Liquid Mask or Masking Tape?
 

About to start painting my new truck body. Have only painted a RC body once.

What's better to use? Liquid mask or masking tape? It seems as though liquid mask would be much quicker to use.

Going to do some basic line designs. Would I be better off using masking tape for the lines or cut them in with the liquid mask?

for straight lines I like tape, but for designs liquid mask is best

+1
Also, IMO, The Bob Dively's liquid mask is the best! Parma mask is good too!

I use liquid mask for all my graphics, faster and easier to cut out with a knife no bleeds

I use both methods and my decision is largely based on the shell and if it has a lot of creases and recesses I use liquid mask and if it is a plainer shell I use tape.

It seems as though liquid mask is much easier to use. I'm guessing though it takes a very steady hand to scribe a straight line with the knife? Any hints on how to make a straight line on tight and rounded areas?

Some things to consider:

Is your design complex?
If so, LMF is like one huge piece of tape, and you can see thru it.

Are you good at cutting stright lines and curves with a blade?
If not, tape (or sheet vinyl) lets you cut your masks outside of the shell, then apply them. You only apply the masks that you like the look of. Cutting in LMF is a "one shot" deal, and you have a harder time fixing errors.
Cutting LMF is easier than cutting thru tape, so you have lessened the tendency to cut too deeply, weakening the shell.

What kind of paints will you use?
Some rattle can paints can "melt" LMF and seal the cuts you made.

As mentioned already, one big benefit of LMF is the ability to mask irregular surfaces and avoid bleeds. These 2 reasons are my main reason for loving LMF over tape or vinyl.
LMF also leaves darn near perfect edges if you do it right.

Tape is nice because when you are done painting the car, you still have something you can use to paint the walls in the house! But I have seen a product that is like LMF for masking window glass when painting trim.

Those are just my .02's.

I've never tried to cut lines in either tape or LM. I'm doing a somewhat basic design. I have all the stuff needed. I'm just procrastinating cause I don't want to screw up my new body.

I'm using Tamiya paint in cans. Just 3 colors.

I've painted 1 rc body and that was 8 years ago! A 1 color wonder that most of it chipped off!

You should try your best to paint the darker colors first.. it's doesn't turn out all the time when you lay white down and then black over that... oops.

...And be sure to wash the inside body with warm water and dish soap before painting.

very important^^^

Also when using spray cans, remember, VERY light coats,10-15 minutes between coats.
Most paint bleed comes from laying the paint on in one coat, or trying to. If you use tape, use a fingernail on all the edges right before you spray, take about 4 coats to cover the color you are spraying and you can use a tooth pick to clean up the bleed under in curves and corners before the next color.

Try a realistic design for your layout, that isn't too complicated, this will help with the result A LOT!

Be patient and you'll be fine. Most problems come from wanting it done it 20 minutes, which rarely nets a good result.

Best of luck,
Jim
W.E.D.
www.wedjim.com

I have a vinyl cutter but still to this day use LMF and tape too. when using tape I find it easier using the Faskolor or the Tamiya tape, reason is you can still somewhat see through it to see your drawing on the outside of the body. If you find your getting alot of tape bleed, I like to use a light coat of Faskoat before applying the color paint. The reason behind this is what ever bleeding that can happen is filled with the Faskoat/clear and the color will not bleed :nod:
With LMF there is no bleeding! I used to use a foam brush to get a nice smooth coat, the bristle brushes tend to leave lines. If you only have a bistle brush, alternate brush stroke patterns to get the low spots filled in and still use 3-4 coats depending on thickness. Now that I paint ALOT mor bodies I use a mini spray gun to apply the LMF. I used to use a airbrush with a .5 needle with some good luck but limited to the amount in siphon bottle and spray pattern. I found a really good spray gun for really cheap
http://www.tcpglobal.com/spraygundep...emno=TCP+G5500
The Needle is a 10 and spray LMF with ease and faster.
Heres a comparisson of the airbrush needle compared to the spray gun needle
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97...10217-1606.jpg
Plus theres a internal filter so no clumping from the LMF
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97...10217-1610.jpg
and heres a pick of the gun and the gauge that comes with the with it in the kit, I set the gauge at 3bar or 40psi.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97...10217-1553.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97...10217-1552.jpg

Thanks for all the advise!

I went with liquid mask. I'll post some pics when I destroy it. I mean finish.

I always use liquid mask, not a god friend with tape.