Paint question

[SMHolmans]

Hi folks. I am painting my PocketShip with Epifanes mono-urethane gloss, using 3M vinyl masking tape. When I remove the tape it strips off the gloss layer. Any ideas why this is happening?
Cheers!

[dbeck]

Hi Steve,

how long did you wait before removing the masking tape? I have read this should be done rather quickly, once the paint is hand-dry to avoid the problem your are describing. With our build, we typically removed the masking tape the next day. But in some cases we pulled that off even after half an hour or so.

I hope you don't have an issue with paint not sticking to the primer. Is the primer the recommended one from the same manufacturer?

Dietrich

[dbeck]

Hi Steve,

these days I had a look at your blog. I was wondering, if the problem with paint not sticking might be due to the masking tape. Maybe there is some chemistry going on between the glue of the tape and the paint? We had been using 3M 244 masking tape which is yellow/orange. You seem to have used a different brand.

We did not wait for full cure, but only allowed two days between subsequent coats. Having masking tape on a coat that dried for two days only was not an issue. After each coat, we removed the tape after sanding and applied fresh masking tape prior the next coat.

We waited a few more days, before we applied the first coat of paint onto the primer. We applied only one coat of primer and two coats of paint.

Dietrich

[SMHolmans]

Thanks Dietrich. That's really helpful. I will get some of that tape.