Any tips for removing canopy masks?

KenK01

made of some form of blue plastic.

I often use "P-Mask" canopy masks, which may be made of a similar type of material.  I usually tease up one corner of each panel with the tip of a No. 11 blade, to make the tweezers' work a bit easier.  If you don't want to risk that, maybe a sharpened cocktail stick/toothpick might be worth trying?  Softening the mask with a hairdryer sounds like it might help, too.

Try using a toothpick to lift a corner up enough to get a portion that your tweezers can get a solid hold upon.

I prefer paper masks, not keen on the vinyl ones. But eitehr way, i use a fresh scalpel blade and pul up one corner. If need be, run the blade around the edhe of the panel to seperate the paint.

I've always done the tip of a #11 as well. You just have to be really careful is all.

That said, I think the sharpened toothpick idea is pretty neat and I hope to remember to try it.

Yup.  Sharpened toothpick here as well.  Also works extremely well for peeling liquid masking fluid out of really tiny places, without the risks of not knowing that you're having an off day until its too late.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice folks. I'm happy to report that with your help, I just finished removing the masks without any damage to the canopy. Phew!!

The method that worked best for me was using a #11 blade to lift the edge of the mask at a point I had lightly scribed along the edge with the blade. Then I used the tweezers to carefully remove it. And for these plastic masks, warming them up with a hair dryer seemed to really help getting them to come loose without leaving any sticky residue. They became more flexible when warm, and it seemed to lessen their adhesion to the canopy. So there was no tearing or breakiing of the mask into smaller pieces, which was a problem I had prior to warming them up.

Thanks again for your help!

I have a good set of tweezers that has a pair of needle-sharp points. They have been discussed in the tools forum.  Ten tweezers to the set, I think, and at reasonable prices from Amazon.  I have never found a mask or masking tape I could not get under with those.  I forget the brand name but will look at them in a day or two unless someone else has the name.

I got them after the recommendation in the tools forum and were delighted.

Yeah, I use a toothpick when removing masking, whether tape or masks.  I've found that no matter how careful I am with a metal tool, it'll scratch the clear.  I use the toothpick to lift, then a tweezer to pull the mask away.  I use a toothpick to remove any paint that bled, too.

the Baron

Yeah, I use a toothpick when removing masking, whether tape or masks.  I've found that no matter how careful I am with a metal tool, it'll scratch the clear.  I use the toothpick to lift, then a tweezer to pull the mask away.  I use a toothpick to remove any paint that bled, too.

 

I failed to mention I don't try to stick the #11 between the mask and the canopy. I poke the blade into the masking material at a slight angle and raise it. Tape comes up, blade never touches the clear styrene.

Rest is done with a quality tweezer.

Pixnor is the brand of that tweezer set I got from Amazon.  One of the set has needle sharp points.  Amazon has several sets, I got the cheapest seven piece set, eight bucks.