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Hey guys, can you please help me out? I would like some basic tips on how to paint a body. I am quite good with a rattle can but I've never used things like liquid mask or done multiple layers etc. Pics would be helpful too. Thanks in advance.

Get on youtube. There are a lot of demonstration videos on how to air brush and use different masking techniques.

What Mikeyboy said. I'll chime in because, after a disheartenening bout with failed masking & bleed-through, even after a proper dish-soap washing, scouring with SOS pad, cleaning before tape-masking with denatured alcohol, and using expensive blue 3M fine line tape. I finally was so fed up with all the bleed-through and paint lifting at the tape edges (after painting only one color, black) that I decided to remove all the black and start over. Unfortunately, the nitro fuel and fine sandpaper I used to remove the black caused the Lexan to go milky and hazy in places, and scratched in others. I was ready to chuck the body in disgust but decided WTF, I'll paint it anyway and it'll be a basher body.

I used FasMask for my second attempt, and my God, what a difference! I don't think I'll futz around with masking tape anymore. You shake the bottle really well, then paint it on with a half-inch-wide soft-bristle paintbrush. Paint the first layer on thick but evenly, then let it sit overnight to dry. When it's dry, it'll go from a milky blue color to clear. Repeat that for a second and third layer, some even do a fourth. One layer per day, unless you use a hair-dryer to speed up the drying. It's slow but easy. When you're done your final layer and it's dried to clear, you're ready to cut out the areas you plan to paint. How you do your particular paint scheme is up to you.

FasMask has its issues; it's easy to cut free-hand designs in it, but things like straight lines require a very steady hand; I used thin masking tape to show me where to cut some lines, I followed the edge of the tape. Also, when you're painting several colors, it can get a bit difficult to see what you've painted and where you're cutting from the outside, because the inside of the FasMasked body is all covered with paint. But as far as clean lines and stopping bleed-through and lifting, if applied properly, FasMask is much easier to use and gets great results much easier than tape.

For simple-ish masking, I like to work with electrical tape. It maneuvers well, and very easily follows body lines. The more radically I need to bend the line, the thinner the strip of tape I'll use.
It makes for excellent crisp lines, and doesn't bleed like masking tape will.

But then again, my paint-jobs are never very complicated. Two colours are the norm, 3 if I'm feeling artistic.

just use automotive pinstrip for tape.

tsan wrote:For simple-ish masking, I like to work with electrical tape. It maneuvers well, and very easily follows body lines. The more radically I need to bend the line, the thinner the strip of tape I'll use.
It makes for excellent crisp lines, and doesn't bleed like masking tape will.

But then again, my paint-jobs are never very complicated. Two colours are the norm, 3 if I'm feeling artistic.

I haven't used electrical tape but I can say the stuff I used was supposedly the best stuff for the job, and also that the Optima body has some particularly challenging spots to mask properly. I don't know what I could've done to do a better prep job, or what I did wrong. It was totally frustrating. The results I've had with my first-ever use of FasMask were MUCH better. Very little bleed-through even with complicated shapes. The body I was gonna toss became my "practice body", and it's turning out so good that it'll be perfect for driving around.

I have learnd the hard way that tape will dry out and leave glue behind that you will not see untill the paint has dryed. spend the cash buy a new roll and look for a date on the box

Hey guys, thanks for the tips. For cutting the body, do you guys use lexan scissors or an knife? Sorry for the the questions - I like to be prepared!

steve wrote:I have learnd the hard way that tape will dry out and leave glue behind that you will not see untill the paint has dryed. spend the cash buy a new roll and look for a date on the box

I had that happen with fresh tape, they were sold individually in unopened shrink-wrap packaging so I don't think drying out was the problem.

RC104ever, it's good to have a few tools for cutting the body. Lexan scissors are good for tight spots and curves, but for most of the body, it's best to score a line that you wish to cut, then "tear" it apart along the score-line. You have to make sure to only score one line, though--no slips or oopsies. If you do one smooth score, it should tear apart quite nicely along that line. Practice on spare Lexan to get the technique down.

Anyone tried the new masking tape that absorbs paint? Can't remember what its called, but we have it here and it supposedly turns paint into a gel so it doesn't bleed.

frog tape, works with water based pait .