need some help with masking

[Cameron]

HI everyone

I am working on a 1942 Universal Carrier. It looks like this universal_carrier_mkii_1_of_9.jpguniversal_carrier_mkii_1_of_9.jpg

as you can see there are various white serial numbers, stars etc. which I am hoping to spray onto the carrier. I need to mask somehow these sections before spraying and am looking for advice. The base colour is an acrylic enamel and it will be somewhat fresh (24-48 hours) so I don't want to stick something very sticky onto it for fear that upon removal the enamel may want to pull off. I have considered vinyl sign material which would be ideal but the sign guy I go to suggests I don't for the potential during removal.

Has anyone done this sort of thing? I can't hand paint it, I could just use paper stencils and hold on with regular masking tape but I fear that the paint will run beneath the stencil. I also considered using this new frogger tape which I've used in my home for painting baseboards etc and just cutting the tape out in the design I want. Labour intensive but so is redoing the whole job.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Cameron

[Len]

HI everyone

I am working on a 1942 Universal Carrier. It looks like this universal_carrier_mkii_1_of_9.jpguniversal_carrier_mkii_1_of_9.jpg

as you can see there are various white serial numbers, stars etc. which I am hoping to spray onto the carrier. I need to mask somehow these sections before spraying and am looking for advice. The base colour is an acrylic enamel and it will be somewhat fresh (24-48 hours) so I don't want to stick something very sticky onto it for fear that upon removal the enamel may want to pull off. I have considered vinyl sign material which would be ideal but the sign guy I go to suggests I don't for the potential during removal.

Has anyone done this sort of thing? I can't hand paint it, I could just use paper stencils and hold on with regular masking tape but I fear that the paint will run beneath the stencil. I also considered using this new frogger tape which I've used in my home for painting baseboards etc and just cutting the tape out in the design I want. Labour intensive but so is redoing the whole job.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Cameron

If the vehicle has NOT been painted I would spray the white first using acrylic urethane over epoxy primer then mask using masks created by your sign man.
If the vehicle is already painted with acrylic enamel (bad stuff) have your sign man use his plotter to cut masking material then brush a towel or lint free cloth over it to help remove some of it's sticking power before applying it to the surface. If your sign man doesn't have masking material to go into his plotter I have it and will sell if for $3 a foot. This tractor feed, multilayer paper is 15" wide and the plotter cuts it then it's picked and placed on the surface before painting. I've used it several times and it works great.

[Cameron]

Les, is the masking material you refer to just called masking vinyl or something similar? When I spoke to him today I explained what I intended to do so if he had it I've of the opinion he would have suggested it. Do you keep this material in stock? If so, and if he doesn't have it available, I'll be calling you for sure.

As for the paint already on the carrier, yep, not my choice but as we've got the paint from a military vehicle supplier that's the exact match so we're stuck using it.

Thanks for your help.

Cameron

[Len]

Les, is the masking material you refer to just called masking vinyl or something similar? When I spoke to him today I explained what I intended to do so if he had it I've of the opinion he would have suggested it. Do you keep this material in stock? If so, and if he doesn't have it available, I'll be calling you for sure.

As for the paint already on the carrier, yep, not my choice but as we've got the paint from a military vehicle supplier that's the exact match so we're stuck using it.

Thanks for your help.

Cameron

I don't know what it's called but it's not the same a the vinyl for sign making, it's specifically made for paint masking. Yes, I have a lot of it here so if you need it give me a call.