Friskit Low Tack Masking Film

[grsjax]

My wife the artist introduced me to this stuff.  I tried it out on a piece of raw basswood sheet and it produced very good results.  Easy to apply and cut.  Left a sharp edge after painting and removal.  Anyone have experience with this item and is there anything to watch out for when using it?

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QVBQBG/ref=twister_B01DTEDTEW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[mtaylor]

Were you using it with solvent or water based paint? I'm not sure how it work with a solvent based paint.

 

Good stuff as I recall but I haven't used Friskit in decades and back then it was for fixing masters for printing tech manuals.  

[mikiek]

I tried it. Gave up too.

 

1. Be careful when you trim the edges, it's easy to cut into the wood below.

 

2. I had some problems getting a good seal on soft or grainy wood. The stuff really isn't made to penetrate wood grain. You end up with the same problem as masking tape - wicking underneath.

 

3. That which does penetrate can get stuck down in the grain when you go to remove it.

 

Your mileage may vary.

[grsjax]

4 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Were you using it with solvent or water based paint?

I was using water based paints.

 

4 hours ago, mikiek said:

I had some problems getting a good seal on soft or grainy wood.

So far no problems with wicking on basswood.  I use the blunt end of an exacto knife handle to press it down well before applying the paint.

[Bob Cleek]

Friskit is intended for use with airbrushes on flat surfaces. It works well for masking, but I would do some testing before expecting it to hold up to heavy paint flows from a brush. It's also quite expensive. Less expensive, although far from cheap, is 3M Fine Line tape, an automotive finishing product. It comes in widths down to 1/4", which is good for modeling. You can use the Fine Line tape for your edge and put regular (cheap) masking tape on the other edge when spraying.

[reklein]

One way to prevent wicking is to paint a coat of base color over the masking edge first before using the final color. Or even a coat of clear first. I'm surprised you got a good line with unsealed basswood. Good burnishing job.

 

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Daler  Rowney makes a liquid masking product called Art Masking Fluid. I thinks it’s just RTV rubber. It behaves like rubber cement and smells like ammonia. paint it on and it resists  any paint that goes over it,  it dries fast then rubs off with your fingers very easily. It’s likely no good for sharp straight lines since it’s very gloppy but perhaps you could use blue tape as a pre-mask mask and get a straight line that way?  (Edit) and hey look! I just noticed there’s a tiny picture of a square rigged ship on the label!

Edited August 24, 2018 by JerseyCity Frankie