Those darn @#$%^ checkered tails

[Tommy D]

Ok seems easy enough, create a mask of sorts, shoot the light first, then the dark.

Does anyone have any practical experience doing this? As a noob it might help give references as where to purchase a mask sheet as well.

Thanks Guys!

Tommy D


http://www.motorbooks.com/Store/UserDirs/motorbooks.com/coverimages/120159.jpg

[p51dplt]

Tommy,
Personally I would get some black vinyl cut to size and go that route. Masking checkers on such a small surface would be hard, although I know guys do it.

Just my two cents,
Brant

[bosley]

I would draw out a pattern of the surface to be checkered on a sheet of frisket or similar masking tape/sheet material and draw the checks on it. cut them on the lines and discard the squares where the dark color would be and transfer all at once with some more tape that is less tacky or some of the transfer type tape that you get with vinyl graphics/stickers.

I imagine that if given an outline of the surfaces and a picture to reference Callie www.callie-graphics.com/index.html could cut you some vinyl masks and send them to you ready to transfer. Or just have her cut them out of black vinyl and call it a day.

[malibu43]

Used the black and white on my Texan. I would look into this before getting too hung up on trying to paint it:

Black and Yellow: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHX92&P=7
Black and Clear: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXHX91&P=7

[Tommy D]

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys.

I have seen the trim sheets and was not impressed. There is no way to cover an entire rudder, or elevator, that I know of, without it looking like a bad tape job. The irregular surface will eat it up.

My hopes were to paint it. Paint will be a nice level surface, unlike anything ‘stuck” to the surface of the rudder or elevator.

There must be a way to make a mask of sorts, apply it over say ½ the elevator or one side of the rudder. Clear the mask to help prevent bleed through, then have at it with the airbrush.

My problem lies in the mask material. It would have to be almost like tissue paper, nice and thin with some sort of adhesive. Yet too much adhesive and it will be a @#$% to peel off.

Tommy D

[barmonkey]

I have often looked at my E-flite P-47 and wondered what they used for a mask. Maybe sombody could e-mail them and pry the secret from them? :)

[edf nut]

Here are some pics of my alfa P-47 and how I did the nose.

If you do a sceme with the yellow and black checker tail, you could do it basically the same way. One nice thing about the checker tails is that the checkers are all the same size.

I painted the cowl white first, then divided the front and back of the cowl by 26. I made a little mark with a fine mechanical pencil and used a piece of 1/4 in fine line masking tape as a straight edge to draw a line from front to back to make the beginning of a grid. Then I divided the cowl by 6 from front to back and used a piece of fine line wraped around the cowl to make my pencil line. Once I had the grid I used a fine felt tip artist pen that had india ink and used that for the black. Once that was done I sealed it with testors model masters spray sealer for the metalizer paints.
I hope i explained this to where it makes sense If any one has any specific questions please ask and I will try to answer them. Also feel free to pm me if you like.

Travis

[milesperpound]

Edf nut,

I love that 47 of yours. Sweet. Great technique.

Tommy,

I used Solartrim sheets and cut each one separately. A bit of measuring a straightedge and a paper cutter. Not perfect but kind of cool. A bit Time consuming. If I were to do it again I would do EDF's way.

Good Luck, and show us how it comes out. :)

Cheers,

Mark

[Tommy D]

Well I finally stopped procrastinating and gave the checkertail a shot this weekend.

EDF Nut, I really tried to give your method a shot. I only had sharpie markers so that may have had something to do with it. Basically it taught me I can’t color in the lines and I ended up with uneven black squares. It also taught me you are a very capable person with a marker!

So, with a humidity level that was uncomfortable I tried giving the airbrush a shot. Not bad if I don’t say so myself for a first attempt. I like the paint as it will blend it once I start to detail the model, touch up here and there, and shoot a top coat on it.

It’s nice to learn something new from time to time.

Tommy D

[barmonkey]

Looks like it turned out very well Tommy...what method did you end up using for the mask?

[Tommy D]

What I did went beyond simple.

The tail was already painted yellow, all that was missing was the black squares. Taping blue 1" painters tape from the LE out I laid down a strip of tape. I then cut out 1" squares that I wanted black.

Laid down the next stripe of tape right next to the 1st. Cut out more squares I wanted black. The tape was 1" wide so I had to cut a box out every other inch.

Really simple. I sprayed clear over all masking to prevent bleed through before shooting the black.

Tommy D

[barmonkey]

Excellent info Tommy. Great idea to spray clear to prevent the paint bleeding.

[rjarois]

yes, very good tip......i will start using for masking lines also. i allways get paint bleed on edge of masking. randy.

[HawkLover]

Great information here! You've given me something to think about. Love the idea of clear to prevent bleed through! Your a genious! ;)

[Tommy D]

Thanks for the kind words. I wish I thought of it on my own, but I most likely just found the idea here on E-Zone.

Some day I will learn to do decals <and buy a printer!> as the one on my subject P-40 were very unique.


Tommy D

[PerfectStranger]

Looks good.

Matt

[bat]

for straight lines over curved surfaces I have heard people use index or playing cards. with liqid mask and some detaile ruler work using an exacto to cut along the lines you wouldn't have to mess with all the tape.