There's no way to tell for sure. It depends on the paint thickness, temps, activator used, ect. The simple answer is, only after the solvents have all left the paint. Time in the sunshine will do the most good. If you think it is cured enough, try taping a inconspicuous spot for a few hours, then see if it leaves tape marks when removed.
To be safe you need to give it some time, 3 days in the sun would be a good idea. Generally anywhere from 2-5 days. Personally I would give it 5 days with several of those days in the sun. When you do tape, get the tape on and off as quickly as possible. Mask just before you paint and you want to be unmasking shortly after (10 minutes or so) you paint. Unmask while it's still wet and you have less trouble with paint peeling along with your masking. You never want to leave mask and tape on something fresh for more than 12 hours, even after the above recommendations.
To be safe you need to give it some time, 3 days in the sun would be a good idea. Generally anywhere from 2-5 days. Personally I would give it 5 days with several of those days in the sun. When you do tape, get the tape on and off as quickly as possible. Mask just before you paint and you want to be unmasking shortly after (10 minutes or so) you paint. Unmask while it's still wet and you have less trouble with paint peeling along with your masking. You never want to leave mask and tape on something fresh for more than 12 hours, even after the above recommendations.
Well that’s unfortunate. Didn’t think this all the way through like I thought I had. Crap! Not sure what to do now. Was on a tight schedule and headed out of town for over a month at the end of the week. I may just have to tape those folded over edges on the backside and touch-up later if/where the paint pulls off.
thank you
I dont think the paint will pull off if prepped properly, it will just mark up the paint where the tape was applied. Like sand and polish will fix it.
That‘s encouraging. Tape will only have to be applied on those edges of the door skin that fold over to the backside and i think I can attach to the inside of the window rails below the exposed edges. Plan to sand the entire job job anyway. Thanks
To decrease the tapes adhesive, pull a piece of tape off the roll and slide the adhesive side across your pant leg or shirt. It will still have enough adhesive to hold itself in place on the car. I've done this several times with good results.
Thanks. I’ll do that. I was thinking I would tape it to something still in epoxy first, pull it off and then apply where I wanted. dusty pant leg would probably work better.
Thanks. I’ll do that. I was thinking I would tape it to something still in epoxy first, pull it off and then apply where I wanted. dusty pant leg would probably work better.
Pulling off of epoxy would work, however, I wouldn't use a dusty pant leg. It would probably kill all the adhesive, and I would want dust particles near when spraying.
Sorry for being a lazy sack of turds and not searching the forum for answers to this; I'm very busy right now.
I just gave two rockets nice white base coats of spray enamel over enamel primed airframe this past weekend. I plan to wait until this coming weekend to mask areas and paint detail.
My questions are [I'm using spray enamel]:
1. Is the 'blue' painters' tape fine for masking areas off?
2. I always seem to either pull off base coats or peel up freshly painted areas when I pull the tape. What do you folks find to be the best option:
-- Mask, paint, and wait [i.e. five days] to pull tape
-- Mask, paint, and pull tape almost immediately
-- Other techniques / timing
Thanks for any advice.
I would guess (and you should wait for others to chime in here - I'm not the expert) that you're not letting your base coats dry long enough if the masking tape is pulling them up afterwards. I've had that happen with rustoleum's "professional" spray paint before, and I fixed the problem by simply waiting longer (a couple days) before applying masking tape to do the next color.
Also, I usually remove the masking tape after 30 minutes or so of letting the new color settle into place.
I would think the blue tape should be fine. As with any masking tape, just keep the edges clean. if you get a dog hair stuck to the edge, you'll see it in the final paint job.
Tips on clean, sharp masking lines in order of importance:
1) Allow base coat to fry completely. For Krylon, at least 24 hours, for Rustoleum more like 36-48.
2) Vigorously rub down the seam edge, though be careful not to scratch. I usually just use my fingernail or the back end of a utility knife blade.
3) After applying masking tape, apply one very light misting/overspray of the base color over the masking seam. That way, if anything bleeds under, it's the base color and this winds up sealing very nicely.
4) Remove all masking tape as soon after topcoat application is somewhat dry to the touch. For Krylon, this is about an hour, for Rustoleum this is more like 6-8. This will help avoid cracking of the topcoat line that tends to happen if you allow it to fully cure. Note--even though the paint may be dry/tacky, resist all temptation to touch it. Whatever it says on the can, wait at least 8-12 hours more than that. Fingerprints will ruin an otherwise beautiful paint job.
5) Use quality tape/materials. I never use manilla/plain masking tape on any painted surface. I generally use blue painter's tape, which is lower tack. If I'm in a hurry and need to cheat a bit on the base coat curing, I will use purple painter's tape--very low tack and very expensive, though generally find this doesn't bite well enough for a really crisp line. I've also had some success with Scotch tape, though hit or miss. Works great going over ridges like Saturn wraps, but has a tendency to bleed, usually where you can least correct it (see tip #3).
--Chan Stevens
Ooooh - I REALLY like that idea!
Great tips Chan - thanks!
I'll only disagree with one point: That is only a half good Idea!
All color coats contain pigments. Pigments have mass so the make a slightly thicker dried film layer when dry. with means a thicker paintdam at the masking lines after masking removal.
Instead: Seal you masking lines with a thin coat of Dullcoat or matte clear. These dry extreamly fast, flashing off the harmful solvents that can effect and lift your freshly applied base coat or last color coat very quickly allowing your next color coat to be applied in less then 15minutes. and leaves about 1/3 thinner paint-dam to deal with after masking removal.
Everything else chan mentions is right on.
Yes good tapes or films are important but not one seals well against capillary wicking. by the Way fine line tape while great for hand lettering is awful against thinner spary paints. 3m painter tape isn't much better. It's not the "tape" that leaks its the adhesive under the tape. That's why liquid masking films work so much better but way slower to set up. next best is a material called parafim-m or another low tac tape call rubylith tape.
Just about anything your going to apply that has an adhesive backing is going to have irregularities, pocket and holes in the adhesive that are gonna draw in your color. a very quick light spay coat of matte clear prevents this from happening.
Heres a few good looks at some of the choices you have to work with. ALL have advantages and disadvantages, and most have a learning curve. you can't expect to try something once and be good at it
Hi Bill
the tamiya is just 3m fineline tape , repackaged.. so if you have an auto body supply place around you can get it much cheaper .
great stuff, I've >never< had a leak with it
Do whatever Stymye says. In the "proof of technique" category, all of his stuff looks great! The one thing I'll add is that I NEVER use the natural edge of the tape. I will always slice a nice, clean, new edge with a hobby knife and a straight edge while the tape is stuck to a piece of clean glass before applying it to the model.