checker board

[bird]

Going to checker board the tail for the wife, I was wondering what is the best masking to use in order to paint?Going the base coat/clear coat route. I'm thinking of maybe going to a local vinyl shop and have some squares cut. The thought of masking each one with masking is uhhhhh.
What have others done? Thanks all

bird

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by bird

I'm thinking of maybe going to a local vinyl shop and have some squares cut. The thought of masking each one with masking is uhhhhh.
What have others done? Thanks all

bird

I have done it that way before and it works well. Don't use vinyl squares though, they will be very difficult to remove. Ask for the same material they use to make painting stencils.

[Snowflake]

The sign cutter can die-cut the stencil and put it on a carrier that you can just stick on your tail in one big sheet... Then you just peel the carrier off, leaving the stencil on the tail. Paint, then remove the stencils. No need to hand-place every square yourself... That's just crazy!

[Neal@F14]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

The sign cutter can die-cut the stencil and put it on a carrier that you can just stick on your tail in one big sheet... Then you just peel the carrier off, leaving the stencil on the tail. Paint, then remove the stencils. No need to hand-place every square yourself... That's just crazy!

That's what the builder of my RV-6 did. It turned out very well.
I call my RV-6 "The CheckerBird II". My old Cherokee with it's orange and white checkers all over the airplane was "The CheckerBird".


My old Cherokee before it was repainted...

[bret]

I did checker stuff....kinda. Base clear, just make sure you time the paint for chemical bonding.

[bird]

Thanks for all the info guys, I appreciate it very much. I am going to find a place where I can get them made for me on a carrier sheet. That sounds easy enough for even me to do.

bird

[flyboy1963]

everyone is right; but I wanted to say that the 'paint mask' I used was nice, removed cleanly etc, but to be more solvent resistant I suppose, was more brittle than the PVC type vinyl sheeting, and thus more difficult to conform to curves, rivets etc.
I think any vinyl would be ok, provided you clean and prep thoroughly if you are clearing over the whole job. Some vinyl adhesive leaves an invisible residue that seems to affect paint bond and drying characteristics. ( silicone?)

while I'm thinking of it, the sign shop can also distort the checkers to exactly match the taper of the rudder, if you like that more custom look.

[Paul K]

Just to make sure everyone understands, Paint Mask is a special type of vinyl sheet made just for this type of application. It comes on a carrier sheet that can be fed into a computerized plotter/cutter and just about any 2D design you can think of can be cut from it. After it is cut, the parts you want to paint are weeded out and only the "masking" parts are left in place. Then a transfer sheet is applied to the top of this.

When you want to apply the paint mask to the surface, it is positioned and taped in place. Usually two stripes of tape in the middle are good. You then lift one end and peel back the backer, carefully, and make sure the vinyl stays on the transfer sheet. You then stick it the the surface, using a squeezy or applicator to get it to lay flat without bubbles and with the edges pressed down. then remove the transfer sheet leaving the mask on the surface.

After you paint, peel the mask off and you are left with the original design. Clear over it or whatever you are using for paint.

Been in the sign business for over 35 years and have seen this process evolve over the years and it is really refined to prefection. In a week or two, I will post photos of the RV7A I just painted using lots of paint mask with this process.

Hope this helps.

Sounds complicated but it really isn't. For help, any sign shop can assist.

[Berchmans]

I had an vynyl one made...looks just fine to me. I can't paint to save my life. Done in 20 minutes.

[flyboy1963]

some amazing work there Paul.....you're obviously a man of many talents.

if you haven't looked at his build log...go there!