How to - best way to put lines on?

[tmsmalley]

I was looking at my Alfa this morning and noticed that the lines I used to denote the painted lines around the hatches of the sub are peeling. I used narrow white artists' Chartpack tape and they seem to be lifting - even though I sprayed a thin coat of clear over the top of them.

Before I go through that drill again, does anyone have a better way to do make those lines, boot topping, etc?

[stark]

Tim , Dry transfers come

Tim , Dry transfers come to mide as a easy way out, but if you really want to go for the gold try this . First removre the artist lines with a solvent (L thiner) is best, of coarse you must commit to painting her again , and that will be fun! Then scuff her down with some 800 grit paper "wet sand" if you can , now get some white paint , airbrush or spray can. And get a tack cloth , use before you spray , and after it tacks up , or I mean inbetween coats , to get that dust free job !Spray the area wre you want the lines to be , make sure you do two or three passes to achive good covarage , or if you want to do a weatherd look one faded pass will look like what we want later . Now after the paint has cured ( this you can test by touching to see if the paint is Tack free, and leave no fingure prints), you then get some fine line tape , at you auto suply store , they come in a varity of sises , or go to a good hoby store and look in the paint section near the Nascar or R/C cars department , the fine line tape their ,the hobby store stuff is a better scale sises to choose from. Just begin laying the tape out like your refrence photos or drawings show , now you can get very techanical in laying out your lines with the tape , using a hull line marker , but a little of that and the old eyeballing it works very well for me. Ok with all that done simpley paint the hull color over the taped lines and when have your desired covarge , and again she is Tack Free remove the tape . Presto you got lines ! now another thing to remember is to use a burnishing tool to mash the tape down in the resesed hull lines if you have them ! I think what went rong to your boat was what you used , it probably had wax in it the pencil , a purly natural release agent. Thats all I can think of and I cant tell how many custom car paint jobs , or models that this has worked for me , hope this reads well kinda wrote it on the fly. BS

[stark]

Tim I must have missed

Tim I must have missed where you said you used tape for your lines . When I use tape to do detail like that , I keep it down by applying thin CA directly to the tape . This locks it in place and makes it permanent . This will prevents the tapes own glue from softening and lifting . I use tape like that to add deck lines , weld lines , or any raised details with low profiles , once the CA has cured you sand it lighty to nock down any roughness , and prime , and like my before post I use it as a template for rasied white lines , hope this helps . BS