Warship boot topping???

[Kevin FlemingParticipant @kevinfleming72293]

hi everyone,

 

I’m building a 96 scale Type 23 frigate RN HMS SOMERSET. I am looking to get the paint work spot on for the hull. Is there anythin available other than painting the black boot topping. I always find when masking off the line etc it can some times go slightly wrong after i have removed the masking tape….hints or tips appreciated

 

Thanks  

 

Kev

[Kevin FlemingParticipant @kevinfleming72293]

[Colin MillerParticipant @colinmiller68338]

you could use black coack line tape or

Black Insulating tape

 

The coach line tape is much better BUT once it is on it is on

it is difficult to remove if you make a mistake

 

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean! I use Trimline tape see here:

 

 http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/trimline.html

 

It’s barely thicker than a coat of paint and gives a very neat finish. It is waterproof but you can varnish over it if you wish. Widest width is 10mm, if you need more you could use two strips side by side. Only thing to watch out for is not to stretch the tape when applying it.

 

Colin

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Kevin,

 

Please find a photograph of my replica Veron ‘Police Launch’. I took Colins advice and bought the Model Technics Trimline,  this product is used on this craft. It gives a superb finish.

 

Tony.

 

Edited By Tony Hadley on 13/08/2009 21:32:11

Edited By Tony Hadley on 13/08/2009 21:33:04

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I have used both methods, paint and tape. There is no doubt that for very thin lines, tape is king. But.

 

Ashley`s tip.

I think the secret of making a decent job of paint lines is to use some decent masking tape. A nice new roll, with clean fluff free edges, not one you have had in the toolbox for years. Apply it and really really run over the edges; press those edges down! use a wooden spatula if necessary . perhaps wipe any dodgy edges with a meths dampened rag ( hic!) . Then apply paint. wait for a bit (or not if you are like me) and then gently peel it off. Wait and DO NOT attempt to wipe off any bleeding or runs (shouldnt have runs if you waited a bit, few hours) until the paint has started to go off. I prefer to touch up less satisfactory bits with paint rather than wipe off bleeding, but there shouldn`t be many of those.

 

To be honest, I prefer to paint as I know it will last the distance, any scratches can be touched up etc. any peeling or scratching off your tape and….well……

 

Ashley (has small boy to maul carefully crafted boats on the pond)

 

 

[Kevin FlemingParticipant @kevinfleming72293]

Many thanks everyone, excellent advice.

[Alan PooleParticipant @alanpoole81825]

Hi Kev,

 I would agree with Ashley here, paint is the only method that I would use. On a Type 23, the black boot topping flares up towards the bow and to a lesser extent the stern. the increase in the bow width/height of the black portion is very important as it helps to give the 23,s their sleek lines. As an aside if you look at the pennant numbers they appear to dip down at the bow, this is because they are painted to the bottom black line of the boot topping which is level with the keel,

I now use Tamiya masking tape available from most model shops to mask off the topping, it is very forgiving and can be removed and replaced several times to get the lines correct without loosing its adhesiveness(is that a word?) prior to finding this I used a vinyl tape used professionally I believe for similar purposes, my supply of this has now dried up. I have been building HMS Kent for a long while now and have studied the class carefully and as you, want to get everything right!

Hope that helps…

Cheers  Alan..

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Good point Alan, tape is not the best method in every situation. But a lot of full size vessels do use optical effects to enhance their appearance. You may be able to get away with sweeping the tape upwards slightly at the bow. It rather depends on whether on the original vessel the “thickness” of the boot topping remains constant so you can use tape or whether the lower line stays parallel to the keel and the upper one sweeps up in which case you will probably have to use paint.

 

If you are going for absolute true scale appearance then paint is probably best as long as you can cope with the precise masking arrangements in which case using a very high quality masking tape such as Tamiya is essential.

 

One other point to bear in mind is that a really neat, if slightly inaccurate job using tape will probably look better than an indifferently executed job using paint which has slightly uneven lines due to colour bleed!

 

It all depends on the nature of the model and the standard you are aspiring to.

 

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

The other method I use (black only) is to draw the ..whatever…lines, boot topping…. in outline with a fine black indelible marker and then paint in afterwards, no masking.

 

This depends on a steady hand though. The lads HMS Argus was done like this, as masking dazzle camo is a bit taxing.

 

I did use tape on the Blue dazzle, bit by bit and using a scalpel, and thats why i used the pen method on the Black!

 

dab hand with a pen me, all those portholes on the Titanic

 

Ashley.   Pencil drawn on grey undercoat and blocks of colour done freehand,

alternativly!

Edited By ashley needham on 21/08/2009 23:01:47

[Author]

Posts