Any tips on how to paint stripes on bombs and missiles? I tried building this motorized gizmo I saw described in an issue of FSM, but my creation didn’t turn out so well. It consisted of a hobby motor and a dowel with a set of slots cut into end, which held the item, and to spin it while painting. I never could get it to spin evenly even at the slowest speed I could turn the motor, and it wobbles and flies out. There must be a simple way…
For patterns around circular section items, you could try this;
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/101-200/tnt148_bomb-stripes_Nirel/tnt148.htm
That’s the technique I use. For stripes: Paint the stripe color first. Then I use the described technique to mark a line to follow around the bomb and then use sliced rice tape (Tamiya or so other brand) to mask off the already painted stripe color. The finish with the body color. Remove the mask after the body color is dry and you’re done. You have to be careful with the overlap and for thick stripes you probably have to use thinly sliced tape around each end of the stripe and then fill in the middle with more tape.
Heat shrink tubing…
BRILLIANT! Thanks for the tip, and just in time too. I was trying to figure out the best way to paint the bombs for a current project. Thanks!
I use the method dcapone uses. Paint the stripe color, mask it off with some tamiya tape and then paint the bomb color.
-Fred
for missles I got decal strips of various colors.
One technique that I use is I keep all of my old unused decals, especially the big single color ones. Then I can cut out stripes from those old decals.
A lot of great ideas here guys. I just checked my shrink tubing and found several that seemed to fit the missiles so exact, you think they were made for it! The only other problem is one of the stripes is called for just behind a middle set of fins on the AGM’s. No way to fit the tubing there. Have to check my decal spares for sacrifice!
It also occurs to me that the shrink tubing technique could be applied to those pesky yellow tips on props?!?
I just freehand those… I’ve also dipped them as well, but didn’t care for that method since the paint wouldn’t lay down flat for obvious reasons…
Try those itty-bitty rubber bands used with kid’s dental braces. Paint the stripe color, place rubber band, paint the bomb color.
I looked through my stash of random bits, and found a section of heat-shrink tubing the right diameter. One thing I found- after cutting the piece to obtain a straight edge, be sure to remove any burs on the inside edge so it doesn’t scratch the underlying paint. After that, it worked beautifully!
Thanks for the tip fellas. [Y]
Some girl’s mum was not happy when I tried to pull a few out of her kid’s mouth at Wal-mart!
Seriously though, where do you get those?
I tried the dip method as well and the results were horrible! I will have to strip the prop and start over on that.
"Some girl’s mum was not happy when I tried to pull a few out of her kid’s mouth at Wal-mart!
Seriously though, where do you get those?"
Well, that’s one way to get 'em, I suppose.
Otherwise, try better pharmacies, or eBay. Look for “orthodontic elastics” or even “rubber bands for braces”.
That WAS a joke!
From what I have found, Walgreens carries them. Thanks all for your help and great ideas!
Yes, it was a very good joke, in the best sense of humor, and which I really enjoyed!
You’re welcome for the tip, but I read about it in an ancient copy of FSM.
Please let us know how it works out for you, and good luck.