Paint peeling off with masking tape.

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I am having a problem with paint lifting off with the masking tape. I am using acrylic paint and it keeps sticking to the masking tape. What am I doing wrong?

Wazzy3

2

Bump for first-time poster.

3

Acrylics have that tendency. There are several things you can do to help.

  1. Make sure you allow time for the paint to fully cure.

  2. Use a low-tack masking tape, such as Tamiya masking tape.

  3. Stick the tape to the back of your hand before you apply it to your model. This reduces the tackiness a bit.

  4. Using a primer coat can also help paint adhesion.

Hope this helps.

Chris

4

What brand acrylics are you using? Some brands are just notorious for this and should be tossed imo.

5

Basically what Chris said. Acrylics don’t have the same “bite” as enamels or lacquers, and tend to adhere better to themselves than to underlying paint or plastic.

I would get some Tamiya tape and de-tack the stuffing out of it. The heel of your palm and underside of your wrist actually work a little better than the back of your hand for de-tacking. Don’t know why but that’s what I’ve found. I would do more than take a bit of tack off…de-tack as far as you dare.

6

ok what everybody else said plus do not use paper type masking tape I learned my lesson on that years ago I switched to blue painters tape Second do not mask directley over Acrylics seal with a gloss coat first let dry at least 24 hours. Paint then when you remove mask pull the tape back over it’s self at a very sharp angle. Along with what everyone else said this should solve your probluem. ACESES5 [2cnts]

7

Again, what DoogATX said, detack that tape a whole lot. I’ve masked over Vallejo acrylics after only a few hours with no issue. I don’t really press the tape down hard, I let it rest on top and mask. With this method, you have to spray at 90 degrees to the surface, and I get minimal overspray if any. The other trick is when you peel your tape, peel at a 45 degree angle and in a fluid motion. Priming first always helps too, as hypertex mentioned.

8

Consumer Reports, March 2013

Which tape is best?

[Consumer Reports] tested six versions and compared them with plain old masking taping tape.

FrogTape Delicate Surface tape, around $6 to $8, was the clear winner. It left a very sharp line, was easy to remove, and didn’t damage any surface no matter how long was left on. […] [CR] painted a blue topcoat and let some surfaces dry for half an hour, others for 4 hours, 24 hours, three days, and 14 days before we pulled off the tape. […] None of the tapes damaged any surfaces or left adhesive residue, but they were slightly harder to pull off. Masking tape tore when peeled, creating more work.