masking tape

[seadeep]

I am happily using the 'FrogTape', it is prevented from paint bleeding.

FrogTape Painter's Tape

The only painter’s tape with Paintblock Technology®, FrogTape® is the painter’s tape for every job, whether you’re a home DIY or professional painter.

www.frogtape.com

I'll also nominate FrogTape... you can get it in a variety of widths, and it's grippy enough I can use it for multiple purposes (I use it a lot for hull planking when I'm doing a thin second veneer layer in walnut, as an example). Plus it readily peels off without leaving residue on the wood. Its my "go to" material for many things, especially when typical clamps aren't going to work. But if you're looking for a line masking material, I'd lean towards plastic model painting tape as its better suited for those razor sharp edge lines. Another forum member noted the Tamiya products and I use those for painting purposes. Frog Tape is my clamping tape.

 

[Namabiiru]

Tamiya has two lines. The standard yellow is low adhesion (guys doing plastic cars prefer this, but as you noted isn't great on curved surfaces. The White tapes are a different product specifically made for curved surfaces.

That is true. I have some of the white tape. It appears to be vinyl and is much thicker than the yellow so I tend not to use it much.

 

[Bob Cleek]

Tamiya has two lines. The standard yellow is low adhesion (guys doing plastic cars prefer this, but as you noted isn't great on curved surfaces. The White tapes are a different product specifically made for curved surfaces.

Yes, this is true of Tamiya tape. The 3M line of "Fine Line" tape is the same type of stuff and is usually sold in larger quantities, so initial cost is a bit more, but "by the foot' 3M tape is much less expensive and if you keep it in a sealed zip lock plastic bag it will last for years. Tamiya charges a premium for smaller packaging and a convenient tear-off dispenser. Either way, these thin plastic tapes are far and away better for sharp edges than any other paper-backed masking tape. The regular paper backed tapes are fine for masking areas where there's no need for a sharp edge. I use the expensive plastic tape in quarter inch width to mask sharp edges and then add the cheap paper stuff on top of the back edge of the plastic tape for the rest of the masked area, but I'm a big cheapskate.

 

[KeithLyall]

any comments about best masking tape?

Frog tape BUT I found the orange tape was more tacky/strong adhesion than the green tape and could cause hull planking to be ripped off. I used the green tape recently to great effect.