The Little World

Too much, and they don’t fine you – they throw you in gaol.

I had been seeing the word ” washi ” for some time in the modelling press. It was mostly associated with masking tapes for model painting. This is a subject dear to the hearts of all of us – we use the tapes whether we are brush or spray painters.

There are well-known brands like Tamiya, 3M, and Ustar that provide tapes in different materials and of different widths and adhesive strengths. I have a couple of plastic dispensers wound with them and use the plastic ones around corners and the paper ones for straight lines. Since I’ve learned to use a cocktail stick to seat them firmly, there is very little edge creep.

But ” washi “? Asking a former language student at the dinner table, it turns out to be one of the Japanese words for paper. Paper tapes. Simple.

Imagine my delight to discover a cheap dispenser of ” washi ” tape in Officeworks. It is just about the most useful standard width. The dispenser is charming. Whether the tape has any value remains to be seen, but the price was such as to encourage experimentation.

If all else fails, I can wrap up the cat with it and post him to Peru.