Masking tape marks

Place the masking tape on the palm of your hand then lift it off and apply it on to the area.The skin oils will prevent this from leaving residues From the tape.

Hi;

 Being as how I do build cars for me . I thought I would chime in here . I have found that no matter what type of paint .I use de-stickied Magic Mending Tape By Scotch ( 3 - M ). I NEVER leave the tape on more that 45 minutes to an hour after painting .

 Why ? well when it's gassing out it is still soft .This way the line will lay down instead of forming a hard line .Unless that's what you want . I have had very good results with Tamiya tapes and Draftsman's tape and good old Blue painter's tape . Cut into strips the last two work fine for two tones etc . 

 Many years ago ( I ain't gonna say how many ) I was always stymied by hard lines after taking the tape off two or three days later .That ugly hard , sometimes chipped by the tape , line .

     Then my Daddy says try this . Problem solved

GMorrison

BTW acrylic hobby paint is not water based. It can clean up in water before it hardens, but the solvent is usually alcohol or somehting, as in Tamiya, we will never know.

The very early ones, like Floquil, could be thinned with distilled water.

No longer.

Now it just means a low VOC or volume of content of petroleum spirit.

 

 

Learned something new today, I thought VOC was volatile organic compound

BTW acrylic hobby paint is not water based. It can clean up in water before it hardens, but the solvent is usually alcohol or somehting, as in Tamiya, we will never know.

The very early ones, like Floquil, could be thinned with distilled water.

No longer.

Now it just means a low VOC or volume of content of petroleum spirit.

Thanks - that is a really useful reply. One issue is that I live in a very hot and humid country (singapore) so I'm sure that makes it more complicated as well. I've tried curing the paint jobs in a (very) air conditioned room.

I'm using water based acrylics and water based clear coats by the way. 

I'll keep experimenting - honestly the shine I am getting is always brilliant, just that if I need to tape the body for any reason that it all goes pear shaped!

Sprayed on too thick or too close and not giving enamel paint a chance to cure and dry completely are my guesses.

Sounds like you hit the nail on the dead.  If you used enamel, it takes awhile for it to cure and out-gas/dry. Especially if you followed the color with the clear in rapid sucession.  Would be true in that case even with acrylics to some extent.  

I'd let it cure for four days to a week before masking on it, and that is at normal room temp. Try a lower tack tape, or kill some of the stickyness on pants, shirt, glass, etc. For curves and such, I like Tamiya's white tape in the appropiate width.  It forms nicely and tends not to lift the edges.

Without pics of how bad it is, might have to sand it down and redo the bad spots.  If it didn't bite down into the color coats, might be able to lightly sand to level out and reclear, or in best case sand and polish, masking off your black arches.