masking for painting

I'll resound Abarne's comment: the Tamiya tape is incredible. For large areas, use the Tamiya tape for your edgework, and then layer back with a masking tape of your choice.

Also, are you spraying or brush painting? If you're spraying the paint shouldn't be so thick that it pools up on the tape...nice, light coats will do.

Make sure you burnish the tape, too.

I can't help you with brush painting, but there are a few on these forums who brush will skill that should be able to help you out with tape.

 

I use blue painter's tape almost exclusively with good results.

I always cut the tape on glass before applying it... even if I'm masking a straight line, I lay out a length of tape on the glass and cut it with a steel straightedge and fresh blade.  Then I apply the tape and burnish it with a toothpick.

Don't rely on the tape's original edge... it's not necesarily cut as crisply as we need it to be for our purposes, and often can pick up dust and "gunk" along the edge that can make demarcations fuzzy.  I suspect this might be at least part of your problem.

The best tape is Tamiya's Yellow tape.  It is very thin, seals well, doesn't pull up underlying paint, or leave sticky residue.  After you've applied the mask, carefully press down the edges of the tape with a tooth pick or the handle of a paint brush.  When you paint, try to paint in light layers.  Although that is always preferred to laying down a single thick coat, with masking it is even more important because a light coat will quickly dry and seal the edges of the tape without bleeding.  When painting, aim either vertically or away from the masked edge, so that the paint doesn't build up into a ridge at the edge. 

I've had good results with "Blue Painters Tape" picked up a few rolls awhile back at the local Wal-Mart havent had anything bleed through yet. Just be sure and press down the lines and the tape really well.. Works great for me.. Good luck..


Chris

I have heard that if you are having the paint bleed through, use smaller strips of tape that overlap each other and then use a (I think this right) burnishing tool to smooth the tape against the surface.

David