Preparing and painting wraps with ribs. In my case the Estes Saturn V

[Bryan XJ6C]

I'm looking for suggestions for methods for masking and painting body wraps that have the small vertical ribs like the Estes SaturnV has. I'm practicing on a set of extra wraps that I have. So far I've tested regular masking tape, Tamiya, and Scotch tape. I've found the Tamiya to work the best so far but it is a tedious process. It has to be attached very tightly and I've been selling the edges with Testers plastic Cement which works okay but I might try just a clear enamel since it would probably be a little heavier and fill the edge a little better. After sealing the edge of the tape I spray with a spray can. Again I'm testing on different methods and materials to try and find the least difficult and most effective materials, methods or process.

I would welcome any suggestions including any link to another post. I have read Chis Mickielsons built and it is very good but I that build was some while back and certainly other builders may have found another way.

Thanks you

Bryan

 

[DigBaddy]

I just used blue painters tape...

 

[Bryan XJ6C]

I'm looking for suggestions for methods for masking and painting body wraps that have the small vertical ribs like the Estes SaturnV has. I'm practicing on a set of extra wraps that I have. So far I've tested regular masking tape, Tamiya, and Scotch tape. I've found the Tamiya to work the best so far but it is a tedious process. It has to be attached very tightly and I've been selling the edges with Testers plastic Cement which works okay but I might try just a clear enamel since it would probably be a little heavier and fill the edge a little better. After sealing the edge of the tape I spray with a spray can. Again I'm testing on different methods and materials to try and find the least difficult and most effective materials, methods or process.

I would welcome any suggestions including any link to another post. I have read Chis Mickielsons built and it is very good but I that build was some while back and certainly other builders may have found another way.

Thanks you

Bryan

Thanks for your reply. Yours turned out very nice. I'll test that out. Maybe the painters tape grabs or seals better.One problem I have is the upper reduction wrap, or actually all of the wraps on mine where the black paint edges meet the white there are no ridges to place the tape in a straight line. They have to follow the corrugated pattern of the wrap. So it becomes very difficult to get the tape very tightly in place and it's easier for paint to bleed. On a flat area it's not a problem. In any case I'll try the painters tape and maybe other types on a sample first.

Thanks again,
Bryan

 

[dpower]

I used Tamiya for all the places where the tape needed to go into the corrugations, using a toothpick or similar to get the edges down. 3M 2080 delicate surface painters tape for larger areas (this used to be blue, now is a light purple). Yes, it's tedious, there's no way around that.

 

[David Schwantz]

I like 3M fine line tape. The blue stuff for going in the ridges, You can use the green, cheaper by a little bit, for any straight line stuff not going down into the ridges. I have a burnishing tool with a ball on one end and a flat on the other, works great for this. Just keep your tape off the surface and apply one ridge at a time using the flat to push it into the valley. You can also use the tool to burnish the tape down so you don't have to seal it. You can tell it is sealed by looking though the tape onto the surface as it will change color when stuck down well.
Hope this makes sense.

 

[James Duffy]

I've had great luck with Tamiya tape, burnishing the tape down into each individual corrugation with a pointed wooden dowel (a food skewer, actually). It is a time consuming process, but it works well.

One thing that probably helps is the fact that I airbrush the black into place at low pressure rather than use spray cans, which apply the paint at a much higher pressure. See the 37:25 point of this video:

 

[Hobie1dog]

that's some seriously tedious work

 

[rharshberger]

I like 3M fine line tape. The blue stuff for going in the ridges, You can use the green, cheaper by a little bit, for any straight line stuff not going down into the ridges. I have a burnishing tool with a ball on one end and a flat on the other, works great for this. Just keep your tape off the surface and apply one ridge at a time using the flat to push it into the valley. You can also use the tool to burnish the tape down so you don't have to seal it. You can tell it is sealed by looking though the tape onto the surface as it will change color when stuck down well.
Hope this makes sense.

I want to say one of the modelling aces on this forum @James Duffy or maybe Chris Michaelson, has used a epoxy putty (or something) to make a negative of the part which allows them to burnish the tape into the valleys more easily, working off memory here and I have slept at least 730 times since I read it....or more....

Edit: and just when I thought I had read the entire thread before replying, I realized I hadn't and James has already replied.