Silly putty or Blue Tack for masking.

[redpiano 787]

I've heard people use these things for masking, but the blue tack in particular says on the package it can leave an oily mark on surfaces, which seems not good.

 

Anyone have experience using one of these for masking?

[MojoBob 3840]

I use Selleys BluTak a lot, and have never had any issues with any oily residue. I've never seen Silly Putty here in NZ, so I have no experience of it.

[ced1106 5679]

You can also use Vallejo Liquid Mask.

[redpiano 787]

You can also use Vallejo Liquid Mask.

 

I dislike it honestly, I often have a hard time getting it on perfect, it smells awful and removing it can be difficult sometimes. Right now I want something I can easily just mush in place, paint and then remove without any trouble, liquid mask takes some finesse and time to apply and all.

[knarthex 62050]

I have used silly putty and it has worked well for me...

Nothing needing a very hard edge though,

YMMV

[Bruunwald 3599]

I've used both before. The silly putty felt oily, but it didn't leave a residue. No oily residue from the blue tac, either, but that stuff can take a bit of work to get off sometimes, depending on what it is stuck to. Can leave little bits.

[Pingo 109314]

After I left a mini blue-tacked to an (unvarnished) wooden block for over a year, the blue-tack left a greasy spot on the wood.

 

Clearly there is some oily substance in it that can leach out over time.

[Wren 8296]

I've used silly putty (knock off from the dollar store). It works well, but is not very sticky. I'll use masking tape if I need to mask super precisely. I've also used tac to mask for hand painting (blocking joins and pin spots sort of thing). On the whole I prefer silly putty if I can get it to stick where I want it. The tac can get a little sticky where it gets paint on. This is usually tac over bare metal or primer, though, I haven't used it on finished paint work. My tac isn't oily that I've noticed, but it can leave little residue marks. I've observed that when using it on unsealed bases in my transport box. Usually I can get the marks off by using a blob of tac on them, but not always, so I'd prefer to avoid put it on unsealed paint.

[Rahz 7311]

I always seal the model before putting putty on, just to be safe.  Use silly putty most of the time except when I foresee having to leave the putty on the model for any length of time since the silly putty will eventually deform.  I find silly putty easier form (though don't use silicone tipped shapers for this as they will stick to the silly putty!) around details.  If you leave blue tac (at least what I've bought over the years) on anything for long enough (walls, posters...) it will leave an oily mark.  Haven't noticed it on models though it's usually not on there for more than 48 hours.    

[chaoshead 3733]

You can buy museum grade tac off of amazon.

 

It works well and doesn't leave marks on anything that I have seen, even after almost a year.

[jsalyers 887]

You can buy museum grade tac off of amazon.

 

It works well and doesn't leave marks on anything that I have seen, even after almost a year.

 

 

Can we get a product name or possibly a link? Sounds interesting.

 

J--

[Pezler the Polychromatic 61788]

I used UHU Tac when I was painting Sir Hue Forscale and it worked out great for me. I used it as more of a blanket so that it didn't stick in every cranny, but it was very useful for protecting from the spatter.

[chaoshead 3733]

Quake hold museum putty in the natural color is the one that I found works best.

[jsalyers 887]

https://www.amazon.com/Quakehold-88111-Museum-Putty-Neutral/dp/B0002VA9NA

 

Trying to understand how you're using this. It looks like it holds super strong. It releases from paint cleanly? 

 

J--

[chaoshead 3733]

That's the one.

 

It is pretty gosh darned strong that is for sure, the longer you leave it on the stronger the hold gets as well so be careful.

 

While I use it mostly to just attach minis to something to hold while painting I do use it to mask areas while airbrushing as well.  I have only ever had it affect a paintjob one time and it was when it was left it on as a mask for more than a week.

 

Most that use it to mask something are not going to leave it on like that so I have no problem recommending its use.

 

I will say that like any other masking agent it can be a pain to get out of cracks and crevices.