Soft Demark line

[moon puppy]

Working on the Tri-Color scheme on the Hellcat and wondering how you guys pull off that soft demark between colors.

What i've done has been really over scaled. I guess one thing I can do is get the AB really doing pencil thin lines.

Any alternatives? :snoopy

 

[Kreighshoer]

check chuk's ju-388 thread, there he showed us a remarkable way of painting soft edges ...

 

[moon puppy]

Dang, I forgot about that..Thanks Laura

 

[jknaus]

I do mine free hand but there are other ways. Some low tack silly putty rolled into a sausage. I'd tape a line first then apply that over the tape edge. That will give you one way. Another is tape a line then tape again then tape slightly overlapping so the tape stands proud of the skin by a mm or fraction of an inch. Then spray upwards away from the tape. If you spray down onto the tape you get the hard line again. Probably other ways. My fav is free hand though. A nice line by a/b, but not pencil thin or it will look wrong. Then fill in after.

James

 

[moon puppy]

I checked the JU388 thread, goes form unpainted to painted, guess that soft edge was on another thread?
https://www.modelersalliance.com/forum/wesendorf-field/49908-ju-388-planet-models-148-resin?start=344#120578

James I think free hand is where I need to be. I tried the silly puddy but ended up with a hard edge, thought I was doing it right but not practiced enough in it I guess.

Gonna thin it down and give it a shot.

 

[Phil]

I do mine the same as James but I roll my blu tac into a uniform size fairly thick sausage , and spray at an angle so the paint gives that nice feathered result - I did the P-61 this way and I used Tamiya rattlecans - got the result I wanted.

Thicker blu tac sausages MP

 

[chukw]

This gadget is great for getting straight lines, Moon. The camo was sprayed freehand with an Iwata Custom Micron B. I had great luck on my He111 using floating masks- a piece of paper cut to shape and raised up off the model's surface using blue-tack sausages. Be careful to spray at right angles to the mask, using low pressure and thin paints. You can get a really fine line that way.

 

[moon puppy]

BAM! Thanks Chuck

 

[nerdling]

I've always used the poster tac like Phil as well. Seems to work decent for me. Chuk do you have a build thread on that amazing He 111, I've never seen that one.

 

[TomN]

I remember as kids we would tape cotton to the model and hit it with a spray can...actually kinda worrked.

You could try cutting a paper mask and attaching it to the model with that spongy double sided tape, that way
it's sitting above the surface...never tried this myself.

Tom

 

[moon puppy]

Thanks for all the help, ended up doing James's method, just free hand. Got propped up so my had was resting close to the surface. Could not get the Patriot to get thin enough line so I broke out the Sotar :coolio Got some touch ups to do and will get some pictures tomorrow.

 

[matrixone]

Its too late to be of help now but to get soft edged lines on camouflage schemes its not that important if your airbrush can spray fine lines.
What matters the most is the angle you hold the airbrush in relation to the models surface when spraying.

Below are some models that were sprayed freehanded.

To get a tight sprayed line between colors hold the airbrush at a low angle and spray into the color you are currently painting. Its easy to learn how to do this and it will save you the time it takes to mask off the camo pattern on your model.


Matrixone

 

[moon puppy]

Excellent stuff Les, thanks!

That's why I broke out the Sotar to get this done, makes a huge difference. biggest problem I had was keeping the Vallejo flowing. I understand why you like the enamels so much, they flow.

 

[matrixone]

Yes enamels do flow a little better than acrylics without stoppages.

But even with acrylics you can get a tight demarcation line between colors by spraying the models surface at a low angle because you can have a heavier paint flow.

When I freehand the camouflage pattern on my models I don't use highly thinned paints like I do for trying to paint mottling, I want more coverage than being able to paint ultra thin line.

Matrixone