Tamiya masking tape (yellow) has been known to modelers for many years and it is still one of my favorite tools in the bench. This tape for curves is made of a different material; it has a plastic feeling to it so it is not the typical Tamiya tape trimmed to a few millimeters.

This tape is designed to mask curves. It easily “bends” for a curve, but it does not stretch as well as it bends. I like that property of the tape actually as it ensures its width is kept as constant as possible.

In this test I used a scrap wing –which I used for some paint tests- and placed both the 2 mm (Stock 87177) and 3 mm versions (Stock 87178) of the tape on the wing, as you can see in the pictures.

I’ve found that the best way to “bend” the tape is to actually anchor it –I use my thumb- where I want to have a bend and with the other hand twist the tape left or right, while burnishing the tape against the plastic.

I decided then to do a “stress test” and really bend the tape until it would “pop” on its own. You can see that I had to bend the tape 180 degrees from its original direction in a distance of 0.4 inches to get a minimal ‘pop’ due to the extreme curvature. And the lift happened on the inner side of it, not the outer side. Even int that it was possible to burnish the tape down and minimize the “lifted” area.

This tape adheres well, stays down (ie no risk of paint bleeding under the tape) and leaves no residue behind.