Sealing Edges of Frisket Paper

[Mike Griffin]

I posted this in Paint and Finishing section and got no response so thought I would try it here.

Before painting the area where the cutout in the frisket paper or vinyl masking is, do you need to seal around the edges of the cut out to keep the paint from wicking underneath the material?  If so, what would you seal the edges with?

Thank you
Mike

[Jim Hoffman]

 Do your own experiments. Use clear dope sprayed at very low pressure

[Dan McEntee]

  If the mask has a fairly aggressive adhesive and is laying down tight, careful spraying won't require a clear coat. If you can't help really laying on the gun trigger, just alight toot of clear around the edges will help. Paint won't creep if it's not there!. Just dust the trim colors on a little at a time. Extra clear to seal will also add to any edge that will be left behind.
  Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[Dave_Trible]

Something I've used for years is Contac self adhesive shelf liner.  You can buy a large roll at Home Depot or Walmart and can do several airplanes with it.  Just draw on it what your wish, cut it out with your Xacto and peel the paper backing off.  It sticks down well and never needs to be sealed.  Just go lightly when spraying so the solvent doesn't curdle up the material.  For straight lines the 3M blue masking tape with 'Edge Lock Protector' works very well, again no sealing needed.

Dave

[Avaiojet]

The days of applying a clear coat to seal a masked edge are long gone. Really long gone. Just another unneeded layer of paint for a higher paint edge.

So, if the masking material isn't grabbing and staying in place, there's some other issue. This could be a few things.

I have never used Frisket on any of my models. I wouldn't even consider it, but that's me.

One might think the thinnest masking material is best however, the stuff has to be flexible to lay down over curves and even if it's a tad thick, the applied paint doesn't have to be, just enough paint to cover.

There's plenty of flexible tapes and masking materials on the market. Over a lifetime I've tried many, some are better than others and unfortunately experimenting with products yield the best results. This can be costly, but worth the results for producing a fine model.

The background color on this model, first layer of gold, consisted of one mask for each wing half. This was a large and complicated mask, applied wet, so it could easily be put in the correct place by moving it around. No clear coat to prevent bleeding under edges because this material is of professional quality and sticks.

If paint is applied properly and proper steps are taken during prep with other materials, including primers, the removal of tapes or masking materials  should not remove any paint when removed.

This model was masked in areas and some of the tape materials stayed in place for two weeks before another color was applied. This was the blue fine line. Removed easily and never lifted any paint.

BTW and FYI, the entire model, like all my models were finished using aerosol cans.

Simple, quick, easy, low cost and absolutely no mixing or clean up AND a bunch of color choices to choose from.

The future?

[Mike Griffin]

Thank you all.

Mike

[Donald Main]

shoot some clear on the edges. If weight is an issue you have more problems than paint creeping under your edges.