Masking Tips and Tricks... Do you have any?

[bcane98]

Any good tips for Fasmask Liquid Mask? First time using it and I applied the 4th coat already and starting to cut. WAY better than using masking tape IMO.

I am using small to medium natural paint brushes to apply it... What is everyone else using?

Any tips for cutting?

Some curves seam to be a pain... slow and easy wins race though :cool: I found using a curved blade is better. The straight blade seems to "chunk" the cut when it goes over the ridges of the brush...

I cleaned the hood and restart and pretty much covered it with fasmask... then used a paper towel to free hand my lines. Worked out pretty dang good too... The hood seems to be the biggest pain right now...

The body I am using is the HPI BMW M3 GT... Gonna try to do the same paint scheme too...

http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/bodies/7452_01m.jpg

http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/bodies/bonus/7452/m3-2m.jpg

[DriftIsTheWayRS4]

best tip i can give is have patience...make sure you line everything up right and dont get frustrated...also too after you put your masking tape or liquid mask down, take a hairdryer or heat gun (on low) and heat up the mask a bit...makes it stick better and bleed less

[davecnitrors4]

Just my 2 cents....but for that fairly stright forward BMW design I would use tape for the straight lines...it will be much easier to get a clean line if you are unsteady using LMF and blade. The curves over the wheels could be LMF and blade, but the rest could be easily executed with thin tape to get the lines right, then wide tape to cover fill the big areas. You would prolly spend less time masking it out than you would brushing,waiting,brushing,waiting,brushing,waiting, trimming .... compared to tape.

[Juggernaut]

Definitely use a sharp blade, and after cutting use a heat gun to secure the freshly cut edges. It helps keep the liquid mask secure and will stop the paint from bleeding.

[bcane98]

Thanks guys... Well I used the LMF around the edges and painted the black... for some odd ball reason this thread didn;t notify me of posts... I was excited to be using something different so I went ahead and LMF'd... It came out somewhat decent, but I did have a little bleeding and I had some thin areas that didn't come up too well and I have to fix these...

The area I need to fixed is right on the nose where the white meets the black... This is where the thin LMF was.

How can I smooth (remove a little) the black without re-masking and paining if at all possible... I read somewhere that acetone free nail polish remover is good for paint removal without clouding the Lexan.

I think I am gonna skip the red though and just do top black and bottom white... those fenders are hard to start on line...

[bcane98]

Well the BMW body project went into file 16 :mad: ... here's what happened: :rolleyes:

When I pulled the Fasmask Liquid Mask up it chipped the paint along the lines... not sure why
- using 50/50 mix of Windex/Alcohol and Faskolor White

Difficult time cutting the FLM...
- at times it would chunk while cutting. New blade was being used still getting same issue.

Body Holes...
I have no clue what happened here. I marked the holes before I started painting, but when everything started going wrong I finished the paint job quickly, yanked the film off and lost the holes. So I used the pointy things that mark painted bodies, but I was about an 1/4" off. OK I will re-hole... missed again. This time 1/4" the other direction... poked holes in between those holes and it was about 2mm to far forward. Anger levels reaching near capacity at this point, so I tossed the body in the trash at that point. St. Anger got the best of me on that one...

I also had issues when I was trimming the body. I have always used the exacto knife to outline the "trim" lines and press them off that way. It ripped the body in the front, one wheel well, the rear bumper, and the passenger side. I think this body was doomed from the beginning. Plus I painted it like the picture on HPI's website and well I think I should stick to 2 colors and straight lines right now...

I usually have patience, especially with 5 kids, but this body has given me more trouble than any 2 of my kids at one time... I have another body to work on, the 190mm Eclipse. I think I am gonna do a 2 tone with pin stripe; black and orange...

[PyroMike]

Well for when you go to pull up the mask lightly score (re cut) your graphic to get nice clean lines. I learned that trick form Mike Czech.

For the body holes if you all ready pulled the protective film and the shell is painted here is a how to by Goofy Texan Mount Your LID (http://www.goofytexan.com/files/Airbrush/Mount_body/Mount_body.html)

As for the shell ripping, I'm guessing that you didn't score the lexan deep enough. If that was the case go back over your line with your blade to cut just a tad deeper, and if that doesn't help it is a good idea to have a set of lexan body scissors for back up to aid in cutting out the shell.

Also I haven't had problems with liquid mask, but I'm guessing you might have applied it too thick. i don't use fasmask, but I do use Bob Dively's liquid masking film.

[team3six]

I use the fasmask and have no problems with it and I know Mike uses it too since he does work for Parma.

First of all, I find it very easy before I paint any body that is going to be mounted to a pertiqular body to set the body on top and pre mark the holes on the top of the lexan by scoring with the tip of the exacto knife. This way there is a permanent mark made.
Now as far as applying liqued mask. Some people do it differently and that is fine if it works for them. But the best way and as time consuming as it may be you should really follow the status on this. I dont care if the body has never seen the light of day by the touch of human hands. Wash that body with dish soap and make sure you hit every crack. I would prefer you use your hands because one you get into all the cracks better than with a cloth or sponge and two you wash your hands of all the nice oils built up on them. Now dry that sucker off with (Viva) paper towel. Viva is like the softest oild free well made paper towel of all time and wont leave residue on the body. Now after she is dry I now suggest getting medical latex gloves. (Dont use if you are alergic to latex, Just use your hands and try to keep your hands free of oils) get a nice 1/4 inch thick soft bristle brush (You wont ruin it as long as you wash the bristles with plain ole water after each use). Now get to painting. the first layer is always important because it is the foundation layer. Lay this on kinda thick, but not so thick that it takes 2 days to dry completely. 4 or 5 hours of natural drying is a good coat. (You should see through every spot). Now before we go on, I want to say I prefer to paint the whole body inside. I do this because it protects everything and it helps in the end as long as you do stuff in the order it should be in. anyways, Now when that coat dries, drop on the second coat. I would suggest you make it just as thick as the first coat. and wait the same time for drying. Now apply a final coat, If you did all three as described and was thorough on coating every part equal as possible then you are golden and ready to cut. Design your paint job on top with a fine tip sharpie. If this body has protective film on it, dont press too hard, just go slow and take your time, this will allow you to make nice clean lines, if the body is without a film, than again becareful to not go too hard, you dont want a scratched body. OK, I have heard that some prefer the curved tiped exacto. NO NOT USE! One you will never get clean tip to tip cuts from point A to B, it does no one any good use a blade thats job is not for the purpose of exact cuts. Use a blade that is fine tiped and sharp. and it should be NEW, dont ever sharpen a blade and expect a like new cut. with a steady hand and still wearing those surgeons gloves, make your cuts following your design. If you have no art talent it will be harder to do, but if you take your time you should ace this part easy. The cuts should be nice and hard but not so hard that you are cutting though the lexan, just a firm hand appling delicate determined cuts. If you cut the inside of the lexan slightly, it will not even be noticable becase the paint will fill the lines nicely. Now remove the first layer that is getting painted and paint it. Now the trick with the paint. depending on the amount of layers involved in painting it is always good practice to gently re cut your lines. you dont have to apply too much pressure. just score your original cuts. the paint is like a thin plastic coat when it dries and therefor will tear with whatever is connected to it. if you score it, they will come. (Not really) just score the original cuts and remove the next layer of mask for your next paint coat. You should be in business following these steps. good luck.

[bcane98]

Advice taken!

I will definitely invest in some lexan cutters (should have done this a long time ago). I did score the lexan pretty good (I thought) and rescored when it didn't want to separate.

I will pick up some latex gloves and paint the entire underside from now on. I do the 3-4 layers just as you describe team3six. I am determined to get this right. One thing I did use when I was making a straight line was laying down making tape and then FLM over the top. I then scored it off and voila! I must say that was the best straight line I ever made.

Scoring where the paint meets the FLM... I thought of that earlier, but didn't give it a second thought as I my testosterone was blocking the common sense thought (LOL). I will be doing that from now on...

I thought the curved blade was working out for me too, but then again my wife says I am blind. I went back to the straight blade anyway. That curved blade seamed to cut better, but I just couldn't line it up properly like the I can with the straight blade.

Thanks for the tips guys... :D

[davecnitrors4]

Advice taken!

I will definitely invest in some lexan cutters (should have done this a long time ago). I did score the lexan pretty good (I thought) and rescored when it didn't want to separate.

I will pick up some latex gloves and paint the entire underside from now on. I do the 3-4 layers just as you describe team3six. I am determined to get this right. One thing I did use when I was making a straight line was laying down making tape and then FLM over the top. I then scored it off and voila! I must say that was the best straight line I ever made.

Scoring where the paint meets the FLM... I thought of that earlier, but didn't give it a second thought as I my testosterone was blocking the common sense thought (LOL). I will be doing that from now on...

I thought the curved blade was working out for me too, but then again my wife says I am blind. I went back to the straight blade anyway. That curved blade seamed to cut better, but I just couldn't line it up properly like the I can with the straight blade.

Thanks for the tips guys... :D

A trick that works (for me anyway) nice, when you get ready to score the plastic for snapping away the excess, take an old #11xacto blade and snap off the tip about 1/16" back. Now you have a stronger blade, with a fresh sharp edge, that cuts a little wider and deeper than a new #11. The body will peel apart much easier when scored this way. And peel the excess up (toward the outside of the body), so the paint won't pull off on the inside.

I hate using lexan scissors on the painted body, becuase unless you rememeber to keep them going in the right direction, the anvil edge will booger up the paint inside the body.

[Mister 4x4]

I prefer to mount the body before applying paint. Gives you the opportunity to see exactly where everything's going to be without having to guess what's under the new paint job. The pins should be done up-front at the very least, but I usually cut all holes in the body before painting.

Plus, you can flex the crap out of the Lexan when either scoring the straight lines or cutting the curves with body scissors without watching the paint chunk-up and peel away.

Anybody tried running the masking agent through an airbrush? (Seems like a good way to get consistency)

[davecnitrors4]

I know guys who do spray LMF, but they use spray guns, not airbrushes. I'd hate to have to clean LMF out of my Iwata.

[Mister 4x4]

Yeah - good point... me too.

I've got a Paasche single-action external mix VL I might try my next one with.



That's weird - nobody came in and complained about this being an old thread.

[blindingspeed]

Personally, i prefer a bristle brush. Though i have never tried spraying lmf, i have found that for my taste, even a foam brush lays the coats down too evenly. A bristle brush creates tiny "ridges" in the coats, allowing quicker set time as well as it seems like it give an exacto added "traction" that makes it easier to tell the depth of film so you don't gouge into the lexan as much. These ridges also help prevent the dreaded "knife-slip" when you try to trace a design over a contoured area. Also, the mask is much easier to see when it is applied with a bristle brush when dry. What puzzles me is that Bob dively's liquid mask (which i've found to not crumble like parma's) suggests that it is sprayed on, even though it needs to be thinned.

ps, i dont think he was complaining as much as just stating a fact.
All is good though :cool:

[davecnitrors4]

excellent comment about brushed LMF being easier to see once you start painting! Nothing worse than finding an overlooked chunk of LMF after you've backed and sealed the job.