[Sick467]

First time striper (not stripper) here and new to the board...

I will be laying out some stripes on my 67 Mustang this weekend and have discovered that I need to get my masking tape to make a few 90 degree turns. My only thought here is to cut the tape, turn 90, overlap and continue.

Any helpful tips here?

The pic is to show off a little and the next time you see her - Rally Stripes!

Great Board by the way,

Ride On,

Noel

[Rag top bird]

I have seen guys use bottle caps for a tight 90 or you can use a larger cap if you need a larger turn I free hand all mine but its not that easy some one new at it and be sure to use a fine line tape

[Chris Kemp]

3M brand fine line tape is a must! It will make a tight bend. Another trick is when you get it all laid out and have your paper on it, go around and make sure that all of the tape is still stuck down, checking all of the corners.
Buy a roll and practice laying it out before you do the actual job.

[Rag top bird]

Originally Posted by Chris Kemp

3M brand fine line tape is a must! It will make a tight bend. Another trick is when you get it all laid out and have your paper on it, go around and make sure that all of the tape is still stuck down, checking all of the corners.
Buy a roll and practice laying it out before you do the actual job.

I agree 3M has the best tape and the blue is the better one for making tight turns it doesnt lift as bad as the green

[LATECH]

why cant you cut the tape on a piece of glass then peel it and put it where you want it. Then all you would have to do is the tape up to and leaving the curve. Now remember I am not a bodyman ,I can barely paint a house.Just a thought.

[Rag top bird]

Originally Posted by latech

why cant you cut the tape on a piece of glass then peel it and put it where you want it. Then all you would have to do is the tape up to and leaving the curve. Now remember I am not a bodyman ,I can barely paint a house.Just a thought.

well I guess you could try that I never have but it seems to me that you could have paint bleed thought where the corner meet the straight peace

[Sick467]

Thanks folks,

I am currently using/practicing with the 3M green fine line tape and have noticed that it tends to stretch and thin when making tight curves. Not too big of a deal, I think I can pratice that out. My main concern is making a strick 90 degree sharp corner. I am basically needing to make a "T" with my tape. If I go this way, I will end up with tape overlapping which, in my unexperienced mind, could leave a line where paint can bleed to - where the tape leaves the paint surface and continues onto the adjacent strip of tape. Similar to what latech has descriped.

Hopefully I'm making more of this than necessay, but I had to ask for tips. I plan to use my fingernail to get the tape to mesh as tightly as possible and try not to lay the paint on too wet on the first coat. I'm covering bright white with jet black.

Ride On,

Noel

[Hotbo]

get the Blue fine line it is superior to the green.

[MARTINSR]

I have to tell you my experience has been that none of these tapes bend a tight corner well. Well let me put it this way, it will make the bend but it won't stay down long enough to get the painting done!

Tape is cheap (well, it's cheaper than re-dos) so tape out what you plan on taping and let it set as long as you figure the painting will take. Tape it out tonight (obviously not the whole thing, but the critical areas) and let it set until tomorrow. Look at those corners and see if the tape has pulled up. If it has, you need to do something different. If it hasn't, then you are good to go.

I have found that cutting and overlapping is the only way to do real tight curves.

Brian

[Badtoad454]

The 1/8 blue fine line works good. Just keep the temp around 70 to 80 and it sticks good depending on how tight your laying it on. When the temp changes is when it starts to shrink back somewhat but it can be done, not to hard.

[Old Fool]

Is the OP asking how to make a tight radius 90 or a sharp square 90?
Two very different situations.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Badtoad454

The 1/8 blue fine line works good. Just keep the temp around 70 to 80 and it sticks good depending on how tight your laying it on. When the temp changes is when it starts to shrink back somewhat but it can be done, not to hard.

It is obviously a technique can you get a piece of tape and lay it out and explain how you make those curves? Are you stretching it a little as you push it down? Or are you letting it "gather" a little as you push it down?

I have done VERY little custom paint but always seem to have a problem with that tape pulling up on the corners. I will press it down and run my finger nail backwards across it like a "squeegee" when putting a large decal on. If that makes sense. I have had the darn tape come up just about every time I have tried to bend sharp corners. Fine line in blue or green, it doesn't seem to make a difference for me.

Without a doubt if I had taped up that truck I would have had rolled up edges here and there. What are some tricks?

Brian

[milo]

Templates ... I like the American brand name masking tape.
It turns corners better than any other masking tape as far as masking tape turns and sticks to its'self..The blue fine line is also the best for corners and green fine line handles straight lines with ease..

When I mention templates I mean that one would use tape as a guide to the tape that is going to be the mask...so mock up first then put the actual tape next to it instead of trying to put down the stripe in one shot..


*this may help--> http://www.a2zautoforums.com/showthread.php?t=3407

[MARTINSR]

I'm with you on the American tape, it IS better than 3M. On the "templates" never thought of that, but I do tape the edge last as you can see in this "Basics of Basics" on two tone masking. CLICK HERE

Brian

[MARTINSR]

Milo, I looked at your link and now I am confused. You show the template being made from a tank already painted. I read what I thought was every word, but I don't understand. Did you pull that template off a previously painted tank so you could duplicate it?

I was under the understanding before I clicked on the link that you would mask the tank up then mark the edges then remove the template and then fine line the edges then mask between the fine line. Is that what you did and I just don't get that from the photos? Are you showing the template in the first photos over the white to explain the process but the tank was already painted at that time?

Check out my link as to how I do it, are you doing basically the same thing?


Brian