Airbrushed paint pulling up on masks

talon · Post by **talon** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:35 pm

I've been working on the PL 1:350 Enterprise Refit/A and I've gotten to the through to the first color coat. I primed with Testors Acryl Gray Primer, Let that cure for a couple days, and sprayed 2 coats of an off-white which was Testors Acryl Light Gray and White with a 1 to 1 ratio of each color. I gave it a couple days between each coat and I let those dry. Yesterday I started putting on the Aztek Dummy vinyl masks for painting the next primary coat of white, and I noticed two of the pieces were in the wrong place by a little bit. I carefully tried to lift them and reset them and when I pulled them up they pulled everything up. Not sure what happened so I'd like to hear some advice.

My airbrush is a Iwata Eclipse BCS and I was running it with the compressor output at approx 15-20psi. The difference in pressure is that between coats I decided to lower the psi a touch. My paints were all Testors Acryl thinned with a little bit of water, but not much. 2 days drying between coats and before the start of the mask application. One of my ideas was to try try a clear dullcoat or gloss coat between each application of a different color.

budgie · Post by **budgie** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:42 pm

did you give the parts a good soapy wash beforehand?

Sounds like there may be some residue left on the plastic..

If it makes you feel any better the same thing happened on my PL Enterprise but I was working with an enamel primer and acrylic overcoats..ended up handpainting the panelling.. not recommended

Budgie

Digger1 · Post by **Digger1** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 2:03 pm

it would also help if you coat the painted surface with a clear sealant and then applying the mask. You could also try heating the vinyl somewhat with a hair dryer on low to make it easier to lift.

talon · Post by **talon** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 5:16 pm

Thanks for the tips. Budgie: yeah I washed it all before hand. I usually wash the pieces before I start cutting them off the sprues. When I examined the model today I tested the rest of the surfaces with some 3M painters tape and it all held, and the tape has more tack than the vinyl masks so I'm guessing that perhaps its been more humid than normal and slowed the drying and curing. I figured that I would test it with the tape and if it pulled up then I would have to strip it all down to the styrene anyways, and if it held then i could just fix the small area.

Post by **TER-OR** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:12 am

A nice glosscoat between layers is helpful.

DX-SFX · Post by **DX-SFX** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 6:57 pm

If the Testors Acryl colours are water based acrylics, I'm not convinced that any water based acrylics bond that well to plastic. Try an enamel matt grey coat first as a primer coat and then use the acrylics. Enamel paints and plastic love one another.

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:43 pm

When I use Aztec dummy templates I stick it a few times to a piece of silk with some talcum on it before placing on the model. This removes some of the tack. It sticks fine but then comes off much easier.

Stilgar

Post by **TER-OR** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:20 pm

I use acrylics almost exclusively - and unless I am using a lot of resin and photoetch bits, I don't bother to primer. I haven't had problems with paint lifting in a long time. I think most of the model paints adhere fine.

But I do clearcoat before masking. It makes the paint more resilient and resist scratching, releases the adhesive better and helps resist lifting. I will also remove some tack from the tape most of the time.