GEdwardJones Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 I was watching The Great Motorcycle Buildoff the other night and I noticed that instead of tape, the guy who painted Indian Larry's used masking sheets (I think they're made by 3M, but I'm probalby wrong ). They were clear, lightly adhesive and could be easily drawn on with a sharpie. I was surprised I didn't see more people using this stuff. then I went on hobbylobby.com and noticed that there's all sorts of masking products (some I remember from my brief stint building R/C cars, but had mostly completely forgotten about.) So, the question is, do you use anything other than regular old masking tape when finishing? If so, what are your perceived advantages/disadvantages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted January 17, 2004 Report Share Posted January 17, 2004 Hey dude, the clear film is called frisket film. It's great stuff but you have to be sure to buy frisket that is compatible with Urethane if that's what you're using, otherwise the fumes will soften the glue and leave residue behind. Also, Most guys, and I think I saw the episode you watched, was the the competition between indian larry and his old school chopper and that really futuristic looking ride that that other guy built? Anyway, for flames and sharp edges, most guys lay it out with 3M masking tape, the plastic green tape, it comes in 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 and up. It conforms to curves awesome, then you lay your frisket over that and cut in the middle of the tape. This way you dont' risk cutting into your surface at all. I don't usually like frisket to much though unless I need to use it like a stencil for some reasln. Generally I will tape off with 3/16 or 1/8 masking tape, and fill in the rest with the low tack green 3M tape. Outside of that, I use a very fine airbrush capable of hairline paint lines and I just free hand everything. Sometimes, if I've airbrushed a very detailed item, and need to mask it, I don't want to use tape of any sort, so I use a liquid mask, they mask very well, but you do want to seal your work with a coat of intercoat clear first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted January 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2004 Jeremy, It was Indian Larry v. Paul Yaffe (Yaffey?). The finish was a Rat Fink airbrush. I actually have little luck actually finding 1/8" masking tape around here, it's always either sold out or not carried where I've looked (craft stores, hardware stores, auto stores). Liquid mask (which I remember from the week and a half I was into serious R/C cars/models) seemed viable for small/intricate things, but more pain than it would be worth for large areas. The frisket film seems ideal for flat surfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Indian Larry rocks! I saw that show...good stuff. Check your yellow pages for auto body paint suppliers. They always have the 3M blue fineline plastic tapes. I'm doing a fully flaked and flamed Harley soon...those shows just pump me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted January 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Those shows pump me up as well. I can't wait until American Hotrod airs, 'cos I love motorcycles, but I don't own one. Cars, however..... I'll check to see if we have any autobody paint suppliers around here. It might just be that I need to go down into the city, out here in the burbs, everything's just a little bit smaller/less well stocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morben Guitars Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 I just had great luck in masking off binding with automotive pinstriping tape. Leaves a very clear, straight line. For most other masking I'll use a blue 3M tape which has a low tack. Any big areas I'll cover with newspaper and just tape the sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 When I was working in the boatbuilding field we used 3M blue or green masking tape exclusively. I still use it on my guitars. One important point regarding poly/urethane and green tape. Its easy to pull up previously laid poly when removing tape. The more expensive blue tape uses a different adhesive which won't react or bond with most surfaces. And here is a little trick I learned about avoiding paint line edges which can be a real bitch to sand out. Lay your tape down then slightly curl up the leading edge. That way when you spray your paint, clear or whatever you wind up with a uniform surface. The level of the new paint will gradually angle down to the level of the surface its laid on, no ledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted January 20, 2004 Report Share Posted January 20, 2004 Those shows pump me up as well. I can't wait until American Hotrod airs, 'cos I love motorcycles, but I don't own one. Cars, however..... My friend somehow saw one...he said it wasn't as good as American Chopper because the people didn't fight as much....oh well, we'll see. As for the Indian Larry Thing, how cool would a gold-leaf binding be!?!?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted January 20, 2004 Report Share Posted January 20, 2004 Those shows pump me up as well. I can't wait until American Hotrod airs, 'cos I love motorcycles, but I don't own one. Cars, however..... They aired the first episode on discovery channel a couple weeks ago. It was really a huge let down, it was nothing like american chopper where you see them fabricating and all that stuff. It was mostly watching Boyd Coddington swear at his workers and complain about how long things were taking. It was assembly, but it looked like a typical rod. The cool part about american chopper is you can really see the creative process taking place. It's far more intersting IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted January 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2004 They aired the first episode on discovery channel a couple weeks ago. It was really a huge let down, it was nothing like american chopper where you see them fabricating and all that stuff. It was mostly watching Boyd Coddington swear at his workers and complain about how long things were taking. Yeah, I saw the first one when it first aired a couple of months ago, it was kinda lame, but I have a feeling it's gonna get better as the guys get more comfortable with being filmed all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.