First let me say I have not put together a model for nearly 50+ years - yes, I did not stutter !

I decided to do 3 F-4C Phantom (Monogram kits) jets to show off our new military paint line. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. The wings, cockpit and fuselage are built. Painted the cockpit and figures OK, also the wheels, struts and other small parts and rockets. Assembled the cockpit into fuselage. Cleaned up the seams. Now ready for painting.

The underside is straight forward - seems to be all a single color for the SEA schemes (2 different schemes I am doing). It is the wing tops and fuselage that is daunting. Masks were bought from Gator's Studio. This is where I am stuck ! Should I trace the masks on masking paper, cut them out and use them on the model ? Has anyone ever reused masks for multiple models ? I have 3 to do.

Any advice would help gang. I can tell you right now, none of these models are going to win prizes in any show, unless it is a show for 7 and under age group ! Just because I have a PhD does not mean I can model !

Martin Cohen, PhD
Tru-Color Paint

PS - Building a ship when I was 10 seems to have been a hell of a lot easier. I know it had less pieces (in 1955 !).

It will depend on what type of masking material has been used and the adhesive used on it. It will also depend on the surface finish as to whether or not you will be able to re-use the masks effectively.

I believe that Gator uses a white vinyl? It is thin, 80 Microns give or take a few microns as the material that I use is 80. So lifting it may stretch it or even tear it, unless you are careful, making useless to use again. The adhesive will effect how easy or difficult it is to lift but you can help mitigate that by using a matt primer. A gloss surface will help the masks adhere, so a matt primer will help them release. The problem with that is that the mask edge may lift and you could get paint on the adhesive side. This will not be a real issue with camouflage masks, as long as they fit well to the compound curves of the model and are laid on correctly so that they don't bridge any transition areas (wings to fuselage for example).
I use my camo masks twice, once to outline the camouflage and then once for painting (I paint the colours separately over a white primer). So, depending on the material and primer that you have used 3 times is not beyond the realms of possibility.
Before try it you could weed the sheet (remove the waste) and use a piece of the weeded material to test how it works, over 3 applications.
The main thing will be to remove the masks very carefully after the first and second paint jobs.
When you have removed the masks from the backing sheet store the sheet out of the way. It is silicon paper and it will attract dust like fly paper attracts flies! And you masks will pick this up when you put them back on it after unmasking. Store it in the envelope in which it came?

Mal:

Appreciate the info on the masks. You are right about the Gator masks, they are on white vinyl on silicon coated paper.

I think what I am going to try is to carefully remove the masks and trace them on white paper and then print the paper on our masking paper (our sheets are 24" wide so I can cut them to fit a printer) to make multiples. That way I can use a set then toss them away and still have the pattern to make more masks.

A few modelers even suggested silly putty - particularly if I want feathered edges to the pattern. I don't know enough about the F-4C SEA camouflage to say this is good or bad for the painting.

Hopefully I will start painting the undersides this weekend and tackle the camo by the end of the month.

Martin Cohen
Tru-Color Paint

If you rub pencil graphite over the masks it will highlight the edges, then weed, (remove) the waste material around the actual masks, to leave the camo masks on the sheet. You can then scan them, at 1:1 and print them off. To provide a method to stick them to the model cut squares into the paper masks and then you can lay tape of these holes which will stick the masks down. If you then want a feathered edge you can then just place little balls of blue tack under the edges at long intervals, to lift the edges slightly.
I can't see a scale mentioned but feathered or not feathered could depend on that, 1/72 not feathered, 1/32 feathered, but save yourself the hassle and just use the mask edge and it will be fine.
Assuming that the masks aren't that accurate, be prepared to fill in parts. I'm assuming that you will paint the lightest colour first, than mask that out and paint the next, etc. Each subsequent mask needs to be positioned correctly and be accurate, taking into account the compound curves of the aircraft, to work. If they are not accurate then there will be gaps, which will look odd if not dealt with, Simply use Kabuki (Washi) tape (Tamiya) to cover the gaps, cutting a profile edge if necessary

Then I read again and see that you have masking paper, is that like Tamiya tape on a sheet, if so then yep, print on that and everything is the same other than not needing to cut holes for masking tape

Mal:

Not familiar with Tamiya Tape. Our masking is a special light adhesive coated paper with a release liner. You can print on the mask side easily and cut with an Exacto knife or similar tool. We sell our masking paper in 8" x 10" size sheets in 3 packs ( $ 4.95) and 10 packs ( $ 12.95).

Never thought of darkening the edges of the Gator masks with a pencil and then scan the sheet. Now that is why I asked for help on this project.

Martin Cohen
Tru-Color Paint

Here is the link for tutorial on applying camouflage masking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=womD4C0-9bc

Well that will work too, its the same sort of material that I use Tamiya tape is "Washi" tape, generally known as Kabuki tape but its proper name is "Washi". Tamiya's tape is expensive but you can buy much larger rolls of it on household painting sites as painters tape, but search "Washi" tape to find the right stuff, I use "Kip" tape. It is the most useful tape for none pre-cut masking

And yep, asking usually gets a result Rather than using a pencil, produce graphite dust, by rubbing the pencil on emery paper and apply the dust over the masking sheet before weeding it. That way you will save getting the dust on the backing paper which will blur the line.