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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: Allan Perret on April 16, 2011, 06:53:58 PM
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Finally got around to using the Delicate Surface Frog tape today while spraying the first trim color on my Novar. I had done some test panels because I thought it might work good as a fine line tape. Results were good on the test, so I gave it a go on actual job. It worked great as a color seperation fine line tape, with the results as good as any dedicated fine line tape I have ever used ( 3M blue and green, and Finesse Edge)... Only negative is it only works for straight lines, no curves. It is .75" wide, so I stick it down to table top and cut in half to get double the coverage. Has the lowest tack of any tape I've ever used and it comes up real easy, minimizing possible paint pull up. This delicate surface version is yellow versus the regular Frog tape which is green. Lowes and HD didn't have it, I got it from Sherwin Williams, about $6/roll. All the lines in pictures were done with the Frog tape except the Pants and Cockpit. The material was Brodak dope and Finish Pro Slow lacquer thinner.
Also, this tape is very thin (about the same as the 3m green and the Finesse) so it leaves a minimal edge at the color interface. What little edge is left after tape removed was easy to knock off with the credit card trick. I usually wet sand that edge before clear coats, but in this case I think I can skip that step. Will test out that theory on the bottom side first.
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Great info, thanks for the update Allen.
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I have been cutting my 3/4" wide rolls with a straight edge and #11 Exacto on a cutting mat to 1/8" wide. With the drafting tape I have been using this works well for going around curves. Have you tried this with the Frog tape? I have tried it with the Green Frog tape with some success, but did not know about the yellow. Sure would like to use it if it can be cut for going around curves.
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Me too. I didn't know about the yellow either.
I typically use all the various 3M blues, both masking and vinyl depending on the task. I recently purchased some regular green Frog Tape for after seeing a post here. On first impression I really like the level of tack and it is pretty thin too. I haven't tried painting with it yet, but it does seem like it might work very well. In the next few days I'll be masking and spraying color on the Super Combat Streak so I might try it out, we'll see.
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The thing I like about the finesse tape is it's thin. Doesn't leave much of a tape line. Not such a big deal on regular colors, but makes a difference with metallics and pearls since you really can't sand them. But the Frog tape sounds very good in certain applications. Hey, more tools for the toolbox.
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I have been cutting my 3/4" wide rolls with a straight edge and #11 Exacto on a cutting mat to 1/8" wide. With the drafting tape I have been using this works well for going around curves. Have you tried this with the Frog tape? I have tried it with the Green Frog tape with some success, but did not know about the yellow. Sure would like to use it if it can be cut for going around curves.
I think if you cut it to 1/8" it would work with gentle curves, maybe close to the curve you can get with 3M green fine line, but not nearly as tight a curve as the 3M blue fine line.
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Me too. I didn't know about the yellow either.
I typically use all the various 3M blues, both masking and vinyl depending on the task. I recently purchased some regular green Frog Tape for after seeing a post here. On first impression I really like the level of tack and it is pretty thin too. I haven't tried painting with it yet, but it does seem like it might work very well. In the next few days I'll be masking and spraying color on the Super Combat Streak so I might try it out, we'll see.
The yellow is thinner than the green Frog tape, .003" versus .005". Also it has much lower tack.
Those 2 things make it a much better tape for trim use than the green version.
Correction on the width, I had said it was 3/4" but its actually .94". I think they are also available in wider widths.
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The thing I like about the finesse tape is it's thin. Doesn't leave much of a tape line. Not such a big deal on regular colors, but makes a difference with metallics and pearls since you really can't sand them. But the Frog tape sounds very good in certain applications. Hey, more tools for the toolbox.
I put the mike on the Finesse Edge tape and its .002".
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Sounds like I gotta get me some.
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I just have the green so I will check out the yellow.
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I picked up some yellow Froggie tape at the Sherwin Williams store on Monday and I've been using it for the straight lines on the 'Streak. You can check out my "Finishing the Super Combat Streak" post in this section for some photos.
Overall I like it, but it doesn't like curves. It's definitely some good stuff to have on hand but it will sort of end up being another tape on the shelf best only for certain uses, which it does have. I also used some templates that I made to cut curved sections to use in a few areas on the 'Streak. After wiping down the glass workbench top real good with some alcohol I stuck it down and cut sections with an X-acto. Then I lifted them off and transferred them to the plane. It worked good for that. One cool thing is that you can kind of see through it, that's a big time bonus in certain situations.
4 out of 5 stars. y1
Thanks for the heads up Allen! ;D