I had been building the Testors re-pop of the old Hawk 1/48 GeeBee R-I as a simple project with my 4-year old daughter, Kate. Simple, that is, until I realized that the deeply scalloped color separation between the brilliant red leading edge and cowling and the pure white aft portions of the wing and fuselage would need to be masked by hand. Now, the R- I is a tiny plane, even in 1/48, and the scalloping was going to require very tight compound curves Some of them on the wheel pants were less than 1/4" in diameter. I also knew that white won’tcover red, and that red bleeding out from the masked edge would ruin the finish.

For a solution, I turned to Scotch Brand "Long Mask #2090" low residue masking tape, purchased at Builder’s Square. This is blue in color, and appears to be based on a polymer, rather than manila paper like conventional masking tape and drafting tape. This gives it superior flexibility without sacrificing adhesion or leading to buckling on curves. I was able to cut strips of tape on the kit, though a penciled line would also work. The tape will accept the tight and compound curves when this narrow, but will not tolerate acute angles. These I had create by overlapping with the strip for the next curve. The tape responds well to burnishing with the wooden shaft of a fine paint brush.

I then filled in the surfaces I wanted to remain the white base color with wider strips and patches of tape cut to slightly overlap the first strips, fish-scale style. (Yes, this was time-consuming and somewhat tedious). The final step in ensuring a good color separation was to spray the masked edge white, intentionally directing the spray into the edge. This helps to further seal the edge and prevent bleeding under the tape. After a day of drying time, I hit the swfaces with my spray can of Testors Gloss Red and prayed. I waited about 12 hours and unmasked. The color separation was beautiful nearly everywhere and required minimal touch-up with a toothpick to push back the still tacky red. No tape residue was left anywhere.

The result: some very positive comments and a second place in the "Air" division at the JHG’s August contest.

-David Geidmacher/JHG Chapter of IPMS