[stifnek]

Am I in the right part of the forum to ask a little advice on stenciling from you talented lot of buggers?

[Dellboyy]

Yup, ask away mate, plenty of people are usually pretty helpful around here!

[stifnek]

Right, you know after you've cut your stencil and it's lying (if you're working flat) on the material to be used, how does one keep the really fiddly bits, say hair, to stay down flush to the surface? Coins work well, but are too big for the area, so I tried spraymount and it leaves a bit of a cloudy layer behind. Any feedback greatly appreciated.

[Dellboyy]

Can be tricky if you've got really fine cut pieces! One obvious thing would be to use thicker or more sturdy stencil material, i generally use 300gsm card, but plenty use acetate.

I've never used spray mount, but one thing i did try once was to spray a really fine mist of paint (matching the background colour), and when that was almost dry put the stencil on, might help stick the fine bits down... but also might damage the background when taking the stencil off if the paint is still too wet!

(sure people must have other tricks too!)

[stifnek]

Nice one dellboyy that paint trick sounds quality. You must go through some blades with that 300gsm card!

[stifnek]

ha, just thought...it's bloody friday night. Everyone's out gettin w***kerd.

[Dellboyy]

Actually not as many as other people have said they go through!

[Dellboyy]

And yup, that'll be my trick for tomorrow night! ;D

[stifnek]

Cheers for your time mate, have a gooden!

[Fake]

I use gallons of spray mount, but you need to use it right! I have mastered the technique, 3 pointers I can give you,

1 let it dry properly so it wont let behind a residue.
2 spray it on your stencil not on your canvas haha
3 if it lets behind some residue use sticky tape to remove it! works like a charm!

good luck!

[stifnek]

Thanks v much for that mate. I think i may have been spraying a bit too much come to think of it. I just didn't want any paint to creep through those little gaps! I dunno, but I think it'll make all the difference having the detail reproduce crisp-ly (if that's a word.), as well as the larger outlines.
Cheers all!

[Pistol]

I usually just hold the fiddley bits down with my fingers and spray round them. Best to wear a glove though, a) because it keeps your hand clean and b) I love latex!

[schlomo]

I'm with Pistol here man, well not the whole latex fetish thing.... but i wear gloves whilst working and just hold stuff down with my fingers. Have tried Fakes technique but cant get the covering right and it always messes the canvas up. If its really fiddly you could press it down with a bbq skewer and spray it.....

[kay7four]

I use chop stix

[iamdoom]

i'm with k74 here...
just press it down... i use the back of a small brush myself... anything stirdy and thin will do realy. if you need to press down a few points just hold more sticks
also try to choise your pressure points to yeild the best result... sometimes one part may come up when you press down another one...
and try to mind the cap you're using and the direction you pray from...
yeah man... it's a science

and fakes very nice sticky tape tip... also works to remove dirty finger smudges or other dustdirties

[stifnek]

Brilliant you lot! Actually just finished a test spray and was convinced I'd put enough sm on the reverse to get the fiddly bits, took off the stencil...bloody feathered to f***. Makes sense to use a narrow implemement to hold em down, just to give the extra 'flushness', nice one, once again! I'm loving it on ere..getting some really good advice. I suppose you lot wanna see something after all this knowledge you've given me then? See what I can do..
Oh..iamdoom, I pray to the left!

[iamdoom]

haha... good to know... what i meant is this...
if the sprayable area is on the left and the fiddly bits point towards the sprayable area (the left then) try spraying from the right. that way the paint will come from behind and gives less underspray