Masking Norm Hall Kurtis

[landoflogic]

Hello,



My next model project is the Kurtis KK500 driven by Norm Hall to a 10th place finish in 1961. By that time this car was 5 years old, having been constructed in 1956, initially driven by Bob Veith that year to a 7th place finish. I'm using the old Revell Kurtis Kit, but will be doing some modifying to the car, as there were plenty of changes made from 1956 to 1961. The kit is simple, and even with my additions it probably will not take me long to build. The real challenge is figuring out how to mask it. I'm relatively new to masking. My last kit, a 1969 Butch Hartman dodge charger, required a black roof, so I masked off the rest of the body and painted the roof. It came out really well, but it was also a square mask, no curves at all. But as you can see in the photo for the Norm Hall car (so long as I uploaded it correctly) it curves down underneath the car. How the heck do I mask that? I don't think Tamiya tape curves. I know people create templates for masking but I also have no idea how to do any of that. 

Does anybody have any tips on how to mask portions like this? Also, which color should I paint the car first, yellow or blue? I assume yellow since it is lighter, but the blue is also light.

Thanks,
Elijah

Attachments:

[illeagle10]

Hi Elijah,

When it comes to two tone paint schemes, I usually try to find the sheerest tape I can find. Tamiya tape usually works for me. Of course I use the thinnest Tamiya tape I can find. Once that is done I role out some tape onto a good flat surface. Using a sharp exacto knife and a straight edge I will cut even thinner strips than the tape original width, anywhere between 1/16th of and inch to 1/8th of an inch. These thin strips should allow you the curve your tape without kinks or wrinkles. This is what I use for marking out my curved line. This is my first step. Once I have the desired lines marked out with these thin strips, I then Try to use a little wider strip of tape slightly overlapping the first line I put down. Once you have that done you can usually use the normal size width of the tape. You need not worry if you get kinks in these strips. Just make sure they're pressed down so no over-spray gets through.

Once you are all taped off, the next big thing is how you apply your spray paint. Your first run you should just be misting on your paint at the demarcation line of where you have your tape edge. Once you've misted the first coat, give that paint some time to set. At least a minute or two, that should seal that line, so when you begin to put your coats of paint on it will not seep under your tape job. Always spray lighter colors first. If the blue is that light, you may want to spend the time and tape to tape both ways. I cannot tell if the blue will cover the yellow well enough, you may want to test your paint on something else before spraying your car and see if the blue covers the yellow without turning green. A mixture of blue and yellow makes green.

Hopefully this gives you some help and direction. Good luck on your paint job, can't wait to see it!

Jim

[landoflogic]

Feb 28, 2023 20:31:04 GMT -5 illeagle10 said:

Hi Elijah,

When it comes to two tone paint schemes, I usually try to find the sheerest tape I can find. Tamiya tape usually works for me. Of course I use the thinnest Tamiya tape I can find. Once that is done I role out some tape onto a good flat surface. Using a sharp exacto knife and a straight edge I will cut even thinner strips than the tape original width, anywhere between 1/16th of and inch to 1/8th of an inch. These thin strips should allow you the curve your tape without kinks or wrinkles. This is what I use for marking out my curved line. This is my first step. Once I have the desired lines marked out with these thin strips, I then Try to use a little wider strip of tape slightly overlapping the first line I put down. Once you have that done you can usually use the normal size width of the tape. You need not worry if you get kinks in these strips. Just make sure they're pressed down so no over-spray gets through.

Once you are all taped off, the next big thing is how you apply your spray paint. Your first run you should just be misting on your paint at the demarcation line of where you have your tape edge. Once you've misted the first coat, give that paint some time to set. At least a minute or two, that should seal that line, so when you begin to put your coats of paint on it will not seep under your tape job. Always spray lighter colors first. If the blue is that light, you may want to spend the time and tape to tape both ways. I cannot tell if the blue will cover the yellow well enough, you may want to test your paint on something else before spraying your car and see if the blue covers the yellow without turning green. A mixture of blue and yellow makes green.

Hopefully this gives you some help and direction. Good luck on your paint job, can't wait to see it!

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the advice! So if the colors do risk turning green, I would mask off one area, apply paint, and then mask off the other and apply paint? I always thought you overlapped them but that makes a little more sense.

Elijah

[illeagle10]

You are correct Elijah. Again, you may want to test your paint on some scrap. Paint one color and then the other, see if it bleeds through or if they merge and create another color. Then you should know what direction to go in.

Jim

[landoflogic]

Got it, thank you! I'm using Tamiya paint if that helps at all. My concern about masking it separately is if I happen to leave a thin white line where I did not quite move the tape exactly to where the other started. If you have any tips on how to avoid that that would be great.

Elijah

[illeagle10]

I think if you take your time, you will be fine. I think if you test your paint and it is Tamiya, there shouldn't be a problem with spraying blue on yellow, but again I would test first.

If the coverage is not to your liking and you tape off for both colors, when taping the yellow to paint your blue, tape your yellow tape right up to the edge. The yellow will help the blue from seeping under the tape and give you a good edge, because the yellow is sitting higher than your primer coat, even though it is very minute. You should not have any white lines. When you spray your blue, as stated before, mist at least the first coat on, you could even mist the second coat on. Leave a little bit of a dry time in between, before putting on full coats.

Jim

[leadercard]

To add to all this advice, after you have taped the yellow and before you spray the blue, shoot a light coat of yellow over the tape, or apply a thin coat of Future over the tape to seal off any bleeding. Also, don't ask me how I know this, but make sure your masking job is symmetrical side to side. You should tape one side to your satisfaction and then do a rubbing on thin paper to create a stencil to use in taping the other side. The voice of experience here . . .

[landoflogic]

Hi everyone,

I've started on the kit, and already made some modifications. However, I am stumped on the location of the exhaust pipe on the Hall Car. I attached an aerial photo of the 1961 car, and as you can see there does not appear to be an exhaust pipe. However, in 1960, the Federal Engineering cars had the exhaust on the other side down low, so maybe that is the case in 61? But surely this would appear in the aerial photo.

Anybody have any info on this?

Elijah

[illeagle10]

Hi Elijah,

Well you got me stumped on this one! I am not really a front engine guy. My advice is to contact Walt (oldphotos). He is my go to guy when it comes to anything pre-1980, I would PM him. He is quite knowledgeable on all fronts of Indy cars. He may even have some pics to help you out.

Jim

[landoflogic]

Hi everyone,

I decided to give you all an update on the car. It is coming along really well for only being my fifth model car. The only issue I have had is with the decal number on the rear of the car. Gary Sleeper made me some awesome decals, but as always, I am never quite as gentle with the bigger ones as I should be. This time I patiently waited for the decal to dry, and when I went to apply microsol (or whatever the red bottle is) I still ended up with a slight tear in the decal. You can see it in the first photo. My best solution is to cut off a sliver from the back up sheet I got and line it up, but give me your thoughts. Since I already used Microsol, the decal is probably melted to the surface and won't come up without ruining the clear coats underneath it.

Another oddity I found while making this model is that in the video game Indy 500 Evolution, the Norm Hall car has a driver and mechanic name on both sides of the car, despite on race day it clearly not having either. In fact, it didn't have it at all as far as I can find. Where the game designers got that idea and how they determined the mechanic name is beyond me...

Here are some pics:







Elijah

[illeagle10]

Looks great Elijah!

Jim

[landoflogic]

Apr 20, 2023 19:44:57 GMT -5 illeagle10 said:

Looks great Elijah!

Jim

Thanks Jim,

Do you have any advice for fixing the number decal in the first photo? Like I said, I feel like just cutting a sliver off the backup sheet would cover it up nicely, but I want more experienced feedback on that

Elijah

[illeagle10]

Hi Elijah,

First off you were smart in getting more than one set of decals. I don't think I was ever was that lucky to use just one set of decals on a kit! Your solution is one way that can fix your issue of the torn decal. I've never used Gary's decals, so I really don't know how they lay down on a kit. I don't know how thick the decal is. When applying your fix give the original decal time to set and dry, it might move when you wet the decals again, the decal solvent should keep that from happening. I normally use Solvaset by Walthers for a decal solvent, it works great with Indycals decals. I wouldn't know how it works for Gary's decals. Once all my decals are laid down I always clear coat and polish my finishes. That is something you have to decided to do. Many on the board here do not do that.

If you're still not satisfied with your fix, you can always take masking tape, place it on the decal and remove the decal. I would then polish the area where the decal was, before applying a new decal. Remember this is your kit, it is up to you to be satisfied with it. Most of us here do things by trial and error. If you look over many of the WIPs that are posted here and elsewhere you will see many of us have had snags along the way.

Jim

[landoflogic]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the advice! Gary's decals are really thin, so it takes some skill to apply the bigger ones. I like using Gary's decals because I can pick the most obscure car from the 60s on back and he'll make decals for me. He sends two layers, a white layer, and a color layer. So you essentially line them up with each other. He recommends clear coating the white layer before adding the color, and on my last kit, I did not do that and ended up losing a contingency decal because of it. So this time around I'm taking my time and trying to do this car up right! I hopefully will show the car to Norm's wife in May, so I'd like it to be as good as I can make it.

Elijah

[landoflogic]

Here's a quick update on the car. Thanks to Walt, I figured out the exhaust. It wasn't too hard to get, I just had to cut an opening into the side of the car. I really just need to add wheels, the interior, and try and add the rear bar to the back of the car. The roll bar was a pain to do, so I'm not looking forward to the rear bar. I don't know if I want the driver in the car or not. I have painted him but I'm just sort of iffy about it.

Elijah