My guess is that you didn't give the paint enough time to cure. Looking at the can of latex paint I'm using to paint the frame of my layout, it says it is dry to the touch in 2 hours, ready for a second coat in 4 hours and fully cured in a week. Masonite has such a smooth hard surface that perhaps a light sanding with fine sandpaper would give it some "tooth" for the primer to adhere to. Also, try using green or blue painter's tape for your lines. That tape has a very low tack, but seals well. It is not supposed to pull off cured paint. The difference between the colours is the length of time it can be left on in sunlight before the adhesive becomes gooey, but I forget which is which. Either way, you won't be leaving it on long enough for that to become an issue. Place a strip of tape on a piece of glass and use a steel ruler and a new single sided razor blade or #11 Xacto knife to cut strips the width you need.
..... Bob
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Seamonster wrote: My guess is that you didn't give the paint enough time to cure. Looking at the can of latex paint I'm using to paint the frame of my layout, it says it is dry to the touch in 2 hours, ready for a second coat in 4 hours and fully cured in a week. Masonite has such a smooth hard surface that perhaps a light sanding with fine sandpaper would give it some "tooth" for the primer to adhere to. Also, try using green or blue painter's tape for your lines. That tape has a very low tack, but seals well. It is not supposed to pull off cured paint. The difference between the colours is the length of time it can be left on in sunlight before the adhesive becomes gooey, but I forget which is which. Either way, you won't be leaving it on long enough for that to become an issue. Place a strip of tape on a piece of glass and use a steel ruler and a new single sided razor blade or #11 Xacto knife to cut strips the width you need.
Good advice from Seamonster. I especially agree w/ light sanding of the hardboard.
I would also take issue with the primer used. Zinzer 123 waterbase is one of the best I've found without going to an Alykoid primer. It is carried at most home centers. Use it regularly for exterior pine trim that has to stand up the New England weather.
Most interior primers and wall primers and not meant to have the tooth you require.
Also when you do strip the tape, pull the tape at a sharp angle and slowly. The 3M blue tape would be my choice, some of the lesser brands may allow bleed under the edge.
A good tip for a smooth/ clean finish is to use a paint conditioner (Floetrol) whether brushing or rollering. Since the new VOC regs, most paints tend to dry too quickly and leave a poor finish(brush marks -roller lumps fuzz). Floetrol has worked even w/ the Zinzeer primer but not really nec. since it is sandable.
For final finish paint, do yourself a favor and use a quality paint, not a cheap home center brand. Behr pullman green(mix) was used for all club facia. Even after proper prep the bond and finish is failing in many heavily handled spots.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
I would agree that the problem here is probably do to not letting the white paint cure long enough before applying the masking tape. I've not done any fascia painting yet, but I'd think a good quality primer made to go under the brand of paint you're using would be all you'd need by way of preparation. I've read in one of my woodworking mags that hardboard (Masonite) does not take sanding well. If you do decide to sand the surface of the hardboard before you apply the primer, do it very lightly with a fine grit sandpaper. I have never seen a reference to sanding the surface of hardboard before applying primer in any of the articles or books on backdrop painting in which hardboard was used.
With regard to the 3M Blue Painters Tape be aware that this tape comes in different tacks. It varies from "standard" tack to tack for very fragile surfaces. You can tell what the tack is by looking on the inside of the cardboard roll on which the tape comes. I would suggest using the lowest tack tape to reduce the risk of pulling the underlying paint loose when you remove the tape. Make sure the edges of the tape are down tight to prevent the darker paint from bleeding under the edges. A trick to avoid this is to paint over the edges of the tape with the same paint that is under it, in your case white. This seals the edges of the tape and if some of this paint does bleed under it's the same color of the underlying paint. After this paint is dry, apply the darker color paint.
What is considered a high quality paint? I have used Behr flat and semigloss paint for interior room painting and have never had a problem with it when used over the appropriate Behr primer. Behr paint has always had very high ratings in Consumer Reports. You might want to use a semigloss paint or one of the low lustre water-based enamels for the fascia where people touch it or brush against it. These might resist the wear and tear better than flat finish paint.
Bob
What about an alternate method. Paint the facia board brown to begin with and just use a white graphic tape as the permanent lies depicting the tracks? If you are going to the trouble to tape off the tracks to begin with, seems like it would be easier to just leave the tape in place. Just an alternate thought to your problem with paint peeling. Good luck with whatever you decide. Please post a picture when you are finished and let us know how it came out.
Mike
Mike has a good idea about applying the lines with white tape. I've seen references to the use of this approach on control panels. If you use this approach, you might want to use a clear sealer over the strips of tape, especially in areas where they'll be touched or brushed against, to prevent them from pealing off the surface.
What was the specific dark color of Behr paint that you used for the final coat of paint on the fascia? I'll be doing the same thing in the near future and I'm trying to get ideas for good colors for the fascia. I've been thinking about a dark or medium brown or green. Something that will not stand out and detract from the layout scenes.
For my layout I used Pittsburgh paint #528, "Spiced Wine" mixed in an "ultra deep" base. It's latex, high quality, is nice and thick and covers well. And I like the colour. I don't know if Pittsburgh paints are available in the U.S. though.
Thinking about primer for hard to paint surfaces like masonite made me think about the primer I used on my basment floor. When the house was built, it was painted with an oil-based paint which was in poor condition after 30 years. I didn't want to use an oil-based paint because of the flamability of the fumes and I had an issue with the odor years ago when I used it on the basement floor in a previous house. The very knowlegable clerk at the paint store told me that latex paint won't stick well to oil-based paint so he sold me a can of a special primer for applying over oil-based paint that will bond between it and latex paint. It seems to have worked well as I have had no problems with the new paint sticking. It's just a thought but maybe this type of primer would assist in bonding paint to difficult surfaces like masonite. Just a wild thought.
BTW, the clerk told me how to tell if paint is oil-based or latex. Just rub it with a little acetone (or fingernail polish remover which is acetone-based) and if it comes off readily, it's latex.