Where have I cut
 

Ok so i am thinking about having my second go with liquid mask as I have been inspired by the recent work that has appeared on here.

1 thing i struggled with last time was being able to tell where I had cut the liquid mask and wondered if there were any tricks of the trade. I found that if I angled the balde slightly I could see the cut line a bit better but this wasn't always possible in the fiddly bit.

Anyone got any thoughts??

If you cut under a light, You can see the cut line really easy.
I have a flexible LED from IKEA, about £8... Its priceless

One thing to remember is to do all your cutting out first, because once you start spraying you can't see the lines, want to guess how I know that :blush:
By the way RCS (Jon Miller) is the best liquid mask that I have used top stuff.

For me I always draw my designs on the shell with a Sharpie so I just have to look on the topside of the shell and I can figure it out from there. If it's really hard to find I use a bright light behind the shell so from the inside I can see exactly where my lines are.

I don't do very intricate stuff atm so it's not a massive concern :). You're shells are cool Max I'm sure you'll find a way that works.

J

I recently used Parma Liquid Mask on a Tamiya Mini Shell.

Roof and wheel arches came out brilliantly.

Grill, head lamps and bonnet stripes were a disaster. When I came to removing the final layers of liquid mask it was stuck to the paint and it pulled the paint off in these areas. The paint had not even etched the in the area for the bonnet stripes. I've been spraying shells for over 20 years and always make sure I clean the shells before preparation.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I am using the rcs stuff, I have nothing to compare it to but it seemed to work well.

Thanks all for you comments.

Thanks Jason much appreciated

Although I'm far from the professional standard of most who've posted on this thread I have done quite a few shells with very satisfactory outcomes , I've been using " Bob Dively" liquid mask , which I must say has been very easy to use , I'm about to run out of it though & thought I'd try the RCS stuff ! Can anyone offer any comparisons as to how they perform ??

Cheers

Divley and RCS are both very good products, just one much easier to source than the other (RCS by the way is EASY to get). Design with sharpie on outside, use a light when cutting out.

+1 on the drawing on the outside 1st.

You can run a scalpel around it, I found Faskolor tends to have an incredibly high build to it and sort of seals the mask in the more you put on so first few colours are okay then it starts to get difficult to find your mask under all the paint.

If you get stuck seeing your cuts try putting really light coat of Fastint over the mask before cutting. It diesn't hide the design work too much but does give more contrast to the cut lines. Also work with good backlight but over a dark surface. Your cuts will shine silver.

I've used Divley, Parma and others oin the past. I now use RCS exclusivly. The nuts in liquid mask, 'nuff said!

Hi, try the RCS liquid mask - at least 3-4 good coats. I brush it on, leave it a few mins then stipple with a piece of damp foam. The stipple give a little more control with the scalpel, reducing the risk of the blade skidding at inopportune moments in intricate areas.

I find the Parma stuff a bit stretchy, especially if it's a bit thin. I've had issues with paint lifting in the past, usually caused by insufficiently flashed off previous coats, or paint simply too thick pooled over the mask edges. Fluorescents seem to be a major culprit, the backing colour often delaminating if I've been a bit rushed. Successive almost 'dry' coats seem to do the trick for me. Sorry if I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs, you've been painting for an awful lot longer than me!!!! PS. Try the RCS own brand white and black. The pigment is ground so fine it's just beautiful to work with. Far better than Faskolor or Auto Air.

cheers

Joo