Rubber Cement?

For weathering the helmet, I have heard of several techniques; liquid masking being the one that comes up the most. I was wondering if rubber cement would be a good substitute; has anyone tried this?

Personally I use mustard from the fridge, but I have never heard of anyone using rubber cement. If you want to try it out, try it on the back of the armour or so just so you don't ruin a bucket.

Well, why wouldn't you try a product that is designed for masking?
I mean, rubber cement is. . . cement. I haven't tried it for masking, but I would think it would be much harder to get off. It's also much thicker, and would be hard to paint on for really complex shapes.

Rubber cement may also take off layers of paint under what you're masking...

Ive never heard of that being used but that doesnt mean its a bad idea, keep us posted as to how you get on

YEah, there was a time when I used rubber cement for masking... to be honest it worked pretty good...

Personally I use mustard from the fridge, but I have never heard of anyone using rubber cement. If you want to try it out, try it on the back of the armour or so just so you don't ruin a bucket.

Mustard, eh? If the rubber cement turns out to be a fiasco, I'll definately give that a try.


Well, why wouldn't you try a product that is designed for masking?
I mean, rubber cement is. . . cement. I haven't tried it for masking, but I would think it would be much harder to get off. It's also much thicker, and would be hard to paint on for really complex shapes.

Well, here's my dilemma; my local arts and crafts store doesn't seem to have liquid masking tape. Regular masking tape, I try to avoid due to the geometric quality, and lack of actual control (aside from cutting it with an exacto, but I dont want to slice into the plastic of the armor or helmet).
I was wondering about rubber cement because, long ago suring my wee days in summer school, I would always pour rubber cement on the table, then peel it off. As I recall, it was rather easy.
The other half of the dilemma is this: I have to save about $307 for a plane ticket for the Dallas Convention at the end of October ($200 saved already); I know that if I go out to get one little thing, I'll end up spending more than I want. For now, I'm just seeing what work I can do at home.


Thanks for your input, guys; I have a spare piece of plastic that I'll be painting in about an hour or so; I'll post progress pics.

Ah. . . well then.
Look forward to seeing the pics.

Hey I use to use rubber cement all the time ... in the fireplace!

I've used rubber cement before but didn't like the results. The problem was that it was too sticky to get it to conform to where I wanted it to go so easily. Liquid mask works much better. It dries within a few minutes and can be brushed on to fit exactly where you want it to go.

Originally Posted by webchief

I've used rubber cement before but didn't like the results. The problem was that it was too sticky to get it to conform to where I wanted it to go so easily. Liquid mask works much better. It dries within a few minutes and can be brushed on to fit exactly where you want it to go.

Well said WC....
Rubber cement also has an alcohol agent that may STAIN or tarnish your silver/ Chrome base color (depending on which brand of base color you use..)...therefore defeating the whole purpose of masking....

I used an old backplate for practice (it was a ****** backplate that I wasnt going to use anyway)

Silver spray paint only


Rubber cement added


Black paint added, rubber cement peeled off


The flash kinda set off the silver in the paint. Rubber cement works just fine, but it's not easy to position. I think something with more precision is necessary.

Originally Posted by Boba_Fett_03

Well, here's my dilemma; my local arts and crafts store doesn't seem to have liquid masking tape.

Liquid mask isn't a tape. It's a liquid that you paint on. It's expensive but it does the job very nicely.

This is what I use:
http://www.enasco.com/artsandcrafts/...do?sku=4100550

One 8 oz bottle will last you a long time. It goes on easy, removes easy, handles acrylic and enamels.

(the picture shown is not the real size, it actually looks like a pepto bismo bottle (size wise))