I had Tamiya lift from masking

I talked to Mr. Tamiya about this very subject one day over cigars and geisha girls. He said " You must stick paint to plastic before you stick tape to paint." I pondered the answer awhile.

Dr. Faust wrote:

I talked to Mr. Tamiya about this very subject one day over cigars and geisha girls. He said " You must stick paint to plastic before you stick tape to paint." I pondered the answer awhile.

What are you smoking and where can I get some?

MikeV wrote:

Dr. Faust wrote: I talked to Mr. Tamiya about this very subject one day over cigars and geisha girls. He said " You must stick paint to plastic before you stick tape to paint." I pondered the answer awhile. What are you smoking and where can I get some?

JET A with just a hint of B. That and sitting in the left seat of my, avatar? Whats an AVATAR? a chinesse 172?

There are two kinds of modelers; those who have had acrylic lift from masking tape and those who will have acrylic lift from masking tape.  It happens to all of us who use it sooner or later and we then learn the value of a coat of primer.  Acrylics just don't bond well to bare plastic.  To me they seem to form a sheath around the plastic more than actually bond to it.  They do, however, bond very well to a coat of primer.

I had the same thing happen on my first F-105.  Unfortunately the area that lifted had three colors of camo, 2 coats of Future, a large decal, and two coats of clear flat on it.  It pulled all that up down to bare plastic.  I learned!  Never use acrylic on bare plastic if there is any chance whatsoever that you will ever have to mask over it.

Sorry for your  mishap, Mike.  Been there, done that, didn't like it at all.

Ditto on what Scott said, I've been a straight acrylic user for about a year and a half now and I learned early... unless it's a one color job with no hard demarcation lines I prime.  For me the cheap (relatively) Krylon white is all I use....

A wise man once said, "to get acrylics to give no trouble, use enamels".

I wonder how well Bulldog adhesion promoter would work with Tamiya acrylics?
I know it is used by airbrush artists who use acrylics and want to improve adhesion.
Might be worth trying.
Another thing that helps and I didn't do it, is to scuff the plastic with a green Scotchbrite pad as it aids in paint adhesion also. If the plastic is smooth it won't adhere nearly as well.

Tankmaster7 wrote:

A wise man once said, "to get acrylics to give no trouble, use enamels".

An even wiser man said, "Use acrylics and a drying oven and you can paint, Future, and decal all in one day."

MikeV wrote:

An even wiser man said, "Use acrylics and a drying oven and you can paint, Future, and decal all in one day."

 good one!

MikeV wrote:

I wonder how well Bulldog adhesion promoter would work with Tamiya acrylics?

Not sure about Tamiya, Mike.  Vallejo lists an "adhesion agent" as included in their thinner so it might be something similar... sounds like a good use for some spare plastic!  Let us know how it goes... it would be interesting to know as a little retarder and the adhesion promoter would be cheaper than Vallejo thinner.

I wonder how well Bulldog adhesion promoter would work with Tamiya acrylics? I know it is used by airbrush artists who use acrylics and want to improve adhesion. Might be worth trying.

Nothing to lose, everything to gain.  Acrylics are strange.  I've had them stick as well as epoxy-based paints and I've had them stick about as well as a piece of wet paper.  I always clean parts with alcohol prior to painting to get any oil or grease off, but it's still a crap shoot.  On the other hand, I have never, ever had acrylic lift if it was sprayed over primer.  If the adhesion promoter works that would be a great benefit since it would eliminate that enamel / laquer primer step.

Another thing that helps and I didn't do it, is to scuff the plastic with a green Scotchbrite pad as it aids in paint adhesion also. If the plastic is smooth it won't adhere nearly as well.

Very true.  My only complaint with them is that sometimes the "Green" comes off on the plastic.  Of course, mine are several years old to ;)