Peeling paint nightmare!

I am not sure if this is a common thing but I am having a terrible time with some areas of the primer peeling off with the tape on my model. This is my first time using brodak dope. I was working on the first color on my model and had a terrible time getting the tape off. Several areas peeled off on the tape line which I am now going to have to touch up. I normally use sig dope without a primer coat and only had a few very minor peels when I was using tape before. I am really worried now due to the fact that I still have 3 colors to go and a bunch of taping to do. I am thinking I am doing something wrong. Is there a better way to do this?

Primer?

Robert:
What type of primer are you using? It sounds like a compatability issue there....

See Ya

>I am not sure if this is a common thing but I am having a
>terrible time with some areas of the primer peeling off with
>the tape on my model. This is my first time using brodak
>dope. I was working on the first color on my model and had a
>terrible time getting the tape off. Several areas peeled off
>on the tape line which I am now going to have to touch up. I
>normally use sig dope without a primer coat and only had a
>few very minor peels when I was using tape before. I am
>really worried now due to the fact that I still have 3
>colors to go and a bunch of taping to do. I am thinking I am
>doing something wrong. Is there a better way to do this?

For easy removal heat tape with heat gun first.

>I am not sure if this is a common thing but I am having a
>terrible time with some areas of the primer peeling off with
>the tape on my model. This is my first time using brodak
>dope. I was working on the first color on my model and had a
>terrible time getting the tape off. Several areas peeled off
>on the tape line which I am now going to have to touch up. I
>normally use sig dope without a primer coat and only had a
>few very minor peels when I was using tape before. I am
>really worried now due to the fact that I still have 3
>colors to go and a bunch of taping to do. I am thinking I am
>doing something wrong. Is there a better way to do this?

Hi Robert,
This peeling you are experimenting may be due to several reasons. May I suggest to check the following:

1.- The primer you are using is not compatible at all with Sig dope.
2.- The masking tape is too sticky or old (or both)If you are using ordinary masking tape, this may be the cause. Use Great Planes or Karoden vinyl(or similar)tape instead.
3.- ALLWAYS pull the tape off over itself carefully. Using low heat from a hair dryer will help the task.
4.- Too low ammount of thinner in the primer. If you are applying auto primer (the grey stuff) use no less than 60% thinner.
5.- The primer is not completly dry. Allow at least one week for the primer to dry (specially if you are painting in humid days)
6.- Always use the best quality thinner you can get.

Hope this helps.
Good Luck.

Claudio Chacón
ARGENTINA

Hemlock,
If you are using the Brodak Silver as a primer then you may suffer more pull offs. I watched Windy's Brodak painting video for painting help. Windy would stick stripping tape to his shirt to defuse some of the tape products sticking properties before using the tape.

If I am not mistaken even Windy had some pul offs and had to patch them. When I tried Windy's method of painting with Brodak Silver as the primer I had a bunch of pull offs with tape. I tried a heat gun, setting my airplane inside my truck camper for a day, pulling fast & slow. Next time I'll use either white or gray as my primer.

Join the club!

There's a better way - don't use colored dope! It's a classic problem with dope - poor adhesion. And it can be made worse by trying to use a metallic (like silver) for a blocking undercoat.

Wait until you try to paint a fillet area and it shrinks and bubbles up. That will also make you sick.

By comparison, an auto lacquer (say Dupont Lucite) dries better, doesn't shrink, has great adhesion, covers very well, levels beautifully, and is available in a bazillion colors. Of course, it isn't fuel proof, but you can clearcoat with dope (or something else) for that.

Some of the more modern auto paints like Brad Walker uses are even better..

I gave up on (SIG) dope completely and gave away all of mine. There's only one area I have seen that auto lacquer wasn't superior to dope about - it tends to develop a higher surface tension on edges and can leave a ridge on tape lines, which you can (carefully) sand flat..

The standard argument you hear for using dope is that it weighs less, but if you consider the amount of pigment involved, which is essentially the same for either auto lacquer or dope, equivalent coverage is amazingly close in weight. SIG dopes have been notorious for their lack of pigment, particularly in light colors.

The other argument is that dope is fuel proof, but dope can barely be characterized as fuel proof - raw fuel still attacks it readily. If you are happy with the fuel proof qualities of dope, then simply use dope for clearcoat - it is soft and rubs out nicely.

I once stupidly tried to spray colored dope over K & B Epoxy primer coat.. When it was dry, the paint on the nose simply rolled off - like a condom. ;( How people get dope to adhere well over fiberglass with epoxy binder is also a mystery to me.. Somehow they do it. (Most anything goes over nitrate dope, but if your solvent penetrates it, you can have problems.)

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

MAKE THE PIE HIGHER
by George W. Bush

"I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet become more few?

How many hands have I shacked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.

I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope, where
our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize Society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!"