# Enamel Paints and Masking Tape Question



## angelus2141 (May 26, 2013)

Hi All,
First time posting but ive found small problem. Im making a revell uss voyager but on one part i to put two colours. Their side by side so i masked one side and painted but when i try and mask the painted side to paint the other i always find a very light layer of the painted side comes off on the masking tape.

Im using tamiya tape and revell enamel paints. I was thinking maybe spraying a light amount of hair spray over the painted side before applying the tape might help stop the paint coming off.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

thanks


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## luisito8m (May 23, 2013)

First, Welcome to group! :tongue:

Here are my 2 cents:

Since enamel has no need for a primer, your surface might be way, way too smooth causing a peel off, (our you are using too much thinner, or you are not letting enough drying time, or you are adding something on top of the enamel (like a gloss) before letting it completely sit...) anyways:

1. Try sanding your surface lightly to ensure the paint adheres. If this doesn't solve the problem, then the problem is on the paint itself.

2. Before peeling off the masking tape, put masking tape on top of where you had already painted, this will reduce the force of the peeling.

Perhaps you are putting much paint on top of the masking tape; I understand why you are putting tape, to be able to have a perfect division, but too much paint on the masking tape would definitely pull adjacent paint, try to reduce the overlap as much as possible.

How many coats of enamel are you putting on? Too many would cause a peel, because more likely it is not completely dry. If you are going to use many, replace the tape everytime you are adding a coat.

Don't use hair spray, that would make a complete mess and will give you problems when you put tape on top of it.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Hair spray will just make things worse.

If you are masking over a glossy enamel make sure it is DRY. Not just to the touch, but all the way through. Let it dry 48 hours or so, just to make sure. 

You don't say what color you are having problems with either. Metallics like silver can often lift up when you use tape. Sealing them with a clear coat solves this (but also usually tones down or darkens the color).

Tamiya's very wide roll of tape is not the same formula as their narrow dispenser stuff. I have never had any problem with the narrower tapes. The wide stuff can be gummy.


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## angelus2141 (May 26, 2013)

thanks for your replies it seemed to fix with a nice light sanding which took forever but still


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

luisito8m said:


> ...Since enamel has no need for a primer...


I must disagree. There are excellent reasons for using primer on any model under any type of paint:


It is formulated to adhere to a substrate better than most paints and most paints adhere to a coat of primer better than bare plastic.
Primer provides a uniform surface for your color applications, so different materials like putty, metals, etc. don't show through your top coats.
Most importantly, the monochrome primer will show up any surface flaws that you can fix before applying the top colors.
Pertinent to this discussion, it's easier to spray a coat of primer than to sand a model's surface.
I prefer Krylon sandable primer; I use white under colors I want to be bright and gray for everything else. Some people will claim that hardware paints and primers will be too "hot" for models and distort the plastic or obscure fine details. The cure for that - and any other paint you may be spraying - is to apply the paints in light mist coats (especially on vinyl models). It's better to build up the opacity of the color gradually, rather than apply heavy, wet coats that can run or indeed attack the plastic.


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Yes, enamel has several needs for a primer!


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