Masking Long Curves

[rockitdoc]

So, I thought I could freehand the curved stripe on the fuselage of my -14A. I did, but it turned out pretty crappy. Lots of variations in width. Not acceptable. So, before I sand it all off and do it again, I would like to know if there is a method a shade tree painter like me can use to get the curves precisely correct. I will try to fabricate a template somehow if there is no other way. I also thought about measuring many many many offsets from a straight line to create an accurate curve. Lasers of some kind?

 

[wirejock]

You can have a mask printed. I think they print on vinyl. I'm not sure how it works.

I have several pieces of vinyl backer long enough to make a mask or template. You could use skin edges as reference so it can be utilized for both sides.

Another option is to have those stripes printed on vinyl.

 

[Bandera]

You can get a vinyl mask made or a paper template. With the template, a line is drawn on a piece of white paper. Use an old school #2 pencil and trace the line on both sides of the paper. Place the template on the airplane where you want it. Use the pencil again and trace the line on the paper. This will transfer the pencil mark from the other side of the paper on to the surface of the plane. Use this line as a guide to layout your fine line tape. Before moving the template to the other side of the plane, make marks on the paper where the skin seams are so you can get it in the same position. Hope this helps.

ETA - The initial line drawing on a paper template is done on a vInyl cutter. The knife is just replaced with an ink pen.

 

[PaulvS]

I reckon that design is inherently challenging and very difficult to get it to look perfect, even for a pro who has years of experience doing it free hand. A vinyl mask is probably the best way to go. Or... since you are going to sand it all off, consider a different design that will be more forgiving to apply.

p.s. Some guys use wide masking tape to lay out the initial curves. The wide tape helps with getting a smoother flowing curve.
next, apply the fineline tape along the edge of the wide tape, using it as a guide, then remove the wide tape.

 

[Bruce]

I like to use the fine line tape. 1/4 inch to 1/2“
watch a lot of painters
Looks easy but it is NOT.

BOOMER

 

[Kraymer]

Who will print the mask? I have been looking but so far unable to find someone who offers that service.

 

[Swingwing]

Go old school and use one of these to cut out templates for masking layout

https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Transferring-Patterns-Carpentry-Woodworking/dp/B0747PMB8J/ref=sr_1_41?hvadid=178337007091&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9007417&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=16439573202508238391&hvtargid=kwd-32575706515&hydadcr=4080_9615993&keywords=curve%2Bdrawing%2Btool&qid=1705968988&sr=8-41&th=1

 

[Bandera]

Who will print the mask? I have been looking but so far unable to find someone who offers that service.

Aerographics in Colorado will do it. Also Evoke, formerly Plane Schemer, in Alabama. A few other places that I can’t remember the name of.

 

[jjb]

DIY painter here also, using the same SW Aerospace products with the same experience and costs as you. For me the final results and learning opportunity have been highly satisfying but DIY paint is not for everyone for sure.

IMHO a vinyl mask as others have mentioned is the preferred solution to insure uniform results on complicated long curves.

You are lucky. I am on the other side of the state, but Aerographics in Loveland is right down the road from you. They have done a lot of very high quality graphics for me and also do vinyl paint masks.

They might be worth a call. Lay your curves out with Adobe/CAD or a similar graphics software, save them as a pdf. Then give the pdf to Aerographics and they will do the rest and have full size masks to you before you can sand off whatever results you were not satisfied with. They probably even have an RV-14 template for you to start with.

Nominal cost for vinyl masks compared to SW Aerospace paint products, petty cash by comparison, and offset by not having to buy miles of 3M quality pro painting tape.

I really like your work, and much thanks for the detailed posts with pix. Well done, at least in this DIY painter’s opinion.

So, I thought I could freehand the curved stripe on the fuselage of my -14A. I did, but it turned out pretty crappy. Lots of variations in width. Not acceptable. So, before I sand it all off and do it again, I would like to know if there is a method a shade tree painter like me can use to get the curves precisely correct. I will try to fabricate a template somehow if there is no other way. I also thought about measuring many many many offsets from a straight line to create an accurate curve. Lasers of some kind?View attachment 54694

 

[Desert Rat]

I'll just add a fun fact. When I worked in Cessna Marketing, pretty much any paint stripe like that on all the Wichita planes (Caravan and bigger) was laid out by one of two guys in paint shop. 1st guy was in his 60's and worked 1st shift. Second guy was his son who worked 2nd shift. The only tool I ever saw either of them use was a piece of tape held between two outstretched hands at eye level. and a pencil. It was amazing to watch; lay a stripe, step back from the airplane, close one eye and sight across a piece of tape at the airplane, then walk up to it and start laying out another one.

Thats an amazing artistic ability to have. For me, I'd definitely have to go with vinyl masks.

 

[Bandera]

I'll just add a fun fact. When I worked in Cessna Marketing, pretty much any paint stripe like that on all the Wichita planes (Caravan and bigger) was laid out by one of two guys in paint shop. 1st guy was in his 60's and worked 1st shift. Second guy was his son who worked 2nd shift. The only tool I ever saw either of them use was a piece of tape held between two outstretched hands at eye level. and a pencil. It was amazing to watch; lay a stripe, step back from the airplane, close one eye and sight across a piece of tape at the airplane, then walk up to it and start laying out another one.

Thats an amazing artistic ability to have. For me, I'd definitely have to go with vinyl masks.

I do it that way as well. I nowhere near as good as some the old timers that I’ve worked with though. Some guys are just magicians at stripe layout.

 

[hgerhardt]

I used an LCD projector aimed normal to the fuselage side and then and taped along the projected black lines. The projected image was a 2-d CAD drawing I had made from the 3-view dxf's Van's supplies. Worked really well. Then, from the tape lines on the one side of the fus, I made paper patterns to use on the other side to ensure a perfect mirror image.

 

[fl-mike]

Practice, practice, practice. I must have lifted and re-layed the long arcing sweep on my 6A thirty times, at least. Helps to use wider (quality) tape, hold a the roll at arms length so that you have four feet or so off the roll, and lead the sweep with the roll hand while the free hand tacks it down. Put down a couple tabs of tape as target locations to aim for. (I counted rivets on each side and marked to help symmetry)
Then eyeball it from all angles. Rip up and try again!
Hey, your first rivets sucked too, so don't get discouraged. It's just tape!

 

[penguin]

Have you tried a spline? A long, thin, piece of perspex or thin wood from the DIY store, say 1/4" thick, perhaps slightly thinner.
Gives a long sweeping curve.

 

[CTCole]

Similar to penguin's suggestion, I got a 10' piece of 1/2" quarter-round from the big box -- the primed composite material is the most flexible, not pine or oak. Was able to handle most of the curves in 3 dimensions. Taped it in place over heavy paper, ca. 2 x 3', traced the curve, cut the papers as patterns (rivets made reference points for symmetry). Then fine-line tape at the edge of the paper, masked beyond that.

 

[lr172]

I knew better than to even try. That is truly an art, not a skill. I found a local airbrush guy. Paid him $150 to come out and lay down the fine line tape. I was shocked that he spent over an hour and a half laying down just one long tape, lifting and redoing it 100's of times. He then used paper with a special cutter to create a copy for transfer to the other side. THe more I watched, the more I became convinced that I made the right decision to sub it out.

 

[bkc3921]

I must have found just the right guy. My local painter suggested a guy that striped tanks at the local Harley shop. Came out and did my entire plane, top and bottom of HS and wings, both sides of fuse and VS (with 3 different colors) all for $250 (a few years back) He used Scotch fine-line tape and even put on an extra masking tape layer to attach the masking paper to... He did it all by "eye" and it looks perfect. Probably not what you want to hear, but this is a job best left to someone who does it every day. It's not only a question of skill, but experience and currency....not unlike flying Low IFR.

 

[rockwoodrv9]

I used 1/2" pex pipe taped into position and then an erasable marker. From there I used 1/2" fineline tape for curves to get close to what I wanted. Then the 1/4" to make it better. Mine is OK, nothing like a pro could do. I tried getting a curve on the wings. I ended up sanding that off and going solid!

 

[Blw2]

I'll start with...I have no idea...no experience

But as I was reading the question and responses, I was thinking back to my days learning the art of Drafting. Back in the days before CAD, we had pencils and velum..and these things called French Curves. You could get them in all sorts of shapes and sizes.... but a drafter would generally only have one or a few. With one and a little patience, you can use it to draw almost any curved shape. Sometimes used them even for circles when I didn't have a large enough compass or circle template. It's sorta like guided free-hand drawing.... or you can define measured points and connect the dots...and it results in guided smooth lines rather than wiggly freehand lines
So
Sorta like the previously suggested splines, you might be able to find or make a large french curve that might help with layout anyway.

 

[rockitdoc]

I think I am going with these guys (http://www.aerographics.com/index.php). Thanks for the referral. I had no idea they were 20 mins from my shop. They will make me a mask in the shape of my graphics that I can use to paint the two colors. They already have the -14A template in their computer and just take my photo and overlay it, cut out the tape mask, and I apply it to the fuse. Tear out the first color and paint. Overmask the first color and shoot the second. Easy.

I'll let you know the cost when they give me the quote in a few days.

 

[Bill Boyd]

Similar to penguin's suggestion, I got a 10' piece of 1/2" quarter-round from the big box -- the primed composite material is the most flexible, not pine or oak. Was able to handle most of the curves in 3 dimensions. Taped it in place over heavy paper, ca. 2 x 3', traced the curve, cut the papers as patterns (rivets made reference points for symmetry). Then fine-line tape at the edge of the paper, masked beyond that.

Practice, practice, practice. I must have lifted and re-layed the long arcing sweep on my 6A thirty times, at least. Helps to use wider (quality) tape, hold a the roll at arms length so that you have four feet or so off the roll, and lead the sweep with the roll hand while the free hand tacks it down. Put down a couple tabs of tape as target locations to aim for. (I counted rivets on each side and marked to help symmetry)
Then eyeball it from all angles. Rip up and try again!
Hey, your first rivets sucked too, so don't get discouraged. It's just tape!

Did the same. It's even more fun to do with the wings attached!

 

[CTCole]

Did the same. It's even more fun to do with the wings attached!View attachment 54823

Ooooohh!!

 

[Bandera]

Did the same. It's even more fun to do with the wings attached!View attachment 54823

This is the way

 

[Bill Boyd]

This is the way

Maybe, but long-term I'm hoping that some judiciously applied pin striping will hide the irregularities you can see up close and the slight deviations from ideal curves you can see from a distance.

Won't be this boy wielding the striping brush though. I figured I probably saved enough painting it myself that I can pop for a pin strip artist for a session.

 

[rockitdoc]

I finally got the curves figured out using the suggestions above. I used some aluminum diamond plate I had laying around. Cut a slot in one end and drilled a hole in the other. Adjusted the curve by loosening or tightening the string at the ends of the strip. Used this template to cut out some curves on poster board, then traced the curves to the fuse. Now, I just have to sand off all the old stripes. Yuk! But, the process should yield a nice look.

 

[Bill Boyd]

Be glad your wings are off! Imagine trying to lay that tape eyeballing the swoop with both arms spread out - while leaning over the wing leading and trailing edges. I have that tee shirt. My wing attach bolts went in after soaking in liquid nitrogen and still required a bit of tapping. I wasn't up for taking them out again, even for laying out paint scheme curves. Probably could have accomplished it with a drift and a hammer, but wasn't in the mood to try.

Best wishes.

 

[rockitdoc]

So.....I sande off all of the stripes and will start again with a masking template provided by Aerographics. They provide a transfer that is perfectly smooth and is used as a mask for painting. Thanks guys for the tip. It ain't cheap ($375) but will save me tons of time and masking tape. And, it will be Perfect!

Laid out the registration number to see if it fits. I think it does and hopefully meets the FAA requirements.

 

[Canadian_JOY]

My "magic" was a few rolls of 1/4" professional vinyl striping tape. As others have suggested, I levelled the airplane and made "from the floor up" reference marks with little dabs of 3M blue masking tape. I'm right handed so I worked from left to right on the airplane, just manually flowing the tape with my right hand and patting it down into position with my left hand.

In doing this work it really, really helps if one can get in the right mental mood. It's art so one has to be free of time pressure and other pressures. I went to the hangar late at night, after everything else was done, so it was just "me" time. I had some good music playing and was feeling very Zen. Yes, I had to pull the tapes a few times and re-do them after spending a while sitting back and looking at them. Mostly this was not as a result of fault found in the placement of the tapes but more as a result of wanting to change the width ratio and taper rate. The last time I laid the tapes on the right side of the airplane, for me the more difficult side because of my right handedness, it actually felt "easy" and the resulting lines are very sinuous and pleasing to the eye. It was a very, very satisfying process.