Stencils

[Jraw4]

Hello again, ok im nearly ready to paint ive got my airbrush, compressor, and ive even bought a cameo silhoutte for the stencils i posess a mac with illustrator cs5 so technically ive got the gear.

The trouble is the know how isent up to the standard of my gear, and alltough my airbrush skills are good i cant seem to work out how to create the stencil in illustrator for the cameo to cut out.

How do i work out where the lines go on the shell, creating a stencil in illustrator is easy, i just cant figure out the transition between the design on the shell and the 2d design that will be in illustrator.

Any help here would be great, thanks all

[eyeayen]

Sorry I'm not sure if I fully understand your question. Essentially you're trying to cut masking film ? Yes ?

If so, just make the shape you want in illustrator and cut it.

You can't template the shell too accurately as the stencil will deform as it's moulded to the shell and unless you're very familiar with 3D software and unwrapping 2D surfaces this is near on impossible, and even if you do understand 3D software a package that unwraps this kind of thing in a way we can use for masking as opposed to just a polygonal flat that can be painted over in photoshop is another thing altogether.

Most of the guys on here use liquid mask, find a centre line on the shell, draw half a design, trace it off, flip it across and then draw on the other side of the shell and cut it out by hand. I do this too but then I use masking film for logo's and effects with shapes and stuff which is where the cutter comes in.

[Jraw4]

Yes cutting film, your answer is what i thought to be honest just thought i might be missing something of a trade secret that only you pro painters knew of, crap there isent, so are pin stripes done totally by hand as ive seen some that look like they have been done by hand because they look crap and some that are so good they could only be done by machine

I think its mainly the pinstriping im struggling with to get it so uniform by hand just complexes me a tad.

So really my question was any tips on pinstripes to follow a direct contour.

[eyeayen]

Practice Practice Practice. I've asked the pro painters and they all say by hand. I'm used to using Lining Tape to make widths when painting the correct way around but it's very difficult getting it correct inside these shells due to the awkwardness and tight sections on them.

Most of us on here use Liquid Mask, you don't have to worry about blow unders in corners or anything with it. There are people who use film though, I guess it's what you feel comfortable with and what you get used to !

Hope that helps. If you get stuck post up what's stopping you moving forward and I'm sure one of us will jump in and help you in the right direction.