breadneck Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 So what should i buy? Never tried it before, hoping some of you have. I see that white Tamiya tape gets mixed reviews due to the poor adhesion. 3M have any superior products? "Kabuki" a thing? Thanks for any info on this.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tony Oliver Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Kabuki is the yellow tape and not flexible. The white tamiya tape can suffer from low adhesion if you overstretch it. Plus positioning a curve several times means you will lose more tack. But practice and adjust your techniques ie don’t flood or spray against the edge and you’ll be fine. Should always try and spray inwards over any tape rather than up to tape to avoid bleed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 (edited) I use this. You can cut it into thin strips. Lessen the tackiness and the amount of residue on the model by placing sticky side down on your pants once or twice. It'll give you a hard demarcation line but with practice I'm sure you could probably make the lines a little softer. It's great for going around compound curves such as the transition between wing and fuselage and over the tail area on this Sabre I built. Hope this helps. Edited June 21, 2023 by AX 365 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Parafilm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parafilm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breadneck Posted June 21, 2023 Author Share Posted June 21, 2023 6 hours ago, habu2 said: Parafilm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parafilm That i already have so not really what i was looking for. It`s nice for masking canopies but isn`t really in the category flexible masking tapes as there is no adhesion. Blenderm (3M) is another similar product, perhaps better than Parafilm. The downside is of course that these are clear and harder to see the edges you are masking. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breadneck Posted June 21, 2023 Author Share Posted June 21, 2023 7 hours ago, AX 365 said: I use this. You can cut it into thin strips. Lessen the tackiness and the amount of residue on the model by placing sticky side down on your pants once or twice. It'll give you a hard demarcation line but with practice I'm sure you could probably make the lines a little softer. It's great for going around compound curves such as the transition between wing and fuselage and over the tail area on this Sabre I built. Hope this helps. Thanks for the tip. I`ll be looking around for that one. Apparently not a staple in the shelves here in Norway i will have to inquire at the local pharmacies. I just ordered two 3M vinyl tapes, the 3,17mm & 6,35mm ones. Guess i`ll just have to place my bets and see how things work out. https://www.ebay.com/itm/353615098839 Tempting to try the white Tamiya tapes... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tony Oliver Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 18 minutes ago, breadneck said: Tempting to try the white Tamiya tapes... Perhaps better than using something designed to stop blisters on your feet or whatever 🤣 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 First, my usual disclaimer: I'm not very good at this. 🙂 I have worked a little bit with the white Tamiya tapes, and they do work well when putting them on, being flexible and adjusting to curves, but I find that they can lose adhesiveness after a while, and start peeling up. I found that to be an issue if I am doing something that can take a while, and the masking starts coming loose at the edges partway through (like masking a canopy and then painting different layers that require the canopy to be masked the entire time). I am now testing out some liquid mask, so I am using the Tamiya tape to mask off what *will* be painted then covering the non-painted parts with liquid mask then peeling the tape off to have a sharp edge. What are the thoughts on liquid masking for different purposes? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Curt B Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 I have used a variety of different widths of the white Tamiya flexible tape, and I have left the tape on models for extended periods of time (months) and not experienced any loss of adhesion. Perhaps the adhesive properties are affected by the environment they are used in. I live in Las Vegas where there is little to no humidity. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 It could be that, or that I handle it too much when applying, or something else, or some combination. I'm in SoCal, which is relatively dry, but probably not as dry as Las Vegas. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CFster Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0027AC9RI?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_dp_X5XBYSSGZJA323P8QDFE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
breadneck Posted June 24, 2023 Author Share Posted June 24, 2023 Found that 3M Nexcare tape at a local pharmacy today. It was like $12 or so. Came in a thin cardboard box not in a blister like in your picture. It looks really good and very soft and flexible, can`t wait to try it out. That blue artist tape from amazon says nothing about having any flex. Care to enlighten us CFster? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 Glad you found the Nexcare tape. I've found that a roll will last for many models. I hope it works well for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ed DeVivo Posted July 10, 2023 Share Posted July 10, 2023 Lime Line Tape... Google search it... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Brown Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 I use Washi tape. It’s pretty flexible and if you cut it into 1 or 2 mm strips, you can get it to go around some surprisingly tight curves. You can buy 10 rolls from Amazon. LINK Ben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airframer Posted August 24, 2023 Share Posted August 24, 2023 Coastairbrush.com has a wide variety of tapes. This links to FBS PT43 MICRO Performance Tape, a very flexible 1/32" wide tape. I'm able to get the rolling gull grey - white seperation on 1:72 scale Cold war USN aircraft. Can't recommend this tape (and site) too highly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CBREEZE Posted October 2, 2023 Share Posted October 2, 2023 Forget the tape for camo. I used silly putty on my current Spitfire build and it works great. It comes in an egg, and you can re-use it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chuck1945 Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 Blu-Tak works too, in the US a similar product is Blu_Tack. Works well for camouflage masking, but so well for straight lines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CBREEZE Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 Ive tried blue tac but think IMO silly putty works much better. Besides, working with it again brings back all those great childhood memories. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Garelli Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 12 hours ago, CBREEZE said: Ive tried blue tac but think IMO silly putty works much better. Besides, working with it again brings back all those great childhood memories. I would agree, Silly Putty works great. But any low tack tape should work by just cutting thin strips of tape and slowly doing your curves. Here is a Youtube tutorial for masking, there are other for masking canopies and so forth. Hope this helps: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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