Can we use the popular “Blue Painters Tape” for masking our parts for painting or is there a better tape?
Thanks!!
Tamiya tape!
I agree, Tamiya tape is hard to beat!
Gary
Yes you may,take a little tack of it by sticking it to your palm a couple of times,you can use the tamiya to mask the borders,but fill in big areas with the cheaper stuff.
Yes I use the cheap stuff to protect detail from sanding, but when it comes to masking, I couldn’t build a model without Tamiya tape.
I bought a roll of yellow Frog Tape (delicate adhesion) and I’m hoping it works just as good as Tamiya masking tape. We’ll see…
gotta agree,
Tamiya tape for me,
'cause it don’t over-stick, ya see?
I use Tamiya for the edges and small areas and Scotch Blue for the others. I use acryls over Tamiya rattle can gray priner without any issues. Make sure the primer dries for 24 hours. The blue is cheaper, but the tamiya stuff is the gold standard.
John
Thanks for the reply from all, great info!
Have ordered a less expensive military model to use in getting my feet wet 
Going to MM enamels over Tamiya rattle can gray primer to get a feel for applying paint again!
Then maybe graduate to an airbrush and compressor. Will take a while, as I have to set up an area to “play” and Thanksgiving is upon us!
Thanks again friends
Frog tape works pretty good too from what I hear.
Here is the result of my using blue painters tape earlier this year.
I prefer Tamiya tape now.
But as you can read above, others use blue tape and other stuff with no problems.
In my case, I neither properly cleaned nor primed (I primed, but with a useless primer) so there was more to this than the blue tape. And also I didn’t understand the process of de-tacking at the time, and put in on straight off the roll.
Whatever tape you use, even Tamiya, be sure you “burnish” it down really good or paint may leak under it.
Also when you spray the paint try not to aim directly at that seam where the tape meets the plastic. The force of the air pressure may push the paint under the tape. Spray from above or away from the seam.
Some people apply a clear coat first directly along the seam so that the clear paint seals any leaks. If the clear coat leaks under its either not noticeable or easier to fix than a color would be.
He’s right.
Like so much in painting whether models or rooms or buildings, success is 90% preparation, and the other half is applying paint*
- apologies, for paraphrasing, to Yogi Berra
I’ve been using the regular masking tape from the bottom shelf of Walmart’s tape dept. Less than a dollar, and I have no issues with it.
I use the Tamiya tape for small areas and for the edges of larger areas ( cover the middle of the large areas with a low tack general purpose masking tape. However, for really fine lines I keep a roll of Testors 1/16 inch tape handy. Tamiya doesn’t make a tape that narrow. While the Testors tape is not as good as the Tamiya, it beats having to cut the Tamiya to a narrower width. Both the Tamiya and the Testors seem to seal at the edge better than any regular masking tape I buy at the hardware store.
for fine masking,Line-O-Tape is still available (often mentioned and then assumed OOP for the last couple of years) at
www.megahobby.com/masking-tape-for-building-model-kits.aspx
you can get it as small as 1/16, 1/32, and 1/64
also, you can use cash register paper for masking off large areas, both to save tape, and to reduce the chances of tape adhesive lift-off (index cards work also, cut to shape)
I’ve been using the yellow frog tape from wal-mart and it is almost identical to tamiya tape, so that’s what I’ve been using for everything ATM. haven’t had it pull up anything, you do need to make sure to burnish it down and as a general rule don’t spray into the seem where the tape meets the plastic.
John
Thanks folks, all excellent advice!!!
Thought I’d give an update on my post regarding my use of the yellow Frog Tape (delicate adhesion). It is actually a nice alternative to Tamiya tape if you’re in a pinch. I needed to buy more Tamiya tape recently but found out my LHS was closed for a week for vacation. Hobby Lobby had Tamiya tape but they only had the narrow kind variety. There was no way I was going to wait a whole week to restock on Tamiya tape. LOL!.
Tried the yellow Frog tape and to my surprise, it worked just as good as Tamiya tape in my opinion. I have used the blue painter tape with no problems. However I only use it to cover large areas. I also don’t burnish it down too hard enough to cause the paint to peel off from the adhesion on the blue painter tape on the model.