Painting 1/700 superstructure decks

[branston_pickle]

I'm having dificulty masking and spraying superstructure decks in 1/700; I've painted the parts in the base colour for the superstructure, but find it difficult to mask the railings for painting the deck color - trying different widths of Tamiya masking tape, it's just not working

Can you describe your technique for situations where the superstructure deck is a different colour than the rest of the superstructure?

[drasticplastic]

I start by painting each level separately before stacking them and glueing. If the decks have molded-on bulwarks or splinter shields, I airbrush the deck color over all. When dry I airbrush the superstructure color being careful not to overspray into the interior. I go back later and brush paint the insides of the bulwarks and splinter shields. Deck railings I always paint first and apply after all structural painting is completed.

[reigels]

Sounds like you're on the right path - but I'd recommend decks first and then mask and paint the vertical surfaces.

I use the thinner Micron tape however which is a lot easier to fit in than Tamiya:
https://hlj.com/search/go?af=selectseri ... askingtape

2mm is a good starter size, but it's worth buying a few of each set since they are dirt cheap.


Hope this helps
--Scott

[Gabor]

Try liquid mask:

https://hobbytechtoys.com.au/paint/liquid-mask.html

They work like the paint. You can use a small brush, a toothpick or a piece of wire to spread it on the part you don't want to paint. After drying they can be removed with a tweezer.

[branston_pickle]

Try liquid mask:

https://hobbytechtoys.com.au/paint/liquid-mask.html

They work like the paint. You can use a small brush, a toothpick or a piece of wire to spread it on the part you don't want to paint. After drying they can be removed with a tweezer.

I've looked at that, but the one product I had available at my local shop (can't recall the name, possibly MicroMask?) that didn't recommend use with acrylics (I'm using Tamiya right now).

Thanks everyone for responses, by the way.

[marijn van gils]

I have used this one by Abt. 502 and was really happy with it:
http://abteilung502.com/product/liquid-mask/

But for painting decks, myself I prefer to hand-paint them (with the exception of carrier flight decks of course). It does take some time and work, but so does masking.
The trick for me is to use enamels, and to correct the edges with a clean brush moistened with White Spirit. This way, really sharp and precise results can be obtained. Masking and airbrushing is rarely equally precise (espacially for small areas and difficult shapes) and usually needs retouching by brush.
Handpainting does usually require more than one coat of paint, adding to the workload, but the second layer goes on much faster than the first layer since the edges have already been defined.

Cheers,

Marijn