This tip is a follow up to my original tip posting on Hard Stop Paint Bleed and a response question made by @ThaoNguyen !
Paint Bleed - Study on Hard Stop Process
Tip for kit build beginners and pros :
As always, there is no one way to do anything, and, if your process is working for you and not experiencing bleeding on bare wood substrate or painted surfaces ready for secondary painting, then I encourage you (beginners or pros) to detail out and add to this community’s great TIP Library. The great thing about this community is sharing of knowledge in the way of tips.
Paint bleeding study consisted of three different panels :
- Bare wood substrate painted white and use of a complex stencil to apply secondary coloring
- Bare wood substrate painted white, the complex stencil applied, then a second layer of white paint applied with foam roller to create dead stop barrier for paint bleed control, then apply secondary coloring Bare
- Bare substrate and use of complex stencil to apply secondary color (in this study no clear wood sealer was used as a substrate primer since most kit builders will never take this extra conditional process step)
Paint Pens used in study
Type 1- fluid based paint pens, fine tip (viscosity extremely low)
Type 2- art marker with large application tip (decent flow, needed additional application passes)
Type 3- Acrylic Art ink pen with soft tapered tip (very good flow for laying down color)
RESULTS
Panel 1
- Use of complex plastic stencil allowed excessive paint bleeding to occur due to poor sealing between stencil and painted substrate
- All three types of applicator tips resulted in paint bleed when used with a stencil
- Use of masking tape produced uncontrolled bleed even though masking tape was applied with heavy pressure several times, a tight bond to white substrate still was not possible due to paint finish roughness from foam roller application
Panel 2
- Second layer of white paint allowed to dry before secondary coloring application. Deed stop barrier was effective in preventing paint bleed. However one stencil void did not have enough barrier and did allow slight bleed to occur. Minimal bleed can be post treated with additional white base paint to improve visual defect
- Second layer of white paint created raised perimeter outline for each stencil void once allowed to dry. Visual appearance would need to be assessed by the kit builder in terms of their acceptability requirements
- Use of masking tape produced favorable results, however, amount of second layer white was minimal in study, would require additional coverage to achieve better results
Panel 3
- Bare wood substrate resulted in uncontrollable paint bleed for all pen types
- Use of masking tape produced uncontrolled bleed due to porous substrate
PHOTOS WITH THIS STUDY
A. Bare wood panel areas marked
B. Panel 1 and 2 white background layer applied
C. Complex plastic stencil overlaid all panels and panels 1&3 masked to apply second coat of white on panel 2 as hard stop
D. Pen type and tip used in this study
E. Secondary color applied to all panels in stencil voids
F. Panel side-by-side result comparison
Hard stop paint bleed process works for larger kit parts where are very clear delineation line is required between two or more paint colors, or, where a complex surface design with paint is desired over other decoration types and processes.
Hard stop paint bleed also will work on small parts. However, will require extensive amount of planning and masking with tape preparation after the base color has been applied and let to thoroughly dry, before applying the secondary color. It will be time consuming to some, and, a joy for others.
As always, no matter what your build or painting process is, enjoy your builds of these amazing kits.
Cheers to all the builders out there !
After reading it maybe I just won’t be that adverse to painting anymore 
thanks for sharing your study 