The Little World

The rise in the hobby of airbrushing models is the best business gift that could ever have been handed to the makers of masking tape. It they are prepared to slice it, we are prepared to buy it…and at exorbitant prices.

And we’re prepared to use it lavishly. Everyone I know who does plastic kits has at least a half dozen different types or widths of masking tape and they cut and stick with no regard to the cost. After all, the models are the main thing and their perfection far outweighs that bite on the wallet.

Well, I have a specially loving relationship with my wallet and protect it from shocks at all times. I think up schemes that involve the destruction of the planet and the disordering of the universe to save $ 5.00. I am not above stealing from poor boxes and/or the pantry to do this.

Today I need to add several colour panels to planes that have already been sprayed. The paint is well dry and extra masking tape will stick to the surfaces well – but I want to use the minimum of tape possible. And I am paranoid about overspray – particularly if it is  bright colour like red on silver. I am paranoid about other things too, but that is what has given me the idea to protect the models.

You often hear of people who are worried about secret governmental conspiracies wearing tinfoil hats to stop their brains from being read. In truth, in many cases it would not be a case of reading anything in there – just looking at brightly-coloured pictures. But the tinfoil is the thing. We all have a roll of it in the pantry, so why not use it for model making. Of course, it is not really tin foil – it’s aluminium foil in various widths and lengths. But cheap as chips and with the lovely quality of being crushable, mouldable, and paint-proof.

Note: I did use tin foil in the early days of dental training as a separation layer between plaster and stone and the acrylic denture plastic. it works well, but is hellishly expensive to buy. Most modern acrylic practise uses an alginate solution as a tinfoil substitute. It works, but not quite as good…

Any rate, I masked the immediate areas of the extra colour tail or band with standard tape pressed well into contact. Then a wider ring of cheaper painter’s tape from the hardware store. Then a square of alfoil wrapped and crushed about the bulk of the airplane and sealed with a little rubber masking cement. This is probably not needed, but I am going to use up all the liquid masking I have for some purpose.

Result? A compact sealed unit that can be sprayed with confidence and unpeeled later with great ease. Now to figure out a way to keep the alfoil roll in the Little Workshop and not hand it back.