I am really freaked out about doing the taping on the hood so that the design looks right. Especially with the headlights on the GP-40. Any ideas?
Three:
First, get some 1/4 inch painters tape: I use the green type but the blue works well, too. the thinner tape is easier to work into exactly where you want to put it than broader tape. Use it to mark the line you want to mask, use a plastic tip (I use the top of a Bic pen) to press the edge tight. Then come back with broader tape to cover the whole loco, just making sure that tape overlaps this slightly.
Second, after you spray the next coat (of a different color) remove the masking before the tape starts to dry. If you wait until it dries the tape can pull paint along the edge away - at least that has been my experience. Now, you have to be careful, and think, removing the masked from a still-wet loco, both in what you touch and how, and it how you pull off the tape so a piece does inadvertently touch anything, and to be sure you take breaks to inspect and clean your fingers if you have paint on them (you will) before touching the loco or holding it again in unpainted places so you can pull the tape away from painted areas, but . . .
Third, if you have or can buy a couple of cheap loco shells, you might practice on them.
I discuss my masking and painting of Warbonnet - about the most difficult paint scheme I know to home-brew, here:
