Soft edge camo masking technique

[Woody V]

I’ve always wanted to achieve a barely perceptible soft edge on adjacent colors and I found this idea here (or somewhere on Facebook) and it actually works, even with hands like mine who seem to have a mind of their own.

 

You need 3 things, 18mm wide Tamiya tape, a roll of servo tape (which is inexpensive, readily available and inexpensive), and a copier paper (just plain paper) mask.

 

STEP 1

Stick about a 2 inch length of Tamiya tape on your cutting board.

 

STEP 2

Stick the servo tape to the Tamiya tape. Servo tape is a thin layer of foam with a VERY aggressive adhesive, and the gap it creates between the mask and the surface to be painted is even all the way through. I’ve tried rolled up tape and low-tac worms and neither can hold a consistent gap. Push it down as firmly as you want and the foam springs right back.

 

STEP 3

Cut a thin strip, peel away the blue paper, and run it about 1/4 inch in from the edge of the mask. The adhesive on the servo tape is very aggressive and will not reposition easily, if at all. The Tamiya tape will wrinkle in the turns, when this happens just slice through the bumps to relieve the stress. Don’t pay too much attention to the fact that tape-to-edge distance in this picture is not even. This photo was taken before I came up with the 1/4 inch suggestion.

 

STEP 4

Stick the mask to the model and proceed with painting with a lowered air pressure holding it perpendicular to the edge. Excuse the obvious wrinkle and resulting gap. I fixed this later. No, actually I didn’t, I just held it down as I was painting.

 

RESULT

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Looks like a great technique, but...what the hell is "servo tape"?

 

Kev

[Woody V]

23 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Looks like a great technique, but...what the hell is "servo tape"?

 

I'm not sure but I think it's for attaching servos to things like RC stuff. I got it on AMAZON

[denders]

It just looks like it's double-sided foam tape. I imagine it could be found at Hobby Lobby in crafts too.

[edthev240z]

Looks like a terrific idea!  Does the servo tape mar the paint it is stuck to, and how do you remove the tape when you are done painting?

[LSP_Kevin]

5 minutes ago, edthev240z said:

Looks like a terrific idea!  Does the servo tape mar the paint it is stuck to, and how do you remove the tape when you are done painting?

 

If you check out Woody's post closely, you'll see that he's not sticking the servo tape directly to the model, but rather, sticking it to the back of some Tamiya tape, which then gets placed on the model, replacing the adhesive component of the servo tape. The servo tape then functions merely as a standoff.

 

Kev

[edthev240z]

11 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said:

 

If you check out Woody's post closely, you'll see that he's not sticking the servo tape directly to the model, but rather, sticking it to the back of some Tamiya tape, which then gets placed on the model, replacing the adhesive component of the servo tape. The servo tape then functions merely as a standoff.

 

Kev

Thanks, Kev!  A d'oh moment for me......

[Jeff T]

16 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Looks like a great technique, but...what the hell is "servo tape"?

 

Kev

I thought it was tape we'd have to get at a servo Kev!..

[LSP_Kevin]

4 minutes ago, Jeff T said:

I thought it was tape we'd have to get at a servo Kev!..

 

Me too! Along with a cheap digital watch and some ice.

 

Kev

[chukw]

Great tip, woody- cheers!

[Ryan]

Great result Woody.

[Woody V]

15 hours ago, denders said:

It just looks like it's double-sided foam tape. I imagine it could be found at Hobby Lobby in crafts too.

It's a lot thinner, stickier and more flexible than foam tape.

[denders]

41 minutes ago, Archer Fine Transfers said:

It's a lot thinner, stickier and more flexible than foam tape.

Okay. I figured it would be a lot stickier based upon its use. Thinner would be a benefit for making a narrower soft edge.

[quang]

I discovered this product from AK. It’s a silicon-based putty rather like Blue Tack but much softer, more malleable and reusable. It clings well on the plastic, doesn’t lift paint nor leave residue.

I use it in conjunction with paper masks. The putty is rolled in the shape of a noodle, stuck next to the border of the paper mask.
By varying the pressure applied to the putty, one can adjust the distance between the paper mask and the plastic and thus controlling the degree of ‘softness’ of the sprayed edge.

Shown for comparison: black snake= AK putty. White snake= Blue (white) Tack

 

It works well for me but as usual YMMV.

Cheers,

Quang