Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm painting stripes on the sides and top of my unique pop-up project. The stripe will be hammered gray Rustoleum with regular white Rustoleum on everything else. I have two questions:
1. Which should I paint first (stripe or body)?
2. How long should I let the first paint cure before applying blue tape for the second paint?

overnight or a day...

Mike...

And when removing the tape pull it at a 90 degree angle or even better at a more acute angle. The sharper the angle the better the tape "cuts" the paint line.

Thanks to all for the feedback. I've about decided to go with the Frog Tape Delicate (yellow) as it gets the best online reviews across the board. I'll post my results in my build journal after I finish the painting. We are into the summer 90's already so my painting will be early mornings but the heat will also help it cure quicker. I still plan to let it dry for a few days before removing the tape. I may even do a test piece on some scrap metal since I have to do that anyway to see how to best apply the hammered Rustoleum on a vertical surface.

Don't wait to remove the tape get it off as soon as the paint is dry. The tape will stick more over time especially if you have heat involved. I've painted cars for 30 years and I always get the tape off quickly sometimes before the paint even dries. And yes as mentioned before pull the tape back on itself to "cut" the edge.

paintm4u wrote:Don't wait to remove the tape get it off as soon as the paint is dry. The tape will stick more over time especially if you have heat involved. I've painted cars for 30 years and I always get the tape off quickly sometimes before the paint even dries. And yes as mentioned before pull the tape back on itself to "cut" the edge.

I agree. Don't wait too long. The tape will stick and you'll have tears in the paint film if the paint has cured.

Truth. I have been plagued with blue tape lifting finish because I left it on too long.

And since everyone missed question number 1:

- paint the stripe first, then wait the recommended overnight for the paint to get it's initial cure.
- then tape in the stripe,
- scuff the remaining stripe color with 600 or higher,
- paint the remainder of the body,
- remove tape within 30 minutes of painting in the above recommended fashion,
- it will be easier to get at the tape, and there will be less masking involved.
- sit back and have a cold one!!!

Except he said the stripe will be hammer texture, and the body will not. I'd say paint the stripe second, otherwise he will have hammer texture underlaying the white that he wants to have smooth.

I have a dry wall contractor here now getting my house ready for sale. I just learned today from him that many of the better blue tapes have a number on the wrapping stating how long the tape can stay applied beofre it becomes a problem. All of these years, especially with cheap tape, I never knew that and subsequently had many tape issues; leaving residue or taping removal issues.

Talia62 wrote:Except he said the stripe will be hammer texture, and the body will not. I'd say paint the stripe second, otherwise he will have hammer texture underlaying the white that he wants to have smooth.

Good point; thanks. I do have one advantage in that my painted joints will not be on adjacent smooth surfaces. There is a rolled joint on each side of the stripe on my sidewalls where the metal panels fasten together (the side walls actually consist of three metal panels that interlock at the edges). The panel that gets the hammered stripe was apparently covered with 15 vinyl pinstripes before it was installed and fastened to the adjacent panels. I'm using the hammered paint to partially cover some of the nicks and imperfections in that panel where I had to remove the pinstripes with a razor blade scraper and knife. The top stripe runs down the middle of the roof and will cover a 12" wide canvas tape that the previous owner used to seal the middle joint that runs the length of the roof. The tape is good and solid so I don't want to remove or replace it. The hammered paint will simply cover it up a little.

It's hard to see in the pic but there is a rolled edge on both sides of the center panel where the decals were removed.


It's also hard to see the tape in this pic but it runs the length of the top down the middle. It also gets the hammered paint just to try to cover it up a little.

OK since we're going to get technical you should not be using blue tape on an automotive type paint project. The blue tape is fine for dry wall painting projects and others that don't require a fine edge. If you are going to do it right go to an automotive paint and body supply store and get some 3M green masking tape and a roll of fine line tape, the width depends on if you are making any turns or curves, thinner for tight turns and wider for straight lines. The green tape is slightly thinner at he edge than blue and is a better choice it also is formulated to release easier, the fine line will be a blue vinyl tape that is even thinner and stretches to make the turns. Now if I were doing this in my shop I would lay out the stripe first mask the surrounding area and paint the stripe, let dry 24 hrs then pull tape and mask off the stripe using fine line at the edges and paper it in the middle, it looks wide enough to use some paper in the pics, then paint the rest.