Order of operations when painting this

[Desertanimal]

So the top part of the hull will be black but I want the rub rail grey. In what order would you paint it? The rub rail is 1/16x1/32, pretty tiny. Painting by hand.  Acrylics and brush. I’ve got tamiya tape. 

Paint the black above and below the rail, probably getting some on the rail.  Let it dry, mask up to the rail then paint the rail? 
If different from that, I’d love suggestions. Thanks!

 Chris

[gsdpic]

I think your approach is sound though it might have been better still to paint the hull and the rail before installing the rail.  Even if the installation messes up the paint in places, it should be just a small touch up job to fix it.

 

[Desertanimal]

Well, I didn’t think of painting before! 
So glueing in top of paint isn’t an issue with adhesion? I use titebond II. 
 

Chris

[Tim Moore]

I would paint the upper as you plan to do, mask it off, brush on any clear finish on the rail to perfectly seal off the edge of the tape, then paint the rail. You should get a good result if you do that.

[Desertanimal]

Tim, when painting by hand I end up putting on several coats. Should I expect any issues with the clear sticking to the tape and pulling up the paint? You think the entire process should be completed relatively quickly, say a few hours? Overall that sounds like an excellent idea. Paint seeping under the edge is such an issue sometimes you think you could have done  a better job freehand. 

[Ronald-V]

1 hour ago, Tim Moore said:

I would paint the upper as you plan to do, mask it off, brush on any clear finish on the rail to perfectly seal off the edge of the tape, then paint the rail. You should get a good result if you do that.

This....you will have a really nice clean and sharp edge with this  

[Thukydides]

If it was me I would do it in the opposite order and not bother with masking tape. Masking tape when hand painting has a tendancy to have paint bleed under it unless it is placed perfectly and on curved surfaces it is pretty much impossible to place it perfectly.

 

I would paint the rail first not worrying about if I go over as the black will cover grey very easily. As a general rule all other considerations aside you paint the colours that cover best last.

 

Also in this case getting a clean line will be much easier with the black. Just drag a round brush at an angle along the flat surface just short of where you want the line to be. Then with you second stroke do it again, but just edge a tiny bit closer. If you are methodical and careful making sure to have your hand resting on something you should get a very clean line. Getting a clean line in the other order will likely be harder as you are having to point your brush in towards the hull to get the sides of the rail.

 

I show the proper positioning for the brush in the picture below (note this is a bad brush, you should use one with a sharper point). Just imagine the black part is the top of your rail and the side I am running the brush against is the hull above it.

 

Edited October 5 by Thukydides

[Tim Moore]

9 hours ago, Desertanimal said:

Tim, when painting by hand I end up putting on several coats. Should I expect any issues with the clear sticking to the tape and pulling up the paint? You think the entire process should be completed relatively quickly, say a few hours? Overall that sounds like an excellent idea. Paint seeping under the edge is such an issue sometimes you think you could have done  a better job freehand. 

Hi Chris. This is the process I have followed on colour boundaries on my hulls and it has given me good results. I usually take the tape up soon after I’m finished rather than let everything harden. Seems to work best. I usually only use latex paints. Thukydides is quite right you usually want to do the darkest colour last, but in your case I imagine there would be difficulty trying to set tape on that small element, which is also curving opposite to the plane of the masking tape. 

[paul ron]

several factors in detail painting...

how steady a hand

how sharp is the brush

type and viscosity of the paint

 

if you dont feel confident in painting the detail by hand, then carefully and accurately tape it off. to get a nice even coat, id recomend a semi gloss to flat finish. gloss tends to show brush strokes and telegraph imperfections.

 

a good way to get a clean even coat is of course an air brush.... but your tape has to be perfect and well planned, paint has to have the correct consistancy to flow evenly. 

 

good luck with the job. i hope you come back with good news for us?

Edited October 5 by paul ron

[Desertanimal]

At this point I’m painting the toe rail red, doing this before the black on the hull(coverage). I’m practicing on the straight line of the joint of the toe rail and the hull. I’m using a high quality brush, folk art  paint, and my steadiness is ok. Coming along ok, I think I’ll be able to freehand the black up to the rails when I get there. 

Thanks for all the help!!

 Chris

[Desertanimal]

Ok so here’s the result. No tape, just paint, various brushes, bright light and 2x magnification. 
I’m pretty happy with the result with the naked eye. 
That wood sure is rough up close. Is that a characteristic of Basswod and it will be less pronounced on harder woods? 
Let me know what you think!

 Thanks again!

 Chris 

[paul ron]

 

 

you did a fantastic job!

nice clean lines.

 

to keep the fuzz down, a sealer n light sanding does the trick.