Masking curved pin striping lines

Show off your paintwork, tips/tricks, decals, etc...

Moderators: scr8p, klavy69

User avatar
jbmeyer13
Approved Member
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:13 pm
Location: NJ
Has thanked: 25 times
Been thanked: 11 times

Masking curved pin striping lines

Post by jbmeyer13 »

So I have done some reading on tape vs. liquid masking and am trying to figure out the best method for my needs. I'm not planning to do any crazy designs, rather I just want to be able to curve my pin striping lines slightly. It seems that trying to curve various forms of tape never works out well.

I'm wondering if a combination of pin striping tape and a cut curve would yield decent results? So basically I would take a larger piece of tape and cut out the curved line (so I wouldn't have to bend/curve tape) and then use the pin striping for the areas that require a perfectly straight line.

There had to be a way to get curved lines before the advent of liquid masking :?:

User avatar
Coelacanth
Approved Member
Posts: 7402
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:20 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 307 times

Re: Masking curved pin striping lines

Post by Coelacanth »

I totally recommend liquid mask, especially for curved lines and/or lines that go through corners or difficult-to-reach niches. I've used the best pinstriping tape money can buy (3M vinyl fine line tape in various widths) and they ALL let paint bleed through, especially when you try to curve the tape...no matter how clean I prepped the Lexan beforehand. It's very frustrating to have to remove paint bleed every time you undo a mask!

For curved lines, I'd first apply liquid mask (FasMask or Bob Dively's, though I haven't used the latter as it's not easily available here in Canada) as per the directions. Then, apply the tape with the curved line you want. You don't have to really stick the tape down onto the masked surface, just enough to give you a guideline...then with a light hand, gently score along the tape line. Remove the tape and finish scoring all the rest of your lines, then after painting, there should be little or no paint bleed after removing the liquid mask sections.
Completed projects: CYANide Onroad Optima | Zebra Gold Optima | Barney Optima | OptiMutt RWD Mid
Gallery - Coel's Stalls: Marui Galaxy & Shogun Resto-Mods | FrankenBuff AYK Buffalo | 1987 Buick GNX RC12L3

User avatar
tamiya
Approved Member
Posts: 264
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:06 am
Location: Southern Oceania: AU MY SG
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 8 times

Re: Masking curved pin striping lines

Post by tamiya »

Oldskool trick of avoiding paintbleed under tape is to seal the edge with clear before shooting colour.
PS Matte Clear would work.

User avatar
Brocklee
Approved Member
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 4:23 am
Location: dahlonega ga
Has thanked: 17 times
Been thanked: 12 times

Re: Masking curved pin striping lines

Post by Brocklee »

I've been laying my tape in straight lines and using a sharp exacto knife to cut the curves. After you lay the tape you will have to make two passes with the exacto knife to ensure a clean cut. Once you've done that spray a light coat or if it's a fade spray the edge lightly to seal it. I haven't had any bleeding using this method vs trying to curve the tape which will always bleed threw. Cutting the tape will also leave you with a cleaner line as there always seems to be lint and things caught in the edge of the tape, I even have started cutting my straight lines too so I get a better line.
Cars: kyosho raider, rc10 ce, kyosho ultima pro xl, lazer zx, inferno mp s, losi xxt, xx4we, rc10t3, kyosho zx5 sp, rb6, zx6, rb7ss, zx7, mp10e, crc xl, rc18r, tamiya trf 801xt.

User avatar
MadZero
Approved Member
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2021 8:13 pm
Location: Norfolk, UK
Has thanked: 33 times
Been thanked: 15 times

Re: Masking curved pin striping lines

Post by MadZero »

Yeah I know, 2014, old thread, yadda yadda.. :lol:

..but I’m glad I landed on this it’s really helped me out, awesome, always something to learn on here, loving it.
old glow engines make me happy

JosephS
Approved Member
Posts: 1668
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 9:31 pm
Has thanked: 1095 times
Been thanked: 513 times

Re: Masking curved pin striping lines

Post by JosephS »

MadZero wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:47 pm Yeah I know, 2014, old thread, yadda yadda.. :lol:

..but I’m glad I landed on this it’s really helped me out, awesome, always something to learn on here, loving it.
To follow along, basically apply a thin layer of clear paint, then paint over that?

Benders
Approved Member
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2022 6:25 pm
Location: WV USA
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 26 times

Re: Masking curved pin striping lines

Post by Benders »

JosephS wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:21 am
MadZero wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:47 pm Yeah I know, 2014, old thread, yadda yadda.. :lol:

..but I’m glad I landed on this it’s really helped me out, awesome, always something to learn on here, loving it.
To follow along, basically apply a thin layer of clear paint, then paint over that?
The clear is to lock in the edge…personally I prefer blue fine line myself…tape off the area you do not want to paint right up to the edge then apply blue fine line over your masking tape…be sure to press it in firmly so the color doesn’t bleed under it…if I’m running a two tone I apply the lighter color first and then tape that off after it’s dried then apply the darker color…lighter colors will not cover a darker color but a dark color will always cover a light…so that’s the reason for doing light colors first…

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “The Paint / Body Shop”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No User AvatarCommonCrawl [Bot] and 1 guest