On many paint schemes various stripes are an absolute necessity. Many decal and dry transfer sets include them and separate sets of just stripes are available in almost any color and width. But sometimes something different is needed because of curves shapes and varying widths. Often in the plane area of hobbyshops, there are rolls of pressure sensitive striping tape in various colors and widths. They are a little thicker than decals, but can be curved slightly. Available in stationery , drafting or art suppliers, Chart-Pak offers thinner striping in many widths and colors, some translucent.
Tamiya and others offer paint pencils in limited colors, but tips may be too heavy for fine work. Some felt tip pens may work, but colors a limited and often consistency is too thin. Plastic tipped pens are finer, but usually have the same limitations. Some success has been reported with wax based, crayon pencils, using low heat to level.
For more special striping, drafting pens are very useful. Designed for drawing lines, older types have two adjustable nib blades which hold medium between them. Often they mounted on straight handles, and small compasses or are accessories to large dividers. Commonly used for lettering, with fixed sized tube tips and extended pin valve controls, newer pens often clog and are difficult to clean. Paint consistency must be carefully adjusted for proper flow.
Professional painters often use a paint roller for stripe accents. Wendell Manufacturing Co. offers metal tool tip which mounts slightly serrated metal wheels from 1/64" to 1/8" to provide 1/64" increments. Multiple stripes are possible using suitable spacer washers. An adjustable wire loop guide extends on either side. Frequently a wad of cotton is placed in bottle end of tip to control flow. For best flow viscosity should be high. In a well settled bottle of paint, lower density thinner will rise to top. Removing some with a dropper can increase viscosity for use with striping tools. In some cases, too much can cause bonder cracking. Acrylics seem to be more tolerant.
Note: Adjust brightness and contrast for optimum viewing.
STRIPING TOOL
For fancier work, Paasche offers a Flow Pencil, resembling an airbrush with fixed gravity feed color cup. Tips range from 1/64" to 1/16" in 1/64" increments. Viscosity should be high. A screw feed pressure cap is available for very heavy media.
Note: Adjust brightness and contrast for optimum viewing.
FLO-PENCIL
For wider stripes, banners or odd shapes, outline area by striping, let set to eliminate creeping and fill in by any preferred method, avoiding outside edges. As an alternate method, thinner masking materials may be cutout as stencils.
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