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Fail: Circular rings on the bombs/tanks

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  • Member since
    September 2015
Fail: Circular rings on the bombs/tanks
Posted by Air2AirJoe on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 10:24 AM

Ok, I'm really really bad at this... but i'm learning.  The pic shows 2 attempts to paint circular white rings on what is either an external fuel tank or large bomb (i dont even know).  My first try at the front was a complete disaster obviously.  I had tried to loop two pieces of tape around it creating an open ring in the center that i planned to make white. The tape didnt sit flush and the paint was really watery/runny and it just right under my tape and created that mess.  Wow... my daughter who just turned 3 could have done a much better job!  So i gave it another shot and made sure the tape was pressed against the tank better and the paint was thicker, and thats the second "ring" closer to my hand. Better but still embarrassingly bad!  Obviously if you don't file down the seam better you'll get a little depression where the paint will run. When you're painting a room in your house a little millimeter long imperfection like that isnt even noticeable, but on a model it's a complete fail.  Lesson learned. I re-painted the whole thing green again and i'm going to try this again tonight.  It's really hard to get the tape to create a ring that's equal width the entire way around a tank/bomb.  I have a lot to learn, but this is fun i'm enjoying the challenge and problem solving.

 

"Forgive me, I'm clueless"

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • From: Nampa, Idaho
Posted by jelliott523 on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 10:41 AM

Below you will see a few techniques for this from a fellow forum member that I copied from an old post regarding this very issue. I personally like to either use the decals or paint the strip color, maske with a thin piece of tape and then paint the bomb color.

Another thing that will help immensely will be to make sure that the seam line is as smooth as possible to prevent paint running under the tape.

There are many different ways to do that. Here are some of them.

The first is to paint that area in the color of your stripes, let that dry, then apply very thin strips of tape around the bomb. Paint your bomb color, and remove the tape. A variation of this one is to apply liquid mask for the stripes area, rotate the bomb against a knife blade, peel off the mask, and then spray your paint.

Another is to use "tubes of tape", you start with the nose color, push the nose into your tube of tape, paint the stripe color, let dry, do bomb color, do this alternating until you have the final yellow stripe on, then paint the bomb body color.

You can use very fine tape if you want to, just apply the stripe with tape, and clear coat over that after you have all the stripes on your bomb.

Some decal companies make pre-curved decals for the bomb stripes.

And, if you are building in the larger scales, you can paint them on freehand. Edit: If you are painting freehand, you might lay your bomb down on two dowels, letting the fins stick out over the end, then you can hold the brush steady, and rotate the bomb under the brush,,,,,,this might be more steady than trying to move the brush around the bomb.

I hope this helped,

Rex

On the Bench:  Lots of unfinished projects!  Smile

  • Member since
    September 2014
Posted by rooster513 on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 10:43 AM

First, never be embrassed by "fails", we all have them and as you said it's how we learn:) As for the problem...I would suggest cutting the tape into thin strips as they should conform to the surface better. What paint are you using? Knowing that, we might be able to offer more suggestions. Several thins layers should help reduce some of the running of the paint too, especially the first layer as this will help "seal" the tape edges. Hope this helps some and let us know how it goes!

-Andy

  • Member since
    September 2015
Posted by Air2AirJoe on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 10:48 AM

jelliott523

Below you will see a few techniques for this from a fellow forum member that I copied from an old post regarding this very issue. I personally like to either use the decals or paint the strip color, maske with a thin piece of tape and then paint the bomb color.

Another thing that will help immensely will be to make sure that the seam line is as smooth as possible to prevent paint running under the tape.

There are many different ways to do that. Here are some of them.

The first is to paint that area in the color of your stripes, let that dry, then apply very thin strips of tape around the bomb. Paint your bomb color, and remove the tape. A variation of this one is to apply liquid mask for the stripes area, rotate the bomb against a knife blade, peel off the mask, and then spray your paint.

Another is to use "tubes of tape", you start with the nose color, push the nose into your tube of tape, paint the stripe color, let dry, do bomb color, do this alternating until you have the final yellow stripe on, then paint the bomb body color.

You can use very fine tape if you want to, just apply the stripe with tape, and clear coat over that after you have all the stripes on your bomb.

Some decal companies make pre-curved decals for the bomb stripes.

And, if you are building in the larger scales, you can paint them on freehand. Edit: If you are painting freehand, you might lay your bomb down on two dowels, letting the fins stick out over the end, then you can hold the brush steady, and rotate the bomb under the brush,,,,,,this might be more steady than trying to move the brush around the bomb.

I hope this helped,

Rex

 

 

That helped immensely thank you!  I'll have your post open on my phone while i take another crack at this tonight. I appreciate the help!

Thanks Andy!  I'll try that and let you know how it works out

"Forgive me, I'm clueless"

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • From: Nampa, Idaho
Posted by jelliott523 on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:09 AM

Joe, just as Andy pointed out, it just takes practice. I like you started out with hand-painting everything and believe me, I've had my share of modeling disasters with different techniques, as a matter of fact, I still have troubles with some things and I just keep practicing. You will find a lot of helpful individuals here. This forum is loaded with endless supplies of talent and suggestions. Make a lot of mental notes and find the process that seems to work the best for you. After awhile, if you so desire, pick up an airbrush if you havent already, you will find a whole new modeling experience after that.

On the Bench:  Lots of unfinished projects!  Smile

  • Member since
    September 2015
Posted by Air2AirJoe on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:30 AM

Hey thanks for the words of encouragement.  Everyone on here has been great and i'm happy to have stumbled into this group.  I had NO idea when i decided to start building models that there were so many people who took this so seriously, but it's pretty awesome.  An airbrush is now at the top of my Xmas wish list!  Thanks again

"Forgive me, I'm clueless"

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:40 AM

Suggestions:

1- seam clean up. As you already noticed, those seams give a potential trail for leakage and runs under whatever mask you choose. eliminate them first and eliminate that problem...

2- alternate masks than tape. think outside the model hobby box. try silly putty or those small rubber bands used for braiding hair in the hair care items aisle. paint your lighter stripe color first, allow it to dry and cure, then put on your mask of the rubber band or silly putty. either conforms to the compund curve surface (a huge chanllenge with tape) and can be adjusted after you put it on. Then spray on your darker color.

BTW, I want to meet the guy who got those rings perfect on their first attempt... it sure wasn't me....

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:41 AM

Any time you are doing tape masking, don't fool yourself into trying to get it in one shot.  A whole bunch of little pieces to define the edges followed by big chunks to cover areas.

I tend towards the stripe color first, then background. Bootstripes on hulls, where the gray meets the red.

No step areas on wings. If the tape is a good width to begin with, it gages itself. Or cut it in strips on a piece of glass. And again, do 1/2" at a time.

Any time I mask. i try to first spray the color that I've masked off first onto the edges of the tape. In other words, if you'd sprayed the area where the white stripe is to be green first, all those little bleeds would be green, right? Then go white, thin coats and several.

I my case, I'd spray the tank white, then mask the stripe, then spray the tape white, then go green.

A handy way to mark where the tape goes- stick the tank through a hole in a circle template and run a pencil point around it. The do it again with the next sized hole.

 

You'll get the hang of it quickly.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:43 AM

stikpusher

BTW, I want to meet the guy who got those rings perfect on their first attempt... it sure wasn't me....

 

Or the spirals on Luftwaffe spinners!

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:47 AM

GMorrison
 
stikpusher

BTW, I want to meet the guy who got those rings perfect on their first attempt... it sure wasn't me....

 

 

 

Or the spirals on Luftwaffe spinners!

 

 

Bang HeadAngryBlack Eye

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 11:55 AM

If I may offer a tip for painting stripes on bombs--or propeller tips: 

  • Paint the bombshell in your base color
  • When that color is dry, open the jar of the color of the stripe and dip the nose of the bomb in the paint.
  • When that color is dry, dip the bomb in the base color, leaving just enough of the stripe color showing

You could chuck it in a Dremel, too, and let it spin while you apply the stripe color, if you're adventurous.  But that takes a steady hand.  I tried it, once.  It was amusing, but more elaborate than necessary, kind of like a Wile E Coyote solution to a problem.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 1:12 PM

There are many types of tape out there, A few not recommended for masking :

 

Invisble tape and plain old masking tape.

I use Frog Painter Tape for masking. It comes in green or yellow. Both are low tack and will not peel off paint.  or you can get Tamiya brand tape. They come in a variety of sizes from 6mm - 18 mm.

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 1:19 PM

And the 3M blue tape that has an orange core.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    July 2014
Posted by modelcrazy on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 2:21 PM

Air2AirJoe
Everyone on here has been great and i'm happy to have stumbled into this group.  I had NO idea when i decided to start building models that there were so many people who took this so seriously, but it's pretty awesome.  An airbrush is now at the top of my Xmas wish list!  Thanks again

Joe,

First off, you will not find a better group of guys and gals than this forum for encouragement and knowledge.
Second, you have no idea how seriously some of us take this hobby. If you want to do a dead on accurate build, there is someone here who knows EXACTLY how it should look. On the other hand, if you want to do an OOB (out of the box) build like you’re doing, or even a "what if" build, everyone will support it and guide you if you want them to.
Third, you can pick up an inexpensive AB and compressor (don't go air cans) at Harbor Freight or even eBay. They will do a decent job, not great, but decent. Believe it or not I use my Harbor Freight AB for small jobs.



 

Forth, that "fail" looks familiar. I'm constantly making boo boo's that I need to either hide or fix.

Steve

Building a kit from your stash is like cutting a head off a Hydra, two more take it's place.

 

 

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Thursday, October 1, 2015 6:47 AM

Or go to www.tcpgobal.com and find a nice airbrush/compressor combo set.

  • Member since
    August 2008
Posted by tankerbuilder on Friday, October 2, 2015 8:27 AM

JOE !

   Don't spend your money yet ! Airbrush - Smairbrush ! I have been doing this for many decades now and I rarely use one .Why ? Well , I have gotten so comfortable with my paint adjusting techniques and the resulting  "No Brush Marks " that I rarely use the Airbrush .

       this used to be a selling point for Pactra Paints . Now by doing this I have perfected my ability to the point and my paint adjusting techniques to the point when I do a car this way , folks ask which spray I used .

     But remember, I am now 72 so there's a lot of years of practice there .You'll do alright though , don't you worry .T.B.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Friday, October 2, 2015 9:26 AM

One thing that helps is to use as narrow a tape as you can get when masking any compound curve.  I have found 1/16 inch tape and save it to use only in that circumstance (it isn't the best tape).  Very narrow tape like this bends to follow the compound curve. You can use it to outline wider rings and use other tape to fill in between the outline rings.

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

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