Painting the Plimsoll line

[Nikkum]

Hi All,

I suspect this is a basic and rather daft question but I am struggling to paint neat black plimsoll lines on ships. (presently the HMS Belfast). Presumably it is necessary to use some form of masking material, but if I do , how do I prevent previously painted (acrylic) being pulled off by the masking tape. Is there a trick to this?

v grateful for any help!

[DavidJC]

You can get tape similar to Tamiya, I forget its name offhand, but can be bought in very fine widths. I am not a ship modeller, although the principal would be the same. Paint the area of the Plimsoll line in the Plimsoll line colour, apply the tape, and paint the appropriate colours from there. I am guessing you will have to mask above and below the fine tape if there's a hull/keel colour demarcation, but the principal is there.

 

Remove all masking and you will end up with a very fine, straight, clean Plimsoll line.

 

Edit: Link to an image

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/sakatsu/item/140300020011/

[jopres57]

For straight black lines of varying thickness, I have been using decals for years. I bought the old Microscale decal sheet ‘black parallel lines’ back in the eighties and still have some of it left now, it’s been tremendous value and the decal itself is good quality. I’ve also tried similar decals from other manufacturers, but they seem to be inferior in quality and value. The exception may well be the sheet from Xtradecal, which I haven’t used before and will probably try in the near future. I also find that black stripes are very useful for cammo demarcation lines, especially on WW2 RAF bombers.

[Ratch]

BTW its not a Plimsol line, its called boot topping  😉

[dnl]

Wikimedia has a good rendition of the Plimsoll line at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brosen_plimsoll_line_en.svg

This marks the maximum permitted draft for a loaded vessel under various water types (fresh v. salt) and temperature conditions

 

The letters are:

TF: Tropical Fresh, F: Fresh

T: Tropical, S: Summer, W: Winter, WNA: Winter North Atlantic

[capricekor]

I tend to use spray painting and airbrushing for the hulls of my ships. A useful trick is to spray the area of the plimsoll line first (I use NATO black) and then let it rest for 2 to 3 days. Longer if you wish. Then apply masking tape of the appropriate thickness along the location of the line and paint above and below as desired. Leave again for a couple of days and remove the tape. The overspill from the black adds a nice uneven hue to the other hull colors giving it a realist look before any additional weathering is done.

[Cliverdee]

I've just finished the Airfix Iron Duke and followed the same procedure with brush painted enamel and tamiya tape that I have used satisfactorily for all my other ship builds. The Iron Duke was actually easier as it already has one of the lines for the boot topping moulded on the hull parts. Once the 2 hull sides and the deck section had been put together plus the rudder & propellers, I then turned it keel side up and painted the lower hull with the brick red carefully taking it close to the moulded line so the red  covered the lower edge where the black boot topping would be painted. When dry the next day I applied Tamiya tape to form the lower line judging how wide the black boot topping should be and following the moulded line at the same distance along the length of the hull. I then painted the top part of the hull with Humbrol ocean grey, and brushed the paint over the moulded line and close to the Tamiya tape I'd already put on previously. The next day when dry I applied a length of Tamiya tape along the moulded top line that was still visible through the grey paint so the boot topping section is marked out with tape top & bottom. I brush painted this matt black (I prefer Revell 9 as this gives a slightly greyer appearance) and when dry removed the 2 lengths of tape. All the hull is now finished and the rest of model can be started on. The benefit of painting the hull first  is there is no danger of damaging the superstructure, masts etc, which there would be if you left hull painting to the end of the build and were trying to hold the model upside down while painting and trying to apply masking tape.. I have always brush painted using enamels  as I like the technique and feel more in control and in touch with the model. Despite not having the subtlety of an air brush I am quite happy with my results and would think it actually more straightforward for 1:600 ship builds to use a brush. I'm not sure about the use of tape with acrylics as to whether it would peel it as I don't use them but there are  no problems with Tamiya tape and enamels. Sorry bit long winded but hope of some use.