Aizu 1.5mm Micron Masking Tape Review
By Michael Benolkin
Date of Review | July 2016 | Manufacturer | Aizu |
---|---|---|---|
Subject | 1.5mm Micron Masking Tape | Part Number | 2001-4 |
Pros | Versatile masking medium | Cons | Nothing noted |
MSRP (USD) | $6.95 |
Review
I recently acquired several sizes of the Aizu Micron Masking Tape to see if it was as good to work with as I've read online. The tape is thin yellow (Kabuki-type) tape available in six widths: 0.4mm, 0.7mm, 1.0mm, 1.5mm. 2.0mm, and 2.5mm. When I was nearing the end of the Kinetic 1/24 P-47D Razorback Thunderbolt build, I had discovered that there were no paint masks available for that kit. This looked like a nice opportunity to try this tape out.
I applied lengths of the 1.5mm tape to the canopy, then used a cutting tool to carefully cut the tape at the frame intersections. It took a little time to develop the technique, but soon I had the clear sections of the canopy framed and I did the same for the windscreen.
The next step was to apply a liquid masking solution inside the taped frames, in this case I tried Mr. Hobby's Neo which worked as any other available masking solution would.
Once the masking solution had dried, I applied the inside color first, in this case Tamiya NATO Black. This was followed by Tamiya Neutral Gray to keep the final color from being too dark. The final color of course was Olive Drab 41.
The masking tape did the job perfectly. You can see the nice hard edges of the paint and the tape left no residue to clean up (the liquid masking material needs a little more effort to clean/remove, but that's another story).
For many jobs, Tamiya's range of masking tapes are great, but when you need to deal with compound shapes and curves like the rear of the canopy, thinner is better and these Aizu tapes are much thinner that Tamiya's offerings.
If you pay a visit to the HobbyZone USA website, you'll find a wide range of tools for a large number of applications. I'm happy that the hobby industry is one of those target audiences! These tools are available from your local hobby retailer or online hobby store.
My sincere thanks to HobbyZone USA for this review sample!