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So I painted some stripes using Tamiya masking tape. Everything looks nice, but there are some tiny raised lines along the edge, where the paint met the masking tape. I was wondering what the best way to clean these lines up would be. Should I wait for the paint to cure, mask the stripe, then use fine grit sandpaper to remove them? Or should I just varnish over them?

Unless they are super huge.im not.sure anyone would notice them. The sudden change in colour of the stripes.should mask them.a.bit as well.

Hm... do you think Ardcoat would level the surface out or will it make a sort of "ridge"?

Maybe 12000 grade finishing papers would smooth them a bit. They are coated in fine diamond and are used by car spray painters to leave a fine surface with no scratches. You don't need to use much pressure otherwise you will damage the paint. You might need some brush work regardless to even it out.

You are meant to remove the tape BEFORE the paint dries - about when it's still "tacky" in the case of rattlecans.

With airbrushing, the ability to make thinner passing coats means you can leave it there until it dries (usually the thinning media and the thinness of the coats means it dries fast anyway).

Use a 900-1200 grit sandpaper and lightly WET sand the spot - this method work perfectly, but just don't cut too deep.

Use a hobby knife and trace the tape.
If you've let it dry the knife will part the paint.

While sanding might knock down the edge, I'd advise ty try using less paint. That would keep the layer thiner.

Note that there are model making tutorials out there that use the edge created by a paint layer similiar to scribing a line.