companies, thought may not have gone into this one. The wheels, tires and hubs. The wheels and tires are one piece. Why not 3? But, 1997 was a long time ago and Tamyia, like all model companies doesn’t want you to contact them and complain or give advice. So, you deal. Deal with it, I mean. The jeep calls for the tires to be tires, black, and the rims, the sticking point in all this, to be olive drab. WWII loved its Kaki and olive drab. I tried a butcher job masking on this small part and it…worked terribly. I tried using thinner masking tape and it did…ok. Still need to clean up some paint on the tire. But it’s the method I used after thinking about it for a day and half.
After 5 years of cob webs, what I am about to suggest may be old news. I’m new news so bear with me. I took painters masking tape, that skin colored, used since the 70’s stuff that when you think, masking tape, you visualize this stuff. It is just wider than the tire. I covered the tire face completely with one piece of tape. After folding the excess behind the tire to cover the rotor, I squeezed the top and bottom overflow together to protect the exposed parts of the tire on top and bottom. Now you take the middle, push and rub the tape until you can see the outline of the rim and the hub bolts clearly. Well, as clear as masking tape will let you. Take a toothpick, the thick round kind with deadly tips you used to use to torture your cousin…not important, and using the faint glow of the rim peeking through the face of the tape, make about 3 or 10 slow trips around the outline. After you have what you think is a good groove pattern, use your xacto knife blade tip and be gentle. Follow the groove you made with the toothpick about twice and then pop the cut and peel it off slowly. If done successfully, I won’t say right or correctly, we are ball parking here, the tire should still be masked, but the rim will be exposed along with the center of the wheel. Rub the tape in good around the tire and pray it worked. Here are the two back tires I feel worked
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Looks like it worked well,I use two methods, sometimes I spray the black then use a circle template to spray the inner color,or I might paint the rim and then use an AK Paint pen to paint the black
I’d say that came out really well, there, Chopper. As a kid, I NEVER masked anything off. Which explains why sometimes I was very unhappy with my results. Most of the time, though, I had a farily steady hand and decent eye, leaving me relatively unscathed.
These days? Not so much. So that advice about the tire masking is one I will take to heart and adapt to my purposes as much as possible. Though I may have to use Blue Tape instead.