I have begun some assembly on Airwolf.  Unfortunately, I now must start the arduous task of masking for the flat white underbelly.

More Airwolf to come...

Coming along nicely 

Oh ouch I think I'd have sprayed the belly first, masked, and then done the top surfaces. Looking forward to seeing how you mask her off! 

I figured that since the plastic is clolored, painting the dark grey first and the flat white afterwards wouldn'tt be an issue.  I had attempted to mask off the upper body to paint the lower body and the masking is not going as I had hoped.  The detail on the body is lifting the tape and paint could get under it.  I might consider brush painting the flat white instead.

Cool.  Ya white first.  Have you tried the tamiya flexible vinyl tape?  Covers contours well.

I have not tried Tamiya flexible vinyl tape.  I will have to check it out.  Thanks!

The Tamiya tape is really good for comfirming to curves. If even it won't work you might consider using Silly Putty or poster tack type material. But the Tamiya tape should do the trick. 

Hi;

      When I have a taping situation like this I use 1/4" wide automotive striping tape. It burnishes down real good and if you pull it back on itself I haven't had problems with it lifting the other color.

     It's mylar so it's real flexible. That said, the other alternative is the wider Tamiya tape. I think they have one that is low tack!

 I hope this won't upset you, but I would've sanded down the window framing more to put it more in scale as far as appearance! This kit surprised me with the large molded details as well.

Thanks for the advice!  I will have to reconsider the Tamiya tape and I just might start taping again.

Before you do any painting, wipe off the model with some rubbing alcohol. This will remove any remaining sanding dust and oils left by your fingers from handling it during assembly. If you don't have any, run, walk, drive, take public transportation, whatever, to your local hobby shop and get some Tamiya Fine Gray Primer. Mask off the canopies and windows and shoot the primer. After that, take your finest grade sandpaper and give the primer coat a light sanding and then wipe it back down with rubbing alcohol to remove any dust. The primer coat will help the color coat adhere to the model, and give a neutral base, making it easier to apply the white for the underside. When it comes to masking, get your masking tape (Tamiya's is the best) and cut it into relatively thin strips. Use the strips to mask your cheat line (where the dark grey meets the white) and burnish the heck out of them. After you've masked the underbelly, go back and shoot a coat of white along the taped edge, this should seal the edge and prevent the dark gray from seeping under the tape. Shoot the topside color. When everything has had time to dry thoroughly, take a new #11 blade and GENTLY run it along the edge of the tape. This will give you a sharp edge and hopefully allow you to remove the tape with out lifting the edge.

lewbud, thank you for the painting tips!  I really appreciate it.  I have been doing most of that for years now and sometimes I like to throw caution to the wind.  With all of the angles and surface details, masking Airwolf has become a chore even with Tamiya tape.  It will get done and I have lots of time to mask it off.  Thanks lewbud!

Mr. Mike,

Glad you liked the tips. It's hard to tell where people are at sometimes on the skill tree sometimes.  I saw what looked like beginner's mistakes and thought I could help. Really looking forward to watching it come together.

Several months ago, the box containing my Airwolf model fell to the floor with many broken and some missing parts.  I have retired that model since it would require way too much scratch building and repair.  Sorry everyone, this model is gone.

I'm sorry, Mr. Mike. Sad to hear it (or to read it). I was following this...

Hi;

   I am sorry to hear that.I was following this to get to the finished model. Oh, Well ,You'll find some Whirly bird from which to salvage parts for the " Wolf"

Bummer.