Hi everyone. I was just about convinced that all good looking painted models were a figment of my imagination. But perhaps there is a remote possiblity that they actually exist. IF, and only if, you can tell me a different brand of mask material and tape than what I've always used.
Either the tape pulls up the paint, or it let's the new paint through. Same with the mask. Lol
This time my mask was The Paper Studio Removable. Only tore up my primer and silkspan in two spots.
My tape is purple scotch delicate mask. Always lifts up and let's paint ruin what's underneath.

Hi everyone. I was just about convinced that all good looking painted models were a figment of my imagination. But perhaps there is a remote possiblity that they actually exist. IF, and only if, you can tell me a different brand of mask material and tape than what I've always used.
Either the tape pulls up the paint, or it let's the new paint through. Same with the mask. Lol
This time my mask was The Paper Studio Removable. Only tore up my primer and silkspan in two spots.
My tape is purple scotch delicate mask. Always lifts up and let's paint ruin what's underneath.

  What kind of paint is that? 

    The only thing I can offer is that you shouldn't leave the tape on long, get it off of there as soon as you safely can. And, some tapes and adhesives react poorly with some kinds of paint.

    Brett

I usually pull the mask as soon as possible. But this gold powder paint, oh, this is all Randolph this time, the powder sort of created a bond across the top of the mask. My first time pulling it up it destroyed all my lettering. I would have cried except Howards recent fails and fixes on his impact. So I sanded what I could, reprimed what I needed and did it again. I tried the hair dryer trick too. But then, the second time, I traced all my lettering with a knife before pulling it up to cut free the letters. Even with the hairdryer I tore my silkspan. Probably because I sprayed the model with Windex so I could adjust the mask since I was having to match the remains of my first time painting it. I guess Windex on silkspan is a big no no during the early stages. But, I used ca over the tears, sanded, reprimed, sanded, and on the red side it came out as if no mistake was made.
 

not all spray masks are created equal. make sure any spray mask and tape is solvent proof. even then dont hammer on paint on the paint masks as you may get what i call the potato chip effect. i paint motorcycles for a living and have tried most tape systems out there. the main tape i use now is FBS tapes and spay masks. i get both from coast airbrush.

not all spray masks are created equal. make sure any spray mask and tape is solvent proof. even then dont hammer on paint on the paint masks as you may get what i call the potato chip effect. i paint motorcycles for a living and have tried most tape systems out there. the main tape i use now is FBS tapes and spay masks. i get both from coast airbrush.

Thanks James. FBS, I'll look into it.

I've been using acetone as thinner.

We pause our regularly scheduled broadcast while the staff has a collective heart attack.

So, the folks who paint better than I do recommend that you don't even mix brand A thinner with brand B dope, much less just using any can of smelly flammable stuff that happens to be in your shop.  I do admit that I'm using DupliColor (cheap) thinner with 25 year old dope -- but then, I was holding my breath the first time I peeled off some masking tape.  (I'm using up a stock of Sig dope, so I couldn't even recommend DupliColor thinner with Brodak dope).

If you really want to get it right, get Brodak thinner, or Randolph thinner since Brodak dope is re-labeled Randolph.

Use the Klean strip thinner and you’ll be better off. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of using acetone as thinner. I’m FAR from a paint expert but I bet that’s the cause of most of the problems

I thin my Randolph about 60% or so and have great results

  Hi Matt;
     If you look at the small, quart cans of most off the shelf lacquer thinners, under "ingredients" it will most likely say "acetone" and probably nothing else. Most people buying this are using it to clean paint brushes and such, which it works well for. I have used it to thin small amounts of clear dope for F/F projects with no problems but then again, those aren't front row stunters either!
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

  Hi Matt;
     If you look at the small, quart cans of most off the shelf lacquer thinners, under "ingredients" it will most likely say "acetone" and probably nothing else. Most people buying this are using it to clean paint brushes and such, which it works well for. I have used it to thin small amounts of clear dope for F/F projects with no problems but then again, those aren't front row stunters either!
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

  Lacquer thinners contain much more than just acetone, and (as a connoisseur of toxic chemical smells) smell nothing alike. The problem here is likely to have been that acetone is too fast, that is, it evaporates much faster than real thinner, so it has less tendency to dissolve the underlying coat of paint, reducing the adhesion. Real dope thinner evaporates much slower, and retarder is even slower (which makes it dangerous if used in excess, it will melt all the way down to the base and merge all the colors together).

    I am with others above - use *real dope thinner from the manufacturer*, at least for the actual thinning of the paint. It's expensive so use something cheap from the hardware store to clean it up, but after about a million horror stories like this one, stick with the real stuff, and at least you will know who to blame.

    Brett

Well, speaking as the expert in using acetone...I've used it on all four of my painted planes (unless there's one I'm forgetting). The drying extra fast sounds right. People say done needs a week to gas off but with acetone it appears to be faster. I don't think paint adhesion due to acetone was the issue.
My red mask has never allowed bleed nor pulled up paint. It just isn't wide enough and if it were, it wouldn't bend for my design.
The green frog tape solved the lifting problem. When I shot red, my purple mask kept lifting all the time, I'd rub it down remask, but kept lifting. Possibly acetone makes a dusty type surface. Green held and didn't pull any paint when I shot the blue.
My next challenge is polishing. Hopefully the acetone won't hinder the shine.
My other problem I'm realizing is fear of too much paint. I always heard about that and therefore I think I've been way way too sparing of paint. Two more days of shooting clear and then we shall see if I can achieve a shiny plane. Progress.

I dont know Brett. I just switched over from sig or brodak dope which i thinned with cheap hardware store Lacquer thinner. Used it successfully for 30 + years. For the first time ever i sprayed Randolph white and  Randolph thinner as a base coat, Then masked off to spray the trim. But the next day i decided to re do the tape and it pulled up the white. Learning curve I suppose. Man I miss Windy.   Actually I think Sparky uses all Randolph products. He may be able to share his wisdom. My white was like rubber when i sanded it  a week later. Lots of fun.

   For as simple as it seems, this stuff tends to be very touchy and prone to small errors causing big problems. Most people are using car paint products, which are designed around the idea that you can have semi-skilled technicians spray 10 cars a day and have them back the next day, basically, if you can aim the gun at the car and pull the trigger, it will work.

     Guys who have proven track records and professionals (like Bill Byles) are exceptionally careful with materials and process controls and get consistent results. Quasi-hacks such as myself use more forgiving materials, mostly under the direction of experts (PTG and Uncle Jimby).

     Brett

p.s. while we are on the topic, I would caution everyone about using hardware store materials. I know for certain that no matter what the can looks like or what the part number might be, *what you get in this can may not be the same as what was in the last can*. What is nominally labelled "lacquer thinner" might be anything with a variety of solvents that happened to be cheap the day they ran the production line. I have a can of "Kleen Strip" lacquer thinner from a local hardware store that works perfectly for thinning K&B SuperPoxy, which is notoriously picky, and will curdle up with almost anything except the original K&B thinner (which has one extra component, butyl alcohol, not normally found in lacquer thinner). This particular can works fine, smooth just like the original, and it was dead cheap. Went to get another can, same shelf, same store, same Kleen-Strip brand, same catalog number on the can. One drop, curdles the entire cup of paint. And, it smells different.

   I think this may be a bigger problem here than elsewhere, because the manufacturers are playing "whack-a-mole" with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), having materials banned due to VOC content, changing the formula, selling a few batches to Home Depot and Lowes, getting banned again, then changing it again. But with these uncontrolled materials, you have no idea what is in it from batch to batch, and what worked last time may not work at all this time.