Masking Headlights

[McG]

I've just started on the Tamiya Porsche 911 Turbo 1988 and the instructions call for part of the headlights to be painted the same colour as the body. I figured it would be best to attach these to the body prior to painting to ensure both a nice fit and a matched colour to the body. 

 

Now I need to mask the part of the headlight that will remain clear. What is the best way to achieve this, Tamiya tape or Maskol? 

 

 

[keefr22]

Personally I always use Tamiya tape for jobs like this, I can never get a crisp enough edge using liquid mask. I also cut the tape into much narrower strips than trying to use it straight off the roll as a strip, say 1mm wide, will be much easier to conform to the shape of something like a headlight bezel. One of the best 'tools' I've ever bought is an Infini cutting 'mat' which has lazer cut grooves from 0.4 to 1mm - you just lay some tape over the width you want and run a scalpel blade down the groove. You can also get rolls of Aizu tape in similar widths. I then fill the rest of the area to be masked with more tape, but some people do use liquid mask for that job.

 

Keith

[McG]

Thanks, I went with the method you suggested. Seems to have worked so far.

[Paul H]

An alternative method is to use Bare Metal Foil as masking (especially for small details), since it can be scribed in with a scalpel really easily.