I’m just putting together my first brass car side model. Have spray-painted the Armour Yellow on the sides and now am wondering the best way to put the small HM Gray along the bottom. Should I mask yellow with blue masking tape, or . . . .? Thanx.
I wouldn’t use blue tape. I’d use Tamiya tape for models. It won’t lift underlying paint. Then I’d give it another light coat of yellow where the gray goes then spray the gray a coat or two,or when you’re happy with the coverage. This’ll keep the gray from running under the tape. BILL
I’ve not had good luck with either part of this, but I am an ameteur. I’ve still ended up with wicking and undersprayI’ve had good luck with the Scotch blue, but I would suggest using a straight edge to make sure ou get the tape on straight. My trick, hard to do to get the colors you want, and you’ve already gone ahead, was to do an undercoat (n your case, the Armor Yellow) in an enamel, and the Mist Grey in an acrylic. That way, if you d have any wicking, (paint bleeding through under the tape) you can take a papertowl with one corner soaked in 91% isopropyl alchohol to wipe up with. It’ll take up the unwanted acrylic Grey, but not touch the enamel yellow underneath.
Also, when painting a straight line, spray OVER the mask, not at it. One issue I ran into was that paint was being aimed at the gaps where I didn;t get it burnished down (pressed flat to the model) 100%. If instead I painted over the tape (vovering te entire wall) where it settles where i want it, without getting it under the tape. It would have to change direction 180 and blow back with some force to do so.
Paint this way and down>>>
_________ (paint here) <<<<<<<Not this way
I do airbrushing professioanlly but not on models, I use frisket paper but it is very tedious to use on a surface that is not perfectly smooth. Thats why I buy all those cheapy yard sale freight cars and engines to practice on. So when I finally decide to paint something not a piece of junk I will at least stand a fighting chance of getting it right and not destroy it.
The easiest way I know would be to paint the lower part of the car gray, then lay a strip of tape (drafting tape, or the Pactra narrow strips) where you want the gray stripe to be, then paint the yellow. Lift the tape, and you have a yellow car side with a gray stripe.
Virnex makes “no need to trim” decal striping, it might work out that you could use a gray decal stripe instead of painting the color on.
I’ve actually had pretty good luck with blue tape. It’s better to do 2 light sprays than one heavy spray, to prevent paint buildup and “wicking” under the tape. Let the first color dry thoroughly before applying the tape, and don’t leave the tape on for a long time after the second color is done.
I’ve always tried to paint the smaller area’s of a model first and then mask that area off and do the bigger area last. I haven’t built many multi coloured train related items but I have built over 100 1/24 scale Nascar Cup cars this way. All my DPM buildings get painted this way as well, for me it just seems easier. What do other people do when building a multi coloured project?
I don’t agree with painting yellow over gray.For me any yellow I’ve ever used has ben really transparent and hasn’t covered well. Best luck I’ve had is to undercoat with white before applying yellow. Should be no problem with the gray over yellow though. BILL
I’ve found regular masking tape to be perfectly acceptable for painting models. I lay it out on a sheet of glass first, and use a fresh blade and a straightedge to remove the factory edge(s) from the tape, then slice it to the required lengths and widths. Removing the factory edges eliminates the fuzz that inevitably collects on any tape as it sits around, and it also removes the area of the tape that is exposed to air, which weakens the adhesive on the tape. If you’re cutting curves or other shapes, make a pattern out of thin styrene or cardstock - simply flip it to get a duplicate, but reversed, pattern for the other side of the car or locomotive.
Use dividers, if necessary, to mark for the tape line on your model, or cut additional tape to the proper width to act as a spacer while applying the actual masking - obviously, remove the spacer tape before painting. I use my fingernail to burnish the tape in place, and a pointed pair of tweezers to work the tape around any protruding details.
(Using masking tape as a spacer/guideline is also useful for positioning decals or dry transfer lettering - measure up from the model’s sills or down from the eaves, cut the tape to a suitable width and place it on the model. Don’t burnish it in place, and you can re-use it several times if you’re lettering multiple cars. I like to add reference marks on the tape for the left- and right-ends of the lettering, or for the centre-point, using a pencil - this is especially important if you’re applying a lengthy roadname using alphabet sets.) [;)]
If you’re doing a multi-coloured paint scheme, leave the first tape in place, if necessary, then mask for the subsequent colours as each application has cured. When you’ve finished painting, and as soon as the final coat is dry to the touch, remove all masking. To avoid lifting the paint, peel the tape back along itself at the sharpest angle possible - this puts the least stress on the finish.
When
I want to re-emphisize something someone else mentioned:: Spray straight at the tape, (perpendicular) and spray several light coats, especially with yellow it may take 4 or 5 light coats to get good opacity.
Another technique is to spray a strip of decal paper and cut out the stripes and apply them as decals. Microscale actually makes sheets of Harbor Mist decal film that can easily be cut into stripes. I prefer this method because I always get a sharp clean division between the colors. This method also works to cover ragged edges.