masking off the body for painting

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crrcboatz

Active Member
Messages
35
Location
Oologah, Oklahoma
Ok, have painted my own boats for some time now but painting INSIDE a body is new to me. I want to paint a couple of bodies and have purchased the correct type of paint from Tower, how do you mask INSIDE something and paint. Looks like afterward, you would need to mask over the inside before paint the other part another color, and will masking tape pull the other off?
Also, can I use edging tape a contrasting color, on the seams of 2 different colors, and just leave it, and not worry about the paint lifting the tape? It is auto grade red striping tape.

One other thing, do I need to use steel wool on the inside of the body before painting and after washing it good inside?

Regards curt
 
DO NOT use steel wool just wash with soap and water,towel dry then let air dry well.When painting always paint the dark colors first,then remove mask and paint lighter colors.You do not have to mask over the darker colors.Hope this helps:)
 
You sir are a scholar and a gentleman!! I appreciate your help and will do just that. Now so if I get the lighter color on the darker while painting that is ok?? Seems odd but just want to be clear. Also, some here have said paint silver or white over the darker colors, what is that about?

Hope I am not driving you all nuts with this but don't want to mess up a 60-70 dollar body!

Also, can I put the striping paint on and paint over it without issue?

Hope I can help some of you on here with my experience in other areas someday.

Curt
 
You sir are a scholar and a gentleman!! I appreciate your help and will do just that. Now so if I get the lighter color on the darker while painting that is ok?? Seems odd but just want to be clear. Also, some here have said paint silver or white over the darker colors, what is that about?

Hope I am not driving you all nuts with this but don't want to mess up a 60-70 dollar body!

Also, can I put the striping paint on and paint over it without issue?

Hope I can help some of you on here with my experience in other areas someday.

Curt

Yes Curt getting the lighter over the darker is what you want.Some guys ''backspray'' the inside when done and using white or silver is good as it won't bleed through.Striping paint?? Don't know what you mean.:)
 
Yes Curt getting the lighter over the darker is what you want.Some guys ''backspray'' the inside when done and using white or silver is good as it won't bleed through.Striping paint?? Don't know what you mean.:)

I mean using regular pin striping on the body inside along the lines between the 2 colors I plan to use. If it were a boat I would simply apply it after both colors are shot as decoration between the 2 colors, and then clearcoat it on.

I would like to do the same on a car but seems that if I don't put it on before the 2 colors are shot it would not show through. I like pin striping and just wanted to do it on these cars too not on the outside.

Curt
 
I have used pinstripe tape between colors on the outside of the body with good results. Used on the inside of the body and left there, it may pull up the paint that it is touching.--nate
 
Crash Course in Painting Polycarbonate

Hi there,

Some of your questions have already been answered, but I'll probably cover those topics again just 'cause I'm in the neighbourhood.

Masking.
You have several options here.
There's the old standby masking tape, and its low-tack counterpart painters' tape. In both cases you have to be very thorough in application, to make sure you've got all the curves covered and masked, and that the edges of your masking are well burnished down so they won't lift while you're laying down paint. In the case of tape, you'll invariably have sections with differing numbers of layers in place, and if you're cutting the tape in-situ it can be challenging to get through all layers without too deeply scoring the body. Paint bleed can easily occur with tape; apply paint in very thin layers so it can dry before it has a chance to creep anywhere.
Next is vinyl mask, either in sheets you cut yourself or in precut designs. You still have to make sure it's stuck down thoroughly, and while paint bleed can still happen, in my experience it's far less prevalent. Most low-tack masking vinyls tend to be fairly easy to cut.
Lastly, and my personal favourite, is liquid mask. This is a thick latex-like gloop that you can paint onto your intended surface, and when dry it cuts and peels very cleanly and easily. You can brush it on, or thin it a bit and spray it on instead. With either method, you will have to do multiple thin layers to be sure it'll be thick enough to peel without just breaking with each piece you grab. Test with tweezers; grab and pull - if it "tents" without breaking too easily, it should be thick enough to work with. You of course want it to be as thin as possible, so it'll cut easily. The balance point isn't too hard to find; do some tests in an unused section of the plastic. I very much prefer spraying liquid mask, but if you've never worked with it before you should probably brush it on - just be sure to smooth out your brush strokes as best you can, and apply in thin layers, letting it dry between coats. Again, test at each coat to be sure it'll pull up without breaking too easily.

Painting.
The standard rule is to paint your darks first, then lights. You need your paint only to be as thick as is minimally required to be bright and even while on the chassis and viewed from above - hold it up to a light and depending on the colour you'll probably be able to see right through it. This is the reason for the standard dark/light rule - paint dark behind light and it'll ruin the lighter colour. This rule of course can be broken, but it's not recommended for your first few works on clear plastic.
Once a layer is down, say black for example, you can ignore it for further colours - you don't need to mask it like you would have to in the case of a boat or ABS car/truck body. Such is the magic of clear plastic.
When spraying apply the paint in light, thin coats. You want it to be in the process of drying as soon as it lands - this will give it no chance to run or to bleed under your masking. In most cases, apply just enough coats that the colour is thorough and even. This is of course a rule that is meant to be broken, but I don't recommend it for your first few pieces. You can easily test to be sure if you like; set the body down over a high-contrast item and judge for yourself how opaque you like it. I use a tablecloth with a black&white checkerboard pattern.

Practice!
There are millions of words on the web about painting, and millions more photos.. but when it comes down to it the most effective teacher is experience - even a little bit goes a long way. Get yourself a couple empty clear plastic soda bottles; rinse them out, cut them in half lengthwise, and practice your process on those. It'll give you a sense of just how your materials are going to work for you, and make the first body you work on that much easier and more fun.
This is probably a good idea in reference to your striping paint question as well; adhesion might be an issue. Lay down some stripes, back it in another colour, let it dry, and give the test plastic a bit of a flex to see if the stripe flakes away.
If you've painted "forward" before (on the outside surface of boats I think you mentioned), then really the biggest hurdle is learning how to paint "backward" (on the inside of clear plastic).

I hope this is of some help. Have fun!
 
Hi there,

Some of your questions have already been answered, but I'll probably cover those topics again just 'cause I'm in the neighbourhood.

Masking.
You have several options here.
There's the old standby masking tape, and its low-tack counterpart painters' tape. In both cases you have to be very thorough in application, to make sure you've got all the curves covered and masked, and that the edges of your masking are well burnished down so they won't lift while you're laying down paint. In the case of tape, you'll invariably have sections with differing numbers of layers in place, and if you're cutting the tape in-situ it can be challenging to get through all layers without too deeply scoring the body. Paint bleed can easily occur with tape; apply paint in very thin layers so it can dry before it has a chance to creep anywhere.
Next is vinyl mask, either in sheets you cut yourself or in precut designs. You still have to make sure it's stuck down thoroughly, and while paint bleed can still happen, in my experience it's far less prevalent. Most low-tack masking vinyls tend to be fairly easy to cut.
Lastly, and my personal favourite, is liquid mask. This is a thick latex-like gloop that you can paint onto your intended surface, and when dry it cuts and peels very cleanly and easily. You can brush it on, or thin it a bit and spray it on instead. With either method, you will have to do multiple thin layers to be sure it'll be thick enough to peel without just breaking with each piece you grab. Test with tweezers; grab and pull - if it "tents" without breaking too easily, it should be thick enough to work with. You of course want it to be as thin as possible, so it'll cut easily. The balance point isn't too hard to find; do some tests in an unused section of the plastic. I very much prefer spraying liquid mask, but if you've never worked with it before you should probably brush it on - just be sure to smooth out your brush strokes as best you can, and apply in thin layers, letting it dry between coats. Again, test at each coat to be sure it'll pull up without breaking too easily.

Painting.
The standard rule is to paint your darks first, then lights. You need your paint only to be as thick as is minimally required to be bright and even while on the chassis and viewed from above - hold it up to a light and depending on the colour you'll probably be able to see right through it. This is the reason for the standard dark/light rule - paint dark behind light and it'll ruin the lighter colour. This rule of course can be broken, but it's not recommended for your first few works on clear plastic.
Once a layer is down, say black for example, you can ignore it for further colours - you don't need to mask it like you would have to in the case of a boat or ABS car/truck body. Such is the magic of clear plastic.
When spraying apply the paint in light, thin coats. You want it to be in the process of drying as soon as it lands - this will give it no chance to run or to bleed under your masking. In most cases, apply just enough coats that the colour is thorough and even. This is of course a rule that is meant to be broken, but I don't recommend it for your first few pieces. You can easily test to be sure if you like; set the body down over a high-contrast item and judge for yourself how opaque you like it. I use a tablecloth with a black&white checkerboard pattern.

Practice!
There are millions of words on the web about painting, and millions more photos.. but when it comes down to it the most effective teacher is experience - even a little bit goes a long way. Get yourself a couple empty clear plastic soda bottles; rinse them out, cut them in half lengthwise, and practice your process on those. It'll give you a sense of just how your materials are going to work for you, and make the first body you work on that much easier and more fun.
This is probably a good idea in reference to your striping paint question as well; adhesion might be an issue. Lay down some stripes, back it in another colour, let it dry, and give the test plastic a bit of a flex to see if the stripe flakes away.
If you've painted "forward" before (on the outside surface of boats I think you mentioned), then really the biggest hurdle is learning how to paint "backward" (on the inside of clear plastic).

I hope this is of some help. Have fun!

WoW what a Great thread. I cannot tell you how good this is. Learned a buttload and have already printed it for future reference. You have cleared up everything. I appreciate you for this.

Curt
 
Aye, I do.

I paint 'em on the top front and back too. ;)

Sorry, paint fumes and lack of sleep make for peculiar posts.

But yes, I do custom paintwork.

What are your rates? I have an FG Hummer body that needs to be squirted... Any idea on prices?

Thanks,
Trip..

This is an example of what not to do, when painting a body.

Candy red, Indy silver backer, not waiting for the silver to dry, then using window tint,= Orange!!!! ...And no the "Shadowing" effect was not intended! But in my own defense, it does look kinda cool. Ha Ha.
 
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Hi Trip,

Well, for a 1/5 shell a single-colour paint job starts at $100 - this does on a largescale shell however include head/taillights, window trim, and when molded-in, body detail lines such as hood, door separations and so on. Adding designs and detail will increase the price in proportion to the amount of work involved. A nice basic flame job with pinstripe would run about $200 or so. If there was something specific you had in mind, let me know and I should be able to quote a price. Alternatively, with a theme in mind I can work to a specific budget as well.

Something to consider however is that I'm located in Canada.. shipping across the border in either direction isn't necessarily prohibitive, but it's a bit higher than hiring a painter more local to you.

Hopefully this answers your question.
Cheers!
 
your prices in canadian or usd?

They're not so much prices as ballpark estimates. Well okay, the $100 single-colour is a baseline; and is in Canadian dollars. Remember though that it doesn't include shipping in either direction, nor the body itself. Exact quotes depend on just what's involved in completing the design and getting it in your hands.

Short answer - Canadian.
I can quote in US though if you prefer.
 
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