I’ve now been through two attempts at painting a super stallion mustang for a friend of mine. Both times when attempting to tape the car out for stripes, the tape has pulled paint off. The first time the body was base coated in Nato black, wet sanded smooth, left to dry for over 24 hours, tape pulled paint off. Second time the body was base coated using Tamiya primer, wet sanded smooth, then coated in the Tamiya metallic blue, then sprayed in flat clear. Tape STILL pulled the fricken paint off. I’ve decided to just base coat the car in pearl white from a Tamiya and attempt to do stripes over that. Every time I’ve painted it was allowed to dry for over 24 to 48 hours before trying to tape out, can someone tell me what I’m doing wrong? Or what’s the best process for painting a car when intending to add more colors or stripes?
Two possibilities. First, did you prime it? The main function of primer is to help paint adhesion. Second, there may have been mold release on the surface. Most modern kits no longer use mold release that creates a problem. But, it can happen. Or, sometimes you get contaminents of other sorts on surface. Washing a kit with soap and water before painting helps.
You sound like an expierienced modeler,but I will add that I always remove some tackiness off the tape and never really press it down hard on the model,it definitly helps when removing it.
Better question is what tape are you using? Tamiya masking tape (or similar like tape such as Frog painter tape or blue painter tape)? Or are you using regular masking tape? Regular masking tape can pull off paint due to their stronger tackiness.
I’m wondering about drying/curing time before tape application? Maybe?
BTW, even when using Tamiya tape, it’s a good idea to detack it, which is a fancy term for sticking the tape on your pants a couple times to make it less sticky before putting it on model. …you probably know that.
Hey Tanker, Sometimes there’s no explanation! I know that if I spray the paint on too thick, it tends to not adhere as well. I usually spray on a light coat first and then cover that with a final coat. I tend to get better results that way. Others have suggested degrading the adhesive on the tape some to lessen its stickiness. That would help, as well, but it may be harder to get sharp lines if the tape doesn’t stick at the edge really well. Barrett
I finally got the car painted and it turned out alright. Ended up using some testers MM acrylic paint thinned with alcohol which sprayed well. Finally got smart and gloss coated the whole body and allowed it to dry for three days before masking out and laying down racing stripes. All in all im happy, but holy crap its way easier to paint armor than cars lol
Be sure that all of the adhesion problems are the bond to plastic. You’ve tried a number of different base coats and found one that sticks.
I also would say that your drying times are not long enough. For a job like a car that will require a lot of masking, you really should go a week between coats.
Not always the solution, but it will save a lot of redo.
That’s great, glad you got it done ! And ya for cars you gotta get all the steps in and give it time. And then you could probably still polish it with polishing compound in a week or two after that.
I don’t know either. Another reason why I don’t join Group Builds. I’m a slow builder and don’t want to be committed in a certain time frame to get it done.
I just finished the Weekend Group Build. I had some of the same issues but I was using regular masking tape in the areas where the paint lifted. Was using mostly Tamiya flat military colors on an RAF Hurricane and Tamiya tape for masking. Also did some of the painting by hand so masking was limited to strips. Maybe my using the mil flats helped keep any issues to a minimum. I’m not sure what others were using.