What's the best way to mask the inside of a road wheel for airbrushing the black rim? Doing it by hand doesn't look as good and is easy to make mistakes.

Thanks

I do it in the opposite way... Paint the whole wheel black, then mask the outer rim with a circle drawing template. Then spray the inner wheel color.

Hope that helps...

Jeff

Hi Machu

You could use a compass-cutter to make a circular mask the right size... :-)

All the best

Rowan

I'm with Merlin on this, I cut a mask from cheap masking tape with a compass cutter...
Ciao

A new technique that I've tried - and works well-
I airbrush the tire the hub color- gloss white in the case of the A-10 wheels I just finished.
I allow the tire to dry a day or two.
I mask the hub with artist masking fluid. The bottle I'm using right now is Winsor & Newton Art Masking Fluid for Water Colour.
I draw off a small amount of the fluid with a disposable pipette, and apply a drop of fluid into the hub. Natural attraction draws the drop into a sphere- the right amount will precisely cover the hub.
The fluid might shrink slightly when dry- if it does apply a little more fluid.
After the fluid dries a day or two, I spray the tires a black/rubber color.
After the painted tires dry- the fluid mask is removed by rubbing it off the wheel- just like you used to do with rubber cement in school.
I've have great results with this method.
**Although, I have not tried it yet with armor, I would expect the results to be the same- just need to use a little more fluid. **

Peter

Well I used the liquid masking tape...it was disaster, the masking tape wouldn't come off and when I tried it took the paint off with is...I think I'm gonna redo everything...does anyone know if dunking plasic parts in paint thinner to remove all the paint is ok?

I do not usually mask. I first use a fine permanent marker and draw a line at the hub and tire joint then I paint the tire using a brush. Oh, the wheel has already been painted in the proper color and some weathering applied. This method works the best for me. It has cut done on the errors I used to make painting wheels.
capnjock

hi to be honest i would not bother as most wheels on military vehicles have an overspray on to the tyre , squadies are not skilled painters and as to masking in real life , sorry but the answer is never the time , i have seen overspray on wing mirrors, wheels and even windscreens , cheers ian

Machu: Don't soak the wheels in thinner to get the paint off of them!! Use brake fluid or oven cleaner after the paint is dry. I think thinner will only make your problem worse, if not eat the wheels up altogether.

Shaun

Thank you...that's what I was worried about

Machu-
Liquid masking tape would be the wrong stuff. The masking fluid I mentioned is designed to be rubbed off after use- it has a 'rubbery' consistancy.
I wouldn't use anything else but the artist masking fluid.

Peter

Hi Machu

Liquid mask - whether something like Maskol or artists' latex fluid - shouldn't damage most paint (you need to be careful masking some metal finishes, whatever method you use!)!:|

What sort of paint did you use, and was it dry before you masked it?

All the best

Rowan