Masking and painting

[Josie]

Maybe obvious, but what is best way to paint car body with 2 or more different colours, please?

Guess mask out the area first before using first paint colour on unmasked area, but how to then mask the newly dry painted area as surely the paint may come away 

or off especially when remove the masking  tape that has adhesive?  

[Twinfan]

The second colour goes over the top of the first one with no re-masking. So paint darker colours first.

[TurnipJF]

Indeed.

Say you want to have a dark blue body with yellow accents, black window frames and clear windows.

You'd start by masking off everything except the window frames, and spraying them black.

Then you'd remove the masking from the bits you want blue, and spray them. You are spraying from the inside, so it doesn't matter if blue spray gets on the back of the black bits as they will still be black when viewed from the outside.

You might then want to spray a coat of black as a backing for the blue. Because you are painting from the inside, this serves as an undercoat for the blue when viewed from the outside.

Then you'd remove the masking from the bits you want yellow, and spray them. You might then want to spray the whole inside white, both to give it a uniform appearance, and to back the yellow so as to make it less translucent. 

Finally you'd remove the masking from the windows, peel off the overspray film and admire your handiwork.

At no point should there be the need to put masking over a painted area. All the masking goes on at the beginning, and is removed in stages as the job progresses. 

[Josie]

31 minutes ago, Twinfan said:

The second colour goes over the top of the first one with no re-masking. So paint darker colours first.

Ah. that makes sense now! Thankyou

[Josie]

2 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Indeed.

Say you want to have a dark blue body with yellow accents,  black window frames and clear windows.

You'd start by masking off everything except the window frames, and spraying them black.

Then you'd remove the masking from the bits you want blue, and spray them. You are spraying from the inside, so it doesn't matter if blue spray gets on the back of the black bits as they will still be black when viewed from the outside.

You might then want to spray a coat of black as a backing for the blue. Because you are painting from the inside, this serves as an undercoat for the blue when viewed from the outside.

Then you'd remove the masking from the bits you want yellow, and spray them. You might then want to spray the whole inside white, both to give it a uniform appearance, and to back the yellow so as to make it less translucent. 

Finally you'd remove the masking from the windows, peel off the overspray film and admire your handiwork.

At no point should there be the need to put masking over a painted area. All the masking goes on at the beginning, and is removed in stages as the job progresses. 

Thankyou for your detailed answer, really grateful. Starting to get it now!

[alvinlwh]

Just be careful what you spray on top of yellow (and orange) as they are very sensitive to color shift. Best to test on a piece of scrap material first. 

[MadAnt]

1 hour ago, Josie said:

Maybe obvious, but what is best way to paint car body with 2 or more different colours, please?

Guess mask out the area first before using first paint colour on unmasked area, but how to then mask the newly dry painted area as surely the paint may come away 

or off especially when remove the masking  tape that has adhesive?  

It depends on the type of body you are painting and the pattern you are going for. Also the type of paint matters too, some colors are transparent and require more layers or a back coat. Some different types of paints can't mix unless the undercoat is fully cured.

On lexan bodies, you apply paint for polycarbonate plastics usually in the reverse pattern than what would be normal when painting something on the outside. However when it comes to certain two tone or simple stripe paint jobs, the order of which the color is applied will depend. Some paints lay on good and and non transparent and others like light metallics don't. Usually for simple two tone and stripes the design for the stripe or visible secondary color gets masked off first, then the primary color gets applied and may also have a back coat applied before or after the secondary color is applied depending on the transparency or desired effect.

There are multiple ways of how to do it and I'm afraid I can't explain them clearly, my advice is to practice and experiment on random scraps.

Some off my good and not so good paint jobs-

[OoALEJOoO]

@Josie The general rule is that you paint dark colors first, but depending on your design, masking for this color order could result in a much more laborious job. You can choose to paint lighter colors first, provided you back them with white before spraying a darker color on top. If this facilitates masking, then go for it.

Where you need to be extra careful is with yellow and orange as @alvinlwh mentions. You have to back them with extra white to make sure the darker color that will go on top doesn't go through.

[Wooders28]

The more colours you're doing, the more the planning in the masking.

This one my daughter designed took a fair bit, I had to put the negative mask (the outer part you normally bin) ,to start with the dark colours first. 

 

And mask a full side, masks under masks..

 

I've found it easier with an airbrush, (you can get cans of compressed air too, I did my first few cars with one can, and an airbrush off Amazon etc isn't too expensive).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANCLLO-Airbrush-Master-Single-Action-External/dp/B092QDC591/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?adgrpid=163901971409&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.w6lKn8TCvjpBGFZCHhaAmt_F_O8XvQIM6J_U_itak4_VdVnmTwQJpPVMJBL5727dhMXPBHfH_4fdrpZzKH7z6VASlOO2jgOABH3IZqz_8pVfC6EmB5IZOWYqBSciRe5oMKFeUVU1hKh1eRkGwWEx7X0YeSlhf4Flq7z7LS8G3bct4cLzj0ChHMCJpXZHsZvDY-_94TRRNficpWSeOFTq6g._V68p8lKX9UGriZTOebSHwfWPthzR4hJxUvn4RSK6xY&dib_tag=se&gad_source=1&hvadid=696712380639&hvdev=m&hvexpln=70&hvlocphy=9193514&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=16726360270960641776--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16726360270960641776&hvtargid=kwd-320255654062&hydadcr=17344_2154984&keywords=amazon+airbrush+kit&mcid=f8227897e63d361bae7334902ed34d93&qid=1749594926&sr=8-6

Can of air - 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Propellant-Can-Airbrush-600ml-Free/dp/B07HPC31RB/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=27MZ82PVGH63T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oktCPk2FcgRHmG-vnRfi_5Li46nwUTSqrxiscPj9I9J9gJi69eev5hqeUDXVNU5lQ6_5ZBuXdCAn9GtfXH2BROzwFTd83QyQF_ZWFkZGT5ZI0PHGztudnLbDVdmmu0YHpf6oDYbpw-W64Xq15Qh-velRc7ynkGIcaKVEiwl1Vow25C4vuyx1OrZsJG4-YlbTKy4HRg3VeqKNcdSNpAbMXg.moOXA0IKZ3kv-ldAQFnr7H4K7AS_1X81TwGygfXJgow&dib_tag=se&keywords=hobby+airbrush+can+of+air&qid=1749595075&sprefix=hobby+airbrush+can+of+air%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-3

Although, it looks like you can get rechargeable compressor with an airbrush for not much more (never tried one, so 🤷‍♂️)

As with all masking, give it a few light coats first, as in, I'm not sure if any paint actually came out there, coat. This helps to kind if seal the outer edge, and reduce the chance of bleeding (still managed it though...🤦‍♂️)

[Rinskie]

@Josie This is just one of the many aspects of the hobby that make it great. You can go as deep as you want with paint. You can get into airbrushing, using liquid mask and vinyl cutters to make custom designs. Or you can use tape and spray cans. Or you can single can it and get great results. To better answer your question, what do you have in mind? There are fantastic tutorials all over YouTube if you just want to get inspired. 

[alvinlwh]

2 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

I've found it easier with an airbrush

An airbrush is a good shout that don't get suggested enough here. As it sprays at a lower pressure than a can, there is less chance of the paint being forced under the tape leading to the "OH S..." moments when you peel the tape off. Also, it is easier to get into tight corners than a can and because the flow is lower, less chance of runny paint (and less paint used). All common beginner's mistakes. 

I had not sprayed directly from a fan for years, even the PS paint in tins get removed to be sprayed from my airbrush. 

[Juggular]

What everyone else said. 

But you can change to suit your needs.  

For example, how do you get cream color for your bug, when there is no cream paint?  

1) I drew silver first (using Molotow chrome pen).  That's the outer most. You couldn't paint it last (unless you masked, but it's too small).  I masked everything but the side panels.  

2) I painted doors with pearl white (backed it with white). After that, I masked the hood.  

3) I painted orange. The white became slightly cream (off-white or beige).  Most paint are somewhat translucent. If I paint orange under white, it becomes beige.  

4) I backed orange with white.  If I painted black interior without a white layer, everything becomes a shade dingy.  White makes them pop.   

5) finally, I peeled the mask for the hood.  I painted black all over.  The hood is black, so is the interior.  I do not like black interior color anymore. Too stark. I want to try gray.

If I didn't want the cream color but simple white?  I'd paint black, orange, and back everything (and the door panels) with white.  If I wanted interior gray, I'd have painted that last.  

I painted the bug backward because (a) I wanted beige, and (b) the hood and the interior (which was the very last step) called for black.  So it's possible to do light colors first.  But you'd definitely need to back the brighter colors with white. 

White backing is covered up. But that's what makes orange and beige bright. (below also has white)

NSU Prinz TT was done the traditional way. Black first. 

Interior black makes it look like the car is carrying a storm cloud on the inside.  

I left some white to experiment with acrylic gray (or tan, or beige).  Black is good for wheel wells but not great for the cabin.  Neutral gray might be dark enough to hide chassis. Yet, not too unnatural, as if somebody took a marker to it.  

Citroen 2CV was also done the traditional way, sort of.  

I did not paint black first, though.  I painted silver first, because silver likes black backing.      

I painted orange and then pearl white.  This is the only car that I did not back it with additional plain white.  2CV is probably the sunniest car. White backing would be necessary if I was going to paint interior color. But I decided not to do interior color.  White backing under pearl white makes it rather opaque. I like it translucent, so this pearl white will stay a single layer like this. 

 

Generally dark to light is the way to go.  But you can do it the other way around. It depends on what you want to achieve. 

 

[Gebbly]

I've used an airbrush with static models before. Can you get Tamiya lexan paints to go in an airbrush?

[alvinlwh]

14 hours ago, Gebbly said:

I've used an airbrush with static models before. Can you get Tamiya lexan paints to go in an airbrush?

Depends on your airbrush. Does it have Teflon seals? I spray with my Sparmax and Mr Hobby airbrushes. The problem is with thinning and cleaning up, I find that only cellosus thinner works and that will eat rubber seals. 

[Wooders28]

I went with Hobbynox 

 

 

This was a light coat of blue flip base, Iridescent blue, backed with black.

Messed up on the rear wing though, trying to get into the tight slot, you can see the paint is slightly darker/thicker...

[Raman36]

There’s also tape masking and liquid masking.  I have formed a love and hate relationship with the latter.  

Liquid mask does make masking a large area a lot easier, specially when you’re doing dark colour first. Many new bodies have a black valance or a splitter which needs to be painted first. This is where a liquid mask becomes handy.. The trick is that you need to do at minimum three generous Coates.

If you are pretty invested in this hobby and have a compressor with a tank, then it would serve you to pick up a spray gun. You can spray the liquid mask with in five minutes to cover an entire body.  Rather than brush it on. 
 

[alvinlwh]

8 hours ago, Raman36 said:

There’s also tape masking and liquid masking.  I have formed a love and hate relationship with the latter.  

Alternative to actual liquid mask, Copydex. I find it actually works better. 

EDIT: It was even mentioned here in 2010!

 

[njmlondon]

On 6/11/2025 at 3:41 AM, alvinlwh said:

I had not sprayed directly from a fan for years, even the PS paint in tins get removed to be sprayed from my airbrush. 

How do you do this?

Like you I much prefer airbrush now for all the reasons you list  but there are some PS paints I really like. 

[CMshooter]

Quote

 

Darker colors first.  Plan your masking in layers so that you can simply remove a layer for each color.  After removing masks, hold up in sunlight to see if there is any bleed through that needs to be cleaned before painting over it and highlighting it.  Tamiya body cleaner and cotton swabs are your friends for this.

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, njmlondon said:

How do you do this?

Like you I much prefer airbrush now for all the reasons you list  but there are some PS paints I really like. 

 

[alvinlwh]

5 hours ago, njmlondon said:

How do you do this?

Like you I much prefer airbrush now for all the reasons you list  but there are some PS paints I really like. 

 

Once all pressure is gone, crack the can open with a can opener to get the last 2ml and the marble out. 

With an airbrush, a body can be painted with just about 80ml of paint.