Which Liquid Mask with Tamiya Acrylics?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I just moved over to airbrushing with Tamiya acrylics and my next project involves 3-tone NATO camo. Fortunately Tamiya provides the colours required.

However my freehand airbrushing skills and my masking skills with tape aren’t that great yet.

Which of the following would work well with the tamiya paint:

Microscale Micro-Mask - water-based
Gunze Maskol - base?
Gunze Maskol-Neo - base?
Windsor & Newton Liquid Mask - water-based

Spraying at about 8-10 psi so was thinking that if I brushed the mask on just for edge with a diameter of 5-10mm might have less issues?

I suppose I could just use Tamiya’s lacquer spraycans which come in the NATO colours but then I have no control.

Any tips or suggestions regarding the use of the acrylics would be appreciated.

Thanks

2

I just did a quick test and found that Gunze Mr Masking Sol Neo will lift Tamiya acrylic… [sigh] Not sure what the base solvent is as it is odourless (and I can’t read Japanese). I did lay it on a bit thick though, and it took ages to dry, so perhaps it may work better when applied thinly.

On the other hand, a thin application of Humbrol Maskol didn’t have any visible effect, even though it has been reported to attack acrylic paints.

3

I’ve used Humbrol Maskol with cured Tamiya Acrylics. The curing makes the difference.

Have you considered the Silly Putty route?

4

Silly Putty route? Would you mind explaining it?

Thx

5

Silly Putty (or Play-Doh works, so I’m told) is rolled out and placed along the edges of the camo. It can be pressed into place for hard edge, or left as a roll for soft edge. There have been many threads on it. Here’s a search of “Silly Putty” on these forums:

/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=Silly%20Putty&f=&u=

Cheers!

Bill

6

I use Easy Mask from Micromark. As it dries clear, I tint it with a small quantity of pink/purple ( whatever comes as soon as it is very visible ) acrylic ink and it does not lift Tamiya paints. The Easy Mask does not smell of ammonia, unlike Humbrol Maskol. Only remember to put a “serious” coat, not too thin or you will not be able to take it out afterwards.