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Plastic Model Mojo
Plastic Model Mojo, a podcast dedicated to scale modeling, as well as the news and events around the hobby
Plastic Model Mojo
PMM Sponsor Special: Masking Supplies with Dr. Strangebrush
John Miller, aka Dr. Strangebrush, joins Mike and Kentucky Dave for a sponsor special episode.
What if you could transform your model painting and masking from a frustrating chore into an enjoyable and efficient process? Join us as we sit down with John Miller from Model Paint Solutions, who shares insider tips and tools that can revolutionize your hobby. John is back to discuss the amazing care packages he sent us, filled with AK masking tapes, super-narrow Aizu tapes, and circle/dot masks. We also touch on his exciting plans to conduct airbrushing talks at next year's Nats.
In this episode, we delve into masking techniques that can elevate your model painting game. Learn the importance of immobilizing your models for precise tape application and discover how tools like fine forceps, embossing tools, and mini scissors can make a world of difference. John also introduces new masking products, such as progressively larger dot masks and AK's stretchy curving tape, perfect for creating sharp lines on curved surfaces. Lastly, John shares his passion for his personalized airbrush tutorial service, designed to help you overcome persistent challenges and enhance your skills through one-on-one instruction. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, this episode is packed with valuable insights to make your next project your best one yet.
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Mike and Kentucky Dave thank each and everyone of you for participating on this journey with us. We are grateful for having you as listeners, and the community that has grown around Plastic Model Mojo makes it all worth while.
Dave, a few weeks ago we both got a box in the mail that had some stuff in it, and some of that stuff was some airbrushes that we talked about in the last episode, and we'll probably continue to talk about those a little more. But there's also a bunch of other stuff, because John Miller at Model Paint Solutions is really a generous guy and we want to welcome him back. John, thank you for the care packages, thanks for being a sponsor of the show and thank you for coming back on hey my pleasure, guys.
Kenucky Dave:Nice to be back, it's been too long and I will tell you, the one constant theme that we heard up in Madison was literally everybody who came by our table said is Dr Strangebrush here and is Dr Strangebrush putting on a seminar? So you are top in the minds of our listeners.
John Miller:Well, I appreciate that. What you don't know is I paid every one of those guys a dollar.
Kenucky Dave:Well, I got news for you. Then you spent some money because I mean literally everybody who stopped by, I mean it was one of the first things out of everybody's mouth.
John Miller:Well, I admit I'm not a marketing whiz kid. This cost me a lot of money, so but I appreciate that, I appreciate it and I'm hoping to make the Nats next year. That's my intention. I will be there and, if they'll have me, my intention is to do at least one, maybe two different talks, both focused on airbrushing. So stay tuned and I hope to see you guys down there. We'll have a beer, absolutely.
Mike:At least one. At least one. Back to those care packages. Well, one. I got to mention one thing before I even go down that road. Bob Baer, Voice of Bob, did our ad, read redo of your ad, and I know from him that you heard that and were appreciative enough of that that you threw a little love his way and he really appreciated that.
John Miller:I appreciate that as well. Bob does really good work and he is a very personable, gentlemanly person to deal with as well. Yeah, yeah, so thanks for passing that on. I greatly appreciate that and, bob, thank you for the spot. I appreciate the use of your voice.
Mike:There was a lot of mixing and measuring stuff in the care package which we appreciate. I'll always appreciate the consumables, John, Thank you.
Mike:But, there was some stuff in there that kind of gets to. What I want to talk about tonight and in the time we have with you is masking, because I've been working on this aircraft project of mine the first airplane in 30 odd years and I've been relearning a lot of masking and you sent us some masking tape and you sent me a burnishing tool and I want to talk about this stuff because Model Paint Solutions sells this stuff and I think it's all good and I want to give you a chance to talk about it. So let's talk about the tape first.
John Miller:Okay, sounds good. So let me just start out by saying, on Model Paint Solutions, what I try to do is carry at least all of the basic tools that I think most folks are going to need to sit down at the bench and shoot some paint on a model. One of that is just your basic masking tape, and on the site we have the AK masking tape, which is very, very similar to me, almost identical, and I've got the 2, 3, 5, 12, and 18 millimeter rolls individually or as a combo if you want to save a little money. Two of the masking tools on the site that really get a lot of attention from customers and I get really good comments are the Azu tapes. Now, these are super, super thin tapes that come in a roll. The thinnest is 0.40 millimeters. Yes, yeah, so think about that for a second.
Kenucky Dave:It's like a hair there.
John Miller:They are an amazing set of tapes and I've used several of the azus and really like them for masking in tight spots or where you need just a little bit of tape yes, I couldn't agree more, especially if now I always say, when it comes to masking canopies, you know, if you can get the Edward, you know die cut masking set, go for it. Those are a godsend. But if you're doing old, special hobby or NPM or something that you know for which there is no mask available, I'm a firm believer in being able to sit down at the bench and, with the right tools, mask most canopies from, you know, 170 seconds all the way up. At least that's my experience. And one of those tools that makes that easy are the AZU tapes, because they are that thin and the thinnest is just 0.4 millimeters wide. The next up is 0.7 millimeters wide, so we're still working, you know, less than a millimeter. Then we get into one millimeter, 1.52 and 2.5 millimeter. So all of those are available as individual roles. They're also available again as a combo if you save a few bucks, so that that's one product. That again, I get a lot of positive feedback from guys who buy those tapes and use them.
John Miller:Those in used in conjunction with what I call the circle dot masks, used in conjunction with what I call the circle dot masks, and these. These I find super handy. I use these all the time, and what they essentially are are a sheet of die cut dots, you know, of increasing sizes, right, the small sheet is from one millimeter, that's right, one millimeter. You know wide dots all the way up to 2.8 millimeter. Medium is just, is from three to 4. Point, six millimeter, and it goes up from there. These things are handy because, in particular, if, let's say, you are are masking off a canopy that doesn't have square corners but has rounded corners, right, you know, an easy trick is to find a circle, a circle mask that matches the corner diameter that you're going for. Put a dot in each one of those corners. You have now masked those rounded corners. Connect the dots with a thin piece of Azu tape and you've now basically masked off the periphery of your window.
Kenucky Dave:And then you can either fill in with tape or with some sort of liquid mask, if you want.
John Miller:Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up, because I'm pretty picky about liquid masks.
Kenucky Dave:Absolutely I understand why.
John Miller:Yeah, I've tried a lot of them out there and a lot of them. I'm a firm believer in dipping my canopies in future. I've been doing it for 25 years and I don't want to get too tangentized here. I see on a lot of the forums some of these guys will go on the forum and just take off on. You know what's so special about future? There are so many things out there. There are a lot of other things out there for dipping canopies now, as does the old future floor wax. So I'm a firm believer in it for two reasons.
John Miller:Number one if you dip your canopy in future and then you use gold, ca odorless glue to put that canopy on, you're going to lessen the chances of crazing or fogging that canopy. So it's a combination of future dipping the canopy and using odorless glue. You won't craze your canopies anymore. So that's the first thing. The second you won't craze your canopies anymore. So that's the first thing. The second thing is, if you do dip your canopies in future and you want to use a liquid mask over the canopy, what I find is, mr Masking Sol R is about the one liquid mask that you can put on a future dipped canopy and not have the canopy go cloudy.
Kenucky Dave:A lot of the masking products out there have ammonia in them. You can put on a future dipped canopy and not have the canopy go cloudy. A lot of the masking products out there have ammonia in them.
John Miller:That's it. That attacks future Yep, that's it.
Kenucky Dave:That's it right there, but masking stall R doesn't Mr?
John Miller:Masking stall R, yes that's on the site and that's all part. It's on the masking tools page there. So back to our you know, our example window. Again, if you're doing you know some kind of aircraft canopy andR and a toothpick or a small brush and just paint right up to the tape, if you will, and cover the entire panel with just masking Sol-R Really handy reagent to use, oftentimes difficult to keep in stock, I'm going to be honest with you. So when I can get it from my distributor I load up on it. It's spotty being able to get that through the years. So, in other words, if you see it, pick it up, because I've had issues in the past. So, that said, going back to our frame window, another tool that's on the masking page that I find I honestly don't know how guys get by with masking models for invasion stripes or something like this and do it without this tool.
John Miller:And this tool is an embossing tool. And if you haven't seen an embossing tool before, imagine a BB. That is basically the end of the tool and this BB is on a metal rod, if you will. That's the very tip of the tool and it's this BB is on a metal rod, if you will. That's the very tip of the tool and you can use this smooth, rounded end of the tool to burnish masking tapes down onto the model.
John Miller:You know, most of the issues that guys have with masking is getting bleed through or bleed under the side of the masking tape and ruining your line. If, after you put the masking tape down on the model, you take your burnishing tool and just burnish that portion of the tape, that's going to see the wet paint, because you don't necessarily have to burnish the whole piece of tape down along the whole width, thereby increasing the chances of pulling paint up because you've now pushed the tape down so tightly to the model. Just burnish that side of the tape that's going to see the wet paint. Now on the site I have one burnishing tool that has two different size styluses, round working ends. I also have a set of three embossers that have five different size styluses. I find if you're going to make sure that you're going to get nice, clean lines, it is almost critical mission critical to take the time to emboss the tape down with this tool before you shoot paint. Mike, I understand, I know I sent you one and I understand that that tool is working for you.
Mike:yes, it is, and a couple of things. You mentioned the BB, so it's double-ended. One end of this tool is a round ball, a round bead on the end of an extended shaft. The other one for lack of a better word is kind of bullet-shaped, but it's a lot smaller. John, I've fallen in love with this thing. I've been doing a lot of masking on my E16, Paul and I like this tool a lot. For the edge, like you've said, I use the ball end, but the leading edge is a wing edge where I've been doing some masking. I actually use the side of the shank on this thing.
John Miller:Oh yeah, you can do that too.
Mike:Yeah, and then I've had some, some corners I've had to tuck into and what I've done, using this tool, using that is lay the tape down on one edge of this 90 degree corner I'm going into and leave the other end loose and then, using the pointed stylus on this thing, work that tape into the corner before I seat it to the to the 90 degree upright part of this corner, right?
Mike:so yeah, this thing is, let me do that now. It's a little sharp on the end, but if you're careful you're not. You're not going to cut the tape, but it lets you. Lets you get that tape right in the corner and, and I tell you on that, my e16 paul, I've like masked the underside of the wing up to the pontoon strut and I've, I've burnished it in with this bullet shape, smaller end of this stylus and then gone back and taken a scalpel and cut the tape away that wasn't burnished down into the corner, so end up with a. The tape just stops at the strut, but the strut has an airfoil shape on the front end, so I've burnished it in to match that contour and then actually cut it with a scalpel and pulled the excess away and now it matches the curve and this tool is just really good. So if folks don't have one of these, they need to get one.
John Miller:You know. I'm glad to hear you say that honestly. Like I said, this is not a tool that you know. They're not very expensive Four or five dollars or whatever they are, I don't remember, you can remember the prices but they're pretty inexpensive. But you'll get a lot of use out of this tool if you do any kind of masking expensive, but you'll get a lot of use out of this tool.
Mike:If you do any kind of masking, that's for sure. It's kind of a sea change. I've got another use before we go too far. An issue I always have with masking is how do you get the?
Mike:tape from after you've cut it from the roll to the model and get it to when you get to the model, to get it to stick to the model instead of whatever you use to carry it there, Right? So I've been using this stylus as basically the transport vehicle. I cut the tape on my mat, lift it off with a hobby knife or a scalpel, get this thing under it to where just the ball end or the bullet end is right at the edge of the tape and carrying it over to the model. And when I do that, I can get either with my fingers or another tool or whatever. Just the minimal contact of the tape to the model using some other method is going to be a greater surface area than the tape attached to this stylus and I can remove the thing without pulling the tape back off.
Mike:Does that make sense.
John Miller:It does make sense.
Mike:And I really think that's you know. I just keep finding multiple uses for either end of this tool, and when a tool does that, it makes me happy.
John Miller:Tool. Happiness is good. So I'd like to take a brief segue here and just say what's interesting is your technique for getting the tape to the model. I do something similar, but I usually pick the tape up with a fine pair of forceps and I'll place it on the model where I want it to be, and then I'll trap it with the stylus of my embosser in the other hand. Yep, I've done that as well. Yeah, it's kind of the same deal. But I just want to segue real quick here and say that, as I mentioned multiple times in a series of articles I did on canopy masking techniques, it's true for also just masking the model itself. For some masking jobs it is really handy to have the model immobilized. So you have both hands.
John Miller:Yes, I think it's a mistake to try to hold the model in one hand while you're putting tape on with the other. Sometimes that works if it's just a stripe on the wing or something. But if it's more involved than that, take time to figure out a way to immobilize the model or the canopy or whatever you're taping. So you've got two hands to work when you're arranging the tapes on the model. So a little tip there I couldn't agree more.
Mike:The tape's on the model, so little tip there. I couldn't agree more. And I've got a building fixture I bought from a company who does a lot of our shows in our region and yeah, I do that because it's got these little tabs no-transcript.
John Miller:So well you know. That said, in addition to the embossing tool being handy, another tool on the site, on the same page actually, are the mini scissors that I have been using ever since I stole them fair and square out of my research lab as a graduate student. It took me a while to find quality scissors to put on the site and I'm pretty pleased with the ones that we have on there. These scissors are only about four inches long. They're very small. I carry both a straight edge version and a curved edge version and when it comes to you know, like Mike was saying, if you're working in a small area and you're trying to mask something off, it's nice, if you have to cut a piece of tape, to be able to cut that tape with a pair of scissors that's only four inches long, versus grabbing a big old, honking pair of scissors and, you know, getting them close to the model. So, again, I think it's right, above the masking tapes on that page, straight, straight scissors, curved scissors, as well as a scissor combo. You're going to both in the same package. Two of the more handy tools in my experience for making a masking job easier is a good embossing tool or a series of embossing tools with different size styluses which again is on the site, or a good quality pair of mini scissors. In addition to that, I want to just go back real quick and talk about the dot masks. I've had the small, medium and large dot masks on the site for a couple of years. Just yesterday, preparatory to having this discussion, I added two more sheets to the site of dot masks. These are progressively larger size dots, so check those out when and if you hit the page. Now we have extra large dots as well as 4L dots which are almost 10 millimeters in diameter.
John Miller:In addition to that, again just in the last couple of days, I've added a kind of tape I've wanted to put on the site for a while, which is a curving tape, and this is a plastic tape. It's a little rubbery. Rubbery isn't quite the word, it's stretchy, let's call it. But this tape is real handy for taping off curved areas because it's sufficiently sticky so that it stays on the model even when it is applied in a curving kind of way. I've got three different sizes on the site now one, two and three millimeter. It's made by AK. It's AK masking tape for curves is what it's called.
John Miller:I've used this tape for years. If I'm doing you know a hard line on the side of a fuselage, you know, let's say, od on top and gray on the bottom, if that's a soft line, I usually outline that with a color pencil. But if I want a nice hard line, if whatever you know plane I'm doing had a hard line, I will go to this curving tape and curve the tape right onto the area where I want it. Then I take my embossing tool especially important when using this curving tape and emboss all of those curved areas down with the stylus of the tool and then you can get a nice curved line when you pull that tape with no bleed through. So curving tape again, real handy and just added to the site.
John Miller:And then, in addition to that, I want to talk about real quick about something I've been using for a masking material again ever since I was first introduced to it in lab and you don't see it that often in the hobby realm and that is parafilm. Now, parafilm is essentially a sheet of parafin. It is a paper-like waxy material that you can stretch and you can cover anything in just seconds with this stuff. Once it's stretched it becomes very pliable, it sticks to itself. It sticks to other surfaces, but not with such high affinity that it will damage the paint surfaces, but not with such high affinity that it will damage the paint.
John Miller:But you know, a quick example is let's say I was doing an aircraft model and I have to paint a white stripe from the leading to the trailing edge of the wing on this model. So after I outlined the stripe with tape and I burnished the tape down, I now have the outboard portion of the wing that's going to get, you know, white paint on it, and the inboard portion of the wing that's going to get, you know, white paint on it, and the inboard portion of the wing, you know, that's going to get fouled as well when I shoot my stripe. A real quick and easy way to cover both of those areas is to grab a piece of parafilm, stretch it and it comes in squares that are about two inches square and you can pull that and it goes to about six inches long. It is a nice thin sheet and then in just a few seconds you can simply wrap the tip of the wing with a piece of parafilm, wrap the inboard section of the wing with a piece of parafilm and you're shooting paint.
Kenucky Dave:That is exactly what I use parafilm for. I have heard a number of people who talk about other uses of parafilm. You know where they can do things like mask canopies with it and stuff like that. I've never been able to do that, but this stuff is really great for being the big piece of masking that you put on after you've masked your particular area where you're going to spray paint. So it's like your gross over spray protection. It's your gross over spray protection.
Kenucky Dave:And there is nothing better than the parafilm for that, because literally you just grab it, stretch it. It's almost like saran wrap, but thicker and not as difficult to handle. But you just stretch it, wrap it and you've got your tip covered, or you've got the wing root covered and you can go right to spray.
John Miller:There's one more way of using it, though, and that is, after you stretch it, you can stick it onto a piece of glass, okay, and it will stick quite nicely onto the glass. And then you can take a straight edge in a, in a, in an exacto, and cut it. Cut it into strips or little squares, and those little let's. Let's say you do that and you cut, you know rectangles of parafilm that are, you know, 10 millimeters long and five millimeters wide, okay, and, and those all are all arranged on your, your piece of glass where you cut them. You know 10 millimeters long and five millimeters wide, okay, and those all are all arranged on your piece of glass where you cut them. You know where you put the parafilm.
John Miller:And let's say you are trying to mask just the tiny little wing fillet area of a 170 second scale model. Those little pieces of parafilm are ideal for being able to work them into really tiny places and just burnish them down with your burnishing tool way easier than working tape in there, because they're not as stiff, right, right, and once you burnish them down they're not going to leak. So you know you're not going to foul the area that you know that you're trying to mask. I use them mostly for the larger areas, like we were describing, a whole wingtip or sometimes a whole tail. Let's say you're doing a waistband.
Kenucky Dave:I have wrapped an entire tail in parafilm before.
John Miller:And it's worth taking 30 seconds and spending you know 25 cents in parafilm to cover that tail, because, of course, the one time you don't you know what's going to happen Exactly course, the one time you don't, you know what's going to happen Exactly.
John Miller:So, yeah, so, but in addition to covering those big areas, there's an article on the site talking about using parafilm, and I actually took some pictures of putting it onto a piece of glass, cutting it into small pieces and then using those pieces as tiny little masking you know masking materials. So, anyway, very handy tool, whether you use it for small areas or a whole big, large, you know empanage mask, handy tool and one I've had on my bench now for over 30 years. Worth looking into that. And one last thing it's not on the site yet, but it will be by the end of this week and that is real quick.
John Miller:I'd like to go back to the window that we're doing on that hypothetical airplane model where we use dots to cover the corners and connect the dots with ESU. What if the aircraft you're doing has panels, window panels, in it but the corners aren't rounded but they're more triangular? Or you know what if it's? You know what if you're doing a triangular window that has just three, three corners on it and those are triangles? Well, I've been looking and have finally found a great little sheet of of die-cut masks that are right triangles and isosceles triangles, and they're quite small, on the order of two or three millimeters each one of these triangles, absolutely ideal for masking some of those sharp cornered areas, like on a canopy.
Kenucky Dave:Like an ME-109, those two triangled windows In the front, Right in the front, just out of the front part of the canopy.
John Miller:On the windscreen, the front part of the canopy On the windscreen. Another one that's really good is the same area on a Focke-Wulf 190, where you've got those triangle Exactly. Those can be a real bear, as you know, in order to get them nice and tight. Well, now with this sheet you can take right triangles or isosceles triangles, combine them in whatever angles you need to and get a perfect pointy corner masked on your canopy. As I say, those will be up on the site the next day or two, and that about rounds out. I mean, I've been wanting to put these on the site now for a couple of years and now with the triangle sheet, I'm pretty much at a point now where I can say most masking jobs can be covered with the selection of die cut masks and tapes that we have on that page. I'm pretty pleased with it.
Mike:Well, john, with the AZU tapes for the super fine widths and the AK tapes kind of augmenting the Tamiya tapes you get a wide range of pre-cut widths there.
Mike:For a specific edge, I like to cut a new one, but for for for filler, it's nice to have all these widths on hand. I think it is. Even even if you don't cut, even if you don't cut your own fresh knife edge for a for a particular edge on your, on your paint scheme, it's nice to have all these to fit and be able to just pick and choose and fit. And this 1.5 millimeter AZU tape I've already used about a third of the roll on my E16 just because I can take four or five inches of this stuff and take it in both hands with my stabilized model and put the middle of that length right where I want it Right, and then wrap the other crap around to wherever. It's not going to affect anything else and I can mask that just that little bitty place in the middle where I need that width, and the rest just goes off to the sides wherever. So I've really enjoyed this. So thank you for that.
Kenucky Dave:And John, before you get out of here, I want to ask you something. And, john, before you get out of here, I want to ask you something. Last time we had you on, a while ago, you had premiered a service where you were giving one-on-one instruction with individuals for really almost anything, but obviously it was focused on your main talent of airbrushing and teaching people the yes and no, the ins and outs. So you're still doing that, I take it.
John Miller:I am, I am and I appreciate you bringing that up it's something that I really enjoy doing. I spent most of my career in science teaching in a lab. I just enjoy interacting with people. In general, I enjoy teaching as well, and you know, it's even more fun to be to be teaching a subject that I find just innately interesting and enjoyable, which is, of course, airbrushing. But, yeah, the tutorial service.
John Miller:I offer two ways we do this. We just sometimes a phone call 45 minute hour long phone call can prove real helpful for guys if they're having an issue with clear coats or primers or whatever. They may find through just an hour-long phone call that there were two or three things, two little two or three tricks that they were missing. That makes the job a thousand times easier. The other thing we do is we do video tutorials, either by Zoom or by FaceTime or Zoom, and you and for some people who want to see an airbrush technique demonstrated, I will set my brush and all my gear up on the other side of the link there and I'll demonstrate a fine line or shooting a clear coat or a primer coat, and when you see it done, it usually causes a lot of really good questions from the person who's being taught. They get to see it demonstrated. Most importantly, they get to learn what not to do, which sometimes is as important as learning what to do.
John Miller:So anyway, if the guys out there have been shooting paint for 10, 15, 20 years and maybe they've been having an issue that has plagued them for that time, or they just want to think about upping their game, they should drop me a line through the Model Paint Solutions tutorial service. Just basically send me an email through the website and we can pick a time to chat by phone or we can pick a time to schedule a video tutorial. I've had a lot of really good experiences and I've had a lot of guys walk away pretty pleased with what they were taught. So I enjoy it and I urge everybody out there if you've got an airbrushing issue that you'd like discussed discuss with a good doctor send me an email. I'll be more than glad to talk to you. I highly endorse it. Thank you, I appreciate that.
Mike:Thank you for joining us again, and you know we're going to get you on a lot sooner than we did between this time and the last time that sounds good, guys Appreciate it.
Kenucky Dave:Good evening to you both you.
