Liquid Mask - How's it Work?

Brush it onto areas you want masked. Let it dry. Paint the model. Let it dry. Peel off the mask; may require some careful rubbing & scraping, especially if the mask was applied to a nongloss surface.

It can be used to mask hard to tape contours. I've used it for canopies. I created a "frame" with thin masking tape, and just "painted" the liquid mask in the middle. Peeled most of it off when I lifted the tape.

What brand? I've been using Micro Mask from Micromark - kind of thick, bluish stuff. Don't recall an ammonia smell - on the other hand, I don't use it to mask (say) camoflage. I've started taking to Silly Putty for some of that.

Humbrol "Maskol" is the stuff that smells of ammonia. It's a thick, pale lilac coloured latex-based product. Bloody awful crap to use in my opinion, but it may have improved over the years - it's been at least 15 years since I last used it.

Micro Mask is the way to go for me - goes on easily and comes off easily. The big plus is that it's water soluble, which means that if it doesn't all peel off when you've finished painting, you can just soak it in water (or wrap a wet facial tissue around the part) to soften it, then give a gentle scrub with a soft brush and it's all gone!!

Cheers, James V

Yep. I wouldn't do it at all. Don't ask me how I know..... :(

I've run into another problem with Maskol. As you say, it is latex, which means it stretches when you peel it off. In my case, this caused the paint to chip off the masked area, and this chipping continued just beyond the masked area in some places, resulting in a rather unpleasantly jagged line. Do other masking fluids also have this problem?

Rob

I have the remains of a plastic-type liquid masking fluid. It was given to me in a blank container, so I have no idea what it is. Works wonderfully, vile milky emerald green when wet, dries to a thin bottle green as the water evaporates and it polymerises. Any idea what it is and how I can get some more here in the UK?

Liquid mask is used by the ton by talentless watercolour "artists". Every watercolour maker (Maimeri, Schmincke, Talens, Daler-Rowney, Lefranc&Bourgeois, Winsor&Newton, DaVinci, Holbein, Sennelier, Old Holland, Grumbacher...) has his own recipe, but basically it's always the same thing: a suspension of latex in a water-based solvent. The green one could be L&B or W&N's; Schmincke, Talens & D-R used to be ivory white. They all have slightly different properties, so you can try and pick the one that suits your needs. And of course you can find'em in just about any art supplies shop...

ISTR that you can make it by mixing dish detergent & white glue.

Humbrol used to make it, in the small glass jars same range as their Super Clear, Decalfix, decalcoat. seem to remember Revell did also.

As other products from the US, very difficult to get at the moment.

Col.