Airbrush/Design??

what is the easiest way to set up a board for airbrush? I have a couple of designs in mind. Using masking tape, I outlined what I wanted. I do not yet own an airbrush or jam gun. I used a paint brush and painted my acrylics on. When I removed the tape, I took off portions of the paint job with the tape. Is this because I let the paint dry? The tape was not exactly as even as I wanted either. I have heard of using masking paper and an exacto knife to cut out patterns, but am not sure of the theory behind it. Anyone have any ideas or a site that might go into detail? Thanks for the help! -Jeff-

You could just outline your paint job with a paint pen. This will clean up the areas where your paint got lifted. If you use a contrasting color it can really make the design pop out at you. You should not let the paint dry before you pull of your tape. You want it to set a little so the paint won’t bleed into the area you just masked off. This is not really a problem unless you lay the paint on thick, which you don’t want anyway. The masking paper thing is basically making a stencil. You can accomplish the same with 4" masking tape. The difference is that if you are careful you can use the masking paper stencil more than once. The tape way is easier in my opinion. Just cover the area you want painted with overlapping tape from nose to tail (vertically) draw you design on your tape, cut it out with a razor, pull up the area you want colored, spray. When you do get an airbrush or whatever remember to tape up a paper skirt around the area you DON’T want painted to prevent over spray. It sounds like it will be blown out again this weekend, but who knows. I will probably be shaping sunday if you want to check out my humble set up.

You could just outline your paint job with a paint pen. This will clean up > the areas where your paint got lifted. If you use a contrasting color it > can really make the design pop out at you. You should not let the paint > dry before you pull of your tape. You want it to set a little so the paint > won’t bleed into the area you just masked off. This is not really a > problem unless you lay the paint on thick, which you don’t want anyway. > The masking paper thing is basically making a stencil. You can accomplish > the same with 4" masking tape. The difference is that if you are > careful you can use the masking paper stencil more than once. The tape way > is easier in my opinion. Just cover the area you want painted with > overlapping tape from nose to tail (vertically) draw you design on your > tape, cut it out with a razor, pull up the area you want colored, spray. > When you do get an airbrush or whatever remember to tape up a paper skirt > around the area you DON’T want painted to prevent over spray. It looks like Im not going out of town after all. To bad the wind will still be on it. I would love to check out the setup though! E-mail me the info at Thanks man!!>>> It sounds like it will be blown out again this weekend, but who knows. I > will probably be shaping sunday if you want to check out my humble set up.

If you tape over already painted surfaces on your blank,you will surely pull up paint on your tape.Keep some extra paint ready to touch up exposed areas.Especially if you are mixing odd/unique colors(mix a little extra,and keep some in a cup off to the side). Also, run the sticky part of the tape thru your hands to reduce the tackyness,and or use already used tape.In these special cases I use clean release tape to start. Also, you can get some spray can acrylic(clear) and lightly coat the area you intend on taping over the paint(I use Dutch Boy fresh look @ K-Mart,red and gold can,clear acrylic).This will help reduce pull off. Don’t mash the tape down!!! A firm tape down with a thicker paint mix will work much better.Stay away from mixing alcohol or thinners in your paints if you use alot of tape lines,because it thins the paint excessively and will cause your worst nightmares to come true! Mix only with water when it comes to hi-volume tape use…GOOD LUCK!Herb.

If you tape over already painted surfaces on your blank,you will surely > pull up paint on your tape.Keep some extra paint ready to touch up exposed > areas.Especially if you are mixing odd/unique colors(mix a little > extra,and keep some in a cup off to the side).>>> Also, run the sticky part of the tape thru your hands to reduce the > tackyness,and or use already used tape.In these special cases I use clean > release tape to start.>>> Also, you can get some spray can acrylic(clear) and lightly coat the area > you intend on taping over the paint(I use Dutch Boy fresh look @ > K-Mart,red and gold can,clear acrylic).This will help reduce pull off. If you want to tape over areas that are already painted a good technique is to use a heat gun (glorified hair dryer). Just lay the tape down (as you normally would) on your paint job. Do your spraying and when you are ready to pull the tape up hit the area with the heat gun. This loosens the adhesive grip (without leaving any behind) and will allow you to pull the tape off with very little to no adverse effect to the paint under the tape. You just have to be careful not to sit in one spot for an extended period of time. You can start to melt things! With a little practice it works very well. Super good for transparent paint over opaque and color blends in certain areas.

If you want to tape over areas that are already painted a good technique > is to use a heat gun (glorified hair dryer). Just lay the tape down (as > you normally would) on your paint job. Do your spraying and when you are > ready to pull the tape up hit the area with the heat gun. This loosens the > adhesive grip (without leaving any behind) and will allow you to pull the > tape off with very little to no adverse effect to the paint under the > tape. You just have to be careful not to sit in one spot for an extended > period of time. You can start to melt things! With a little practice it > works very well. Super good for transparent paint over opaque and color > blends in certain areas. JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO BUY QUALITY TAPE SUCH AS IBM 233, AND WHY IS BLEEDING UNDER TAPE NOT AN ISSUE EXPECIALLY IF YOU DON’T PRESS DOWN TAPE WITH SAY A POPSICLE STICK(OR ?). I’M UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT IF YOU DON’T USE IBM 233 YOU WON’T ACHIEVE A CLEAN/CRISP LINE OR PINSTRIPE. TAPING IS 8/10TH’S OF THE JOB AND VERY DISAPPOINTING WHEN PULLED UP TO FIND BLEEDING! ANY COMMENTS?

i’ve found that using the regular blue painters tape works much better than masking tape for anything i’ve done. whether it’s laplines, or taping the rails off for the hot coat, etc. the masking tape is always too sticky and leaves a residue behind. the blue painters tape works just as well but doesnt leave the surface a sticky mess (and doesnt pull anything up with it). maybe that will work on the foam for airbrush designs as well.

I always try to stick to the same brand of tape every time (pardon the pun). There is nothing worse than taping up your job only to find out when you start to spray that your tape is not sticking, bleed city. I have never used IBM tape but I have used 3M, but that stuff can get expensive ($4 or $5 a roll), with little difference in quality for my application. I get some stuff called frost king for the home improvement store with the orange sign. It sticks well and cuts nice with a razor and is cheap. I always try to press my tape down as much as possible. I agree with you about the importance of the tape job, but ususally my curves are not totally round. I guess I need more practice making the tape follow the exact curve I want. Anyway that is why I outline most everything I do with a paint pen, usually with a darker contrasting color. This trues up my curves and takes care of any small areas that have bled. I have got one shot of a long board I did a while back with a wave pattern down the deck. Maybe I will post it once I register with swaylock. Hope some of the info well help you.

In my experience Blue tape is excellent for anything with resin involved because it does not leave behind any adhesive when resin kicks on it (ie. hotcoating). But for airbrushing it sucks. It just does not stick to the foam the way I like it. Plus to get that stuff in a roll over 1" will cost you an arm and a leg. I like my tape cheap and sticky.

I always try to stick to the same brand of tape every time (pardon the > pun). There is nothing worse than taping up your job only to find out when > you start to spray that your tape is not sticking, bleed city. I have > never used IBM tape but I have used 3M, but that stuff can get expensive > ($4 or $5 a roll), with little difference in quality for my application. I > get some stuff called frost king for the home improvement store with the > orange sign. It sticks well and cuts nice with a razor and is cheap. I > always try to press my tape down as much as possible. I agree with you > about the importance of the tape job, but ususally my curves are not > totally round. I guess I need more practice making the tape follow the > exact curve I want. Anyway that is why I outline most everything I do with > a paint pen, usually with a darker contrasting color. This trues up my > curves and takes care of any small areas that have bled. I have got one > shot of a long board I did a while back with a wave pattern down the deck. > Maybe I will post it once I register with swaylock. Hope some of the info > well help you. THE MAIN THING HERE IS PEOPLE WILL NOT UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF HIGH QUALITY TAPE AS IT IS APPLIED TO DUST FREE FOAM(NOT FIBERGLASS). ALSO THE 1/8" TAPE AS APPLIED OVER THE STRINGER(SHORTBOARD SIZE). BLEEDING SUCKS AND IS AVOIDED BY PROPER TAPING PROCEEDURES. SHALL WE DISCUSS TAPING FURTHER TO HELP OUT THE NOVICE AIRBRUSHERS? WITH THE USE OF WATER BASE PAINT NOWADAYS THERE ARE DRYING/BLEEDING/TAPE QUALITY/LINE SHARPNESS/TAPE APPLICATION ISSUES. WHAT DO YOU GUYS SAY? IT’S A TOPIC THAT IS HELPFUL TO EVERYONE, THANKS…

Good point. You just hit on a problem I faced on my last board. I went out of my way to get 3M 233 (or something high quality from autobody supply). I wanted to mask off a 3/16" stringer for a full deck single color spray. I used a professional quality regular masking tape at the rail line. I was careful to dust off the blank really well and used a stick to press down all tape edges. The rail masking came out great, nice and sharp, no pins needed. The area I was most concerned about and spent the most money on was the stringer masking. Guess what? It bled into the wood. I think I masked it too close to the wood and the water based acrylic just leached into the wood. Not so sure the tape failed. What do you think? Should I have backed off a hair and touched up any exposed white foam along the stringer? Might as well ask another question. I want to get an HVLP gun with a gravity feed cup. Is a $75.00 gun with plastic or aluminum cup and a regulator too cheap to do the job with water based only? Tom

Tom, gravity feed HVLP guns work great!

Just took a look at this thread…One thing I do to reduce bleed under tape/masks/frisket…is to mist the paint on FARTHER AWAY than I used to. It takes longer, I have to make more passes,(let 'em dry well between layers) - and I’m sure it costs me more $ in the long run - but the edges are definitely cleaner. That air can push under tape more than you’d realize. by the way - Tom S. - I used to get bleeds into my stringers, too…until I started going “Felix Unger”, and began taping and sealing the stringer, first, before I started to color. (yeah, me with my q-tip or tiny brushes - sealing the stringer…my friends gave me the royal business, but “these colors don’t run”!). Laters, T.

Tom: Sealer sounds good, maybe a clear acrylic type. I bet the tighter grained woods that Clark offers in the glue up would help too. The one in question had a 3/16" bass, probably a really open grained wood that sucked up the paint. I’m thinking that the ammount of water I used to thin the paint had a lot to do with it. Got a chance to foam tint some rails last week and learned a good lesson on over thinning and masking tape stability. It wasn’t too painful, just a good learning experience. Thanks for the tips. Tom S.>>> Just took a look at this thread…One thing I do to reduce bleed under > tape/masks/frisket…is to mist the paint on FARTHER AWAY than I used to. > It takes longer, I have to make more passes,(let 'em dry well between > layers) - and I’m sure it costs me more $ in the long run - but the edges > are definitely cleaner. That air can push under tape more than you’d > realize. by the way - Tom S. - I used to get bleeds into my stringers, > too…until I started going “Felix Unger”, and began taping and > sealing the stringer, first, before I started to color. (yeah, me with my > q-tip or tiny brushes - sealing the stringer…my friends gave me the > royal business, but “these colors don’t run”!). Laters, T.