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Question about scheme design services

Bill Boyd

Well Known Member
I've been collecting ideas for a paint scheme and might be about ready to convert them to a sketch for the painters (which will be me and an experienced buddy). I am not certain what one is typically purchasing from them beyond the artist's rendering of the finished product.

Do they provide paint masks for the different colors, or X-Y coordinate measurements to aid in free-handing the striping tape? How exactly does a painter go about translating the scheme artist's work product into actual layout on the plane prior to shooting paint?
 
I've been collecting ideas for a paint scheme and might be about ready to convert them to a sketch for the painters (which will be me and an experienced buddy). I am not certain what one is typically purchasing from them beyond the artist's rendering of the finished product.

Do they provide paint masks for the different colors, or X-Y coordinate measurements to aid in free-handing the striping tape? How exactly does a painter go about translating the scheme artist's work product into actual layout on the plane prior to shooting paint?

Bill,
Here's some screenshots of a few pages of my paint scheme layout. Part of the deliverable is detailed dimensions to aid painter. I think pre-cut masking is an option, just not included in standard design work. Hope this helps answer the question you're asking.
 

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Scheme Designers puts out a nice product. There are others that do also. The detail measurements are nice to have but I usually just go by the overall picture.

Another option is to have the design drawn on white paper. You can transfer the design to the airplane with a pencil then follow your pencil line with fine line tape.
 
Curves?

Scheme Designers puts out a nice product. There are others that do also. The detail measurements are nice to have but I usually just go by the overall picture.

Another option is to have the design drawn on white paper. You can transfer the design to the airplane with a pencil then follow your pencil line with fine line tape.

How do you manage to get a smooth curve with fine line tape? Straight lines are relatively easy by stretching the tape out ahead of the contact point, but there must be some trick for how to manipulate the fine line tape in a curve so that the curve is constant and not "bumpy"?

Do the pencil marks need to be removed once the tape is applied and before spraying the top coats?
 
Appreciate the responses, guys. A clearer picture of the task ahead is starting to emerge. I watched the car painter guy lay out and paint my 6A long long ago, working just from a picture or two. We got lucky.

Was curious what changes the new technologies since the 90's had brought to the layout process, and trying to decide whether I should seek professional help. <-- wife would have said a resounding 'yes' to that thought, when I drove the first rivet. :D

Since no one can see and compare both sides of the fuselage at the same time, I can appreciate that eyeball approximations are indeed likely to be good enough when laying things out from a sketch. But I've seen some examples of attempted fancy schemes that clearly missed the mark and fell disappointingly flat. It's an expensive and laborious canvas to goof up the execution.
 
How do you manage to get a smooth curve with fine line tape? Straight lines are relatively easy by stretching the tape out ahead of the contact point, but there must be some trick for how to manipulate the fine line tape in a curve so that the curve is constant and not "bumpy"?

Do the pencil marks need to be removed once the tape is applied and before spraying the top coats?

Once you get your first line down you can stand back and look at the line. You will see all the imperfections. Lay down a second piece of tape next to your line to smooth out the dips or bumps. Use that tape as a guide to re-layout your first tape. It takes patience but just work it out one spot at a time. I find that curves are a little easier than straight lines. You can fake a curve a little but straight has to be straight.

Any pencil mark that can be seen after taping should be removed. Inside the painted area just rub it out with some scotchbrite. If you see any little pencil marks after you have finished painting and have unmasked the plane, they can be removed with a little acetone on a towel or buffing compound. If you leave a pencil mark and paint over it, the mark could show through the color or cause an adhesion issue in that spot.
 
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I sent the .pdf file Scheme Designers supplied me with to Aerographics out in Colorado. They then cut paint the masks which I used when I painted the plane.
Worked very nicely. IMHO, for long, finely tapered curves, machine cut paint masks are the only way to go. It is difficult to replicate these by hand with tape (fine line or otherwise). At least I never figured it out :eek:
 
Worked very nicely. IMHO, for long, finely tapered curves, machine cut paint masks are the only way to go. It is difficult to replicate these by hand with tape (fine line or otherwise). At least I never figured it out :eek:

Aircraft painting professionals can do it, at least the old school guys can, but it is certainly an art or skill that isn't learned by laying out one airplane.

One tool to throw in the mix is a laser level, which can be very helpful depending on your paint scheme.
 
For me, learning or working out how to do new things is part of the enjoyment, if the end result is good!

I thought there might be some typical tools or techniques to help lay out the full size curves, such as a spline rod, as used by boat builders when they loft a wooden boat hull. It could be helpful to be able to lay out the curved paint lines with a long flexible rod. Traditionally, boat builders used narrow wooden strips to "join the dots", but maybe a length of springy piano wire or something similar could be taped on and adjusted as needed to initially position the fine line tape?
 
Using wider tape helps. Hold out a good length of unrolled tape with one hand (hand #1) and use the other hand to lay it down as #1 guides the “sweep” from a distance. This helps avoid waves. You can put some pieces of blue tape at reference points to aim for to achieve symmetry.

A bit hard to explain.

Even then, you will probably pull it up and re-try a dozen times before getting a nice wave-free line that hits close to your ref marks. After a while you will get the hang of using #1 and your eye to match the curve when re-starting


I probably spent a couple hours getting the arching trim line curve on my six just right and even from nose to tail. Lay down a section, pull it up, repeat…. Patience helps.
 
Wider tape

Thanks Mike, it sure does help to use wider tape to join the grid points, that's definitely a good tip! Previously I had tried to lay out the whole curve with fine line tape and it was a total failure.

Hand #1 and hand #2 will need some more practice to get better synchronized but I found it helps if hand #2 fingers press down gently to attach the tape.

Apologies to OP Bill that hopefully this is not hijacking the thread.
 

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Not at all! I'm having flashbacks to the last curves I laid out with 1/8" masking tape a couple years back - the Silpruf window installation! It was fun to learn the technique described here. I think I can maybe pull it off with some good help next month.
 
When laying out curves with the fine line tape make sure you have enough tape off of the roll. You generally want at least a chest's width to work with. longer curves get more, shorter curves get less. that lets your dominant hand move a lot to make a small amount of change in the curve while you use your other hand to help press it into place.

for long subtle curves or straight lines you can walk to the other end and sight down the tape while you let it attach itself to the work.

on the thicker tapes you can also pull on one side or the other to make it curve a bit.

good thing about tape is that it's relatively cheap and easy to remove.
 
I have never bought a mask for an entire airplane. Closest that I have come is a set, 4 masks, of stars and bars. That was $350. 12 inch N-numbers are $75. 3 inch numbers run about $35. My guess would be around $1k for a full airplane mask set.
 
One tip if you're worried about symmetry (like on top of the wings for example) is to work on getting one wing how you want it, then lay out paper to cover the wing, make some reference marks of how it lays on the wing (seams, edges, light cutouts, anything to get it aligned correctly) then trace the tape line on to the paper. Put the paper on a bench so you can cut out the stencil. You can then move over to the opposite wing, flip the paper over and transfer to that wing.
 
Adobe Illustrator

Most vinyl print shops prefer an Adobe Illustrator file.
I have the AI files for the 7A. Full scale, Top, Side and Forward view if anyone needs. I may generate the other models if I get the time. They are imported CAD DXF files.
 
One tip if you're worried about symmetry (like on top of the wings for example) is to work on getting one wing how you want it, then lay out paper to cover the wing, make some reference marks of how it lays on the wing (seams, edges, light cutouts, anything to get it aligned correctly) then trace the tape line on to the paper. Put the paper on a bench so you can cut out the stencil. You can then move over to the opposite wing, flip the paper over and transfer to that wing.

I basically do that for hand layouts. Get one side how I like it then trace the design on paper. Flip it over on the other side, line up my marks, and trace my pencil lines with a pencil. This leaves a faint line on the surface for me to follow. When I’m done it just wipes right off.
 
Evoke Aviation?

I know that one of the services that Jonathan and his team provide is paint masks. Don’t know if they only do that for their own designs, but it might be worth inquiring. I don’t think they are overly expensive given the quality and precision of the masks.
 
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