Plastic Modeling

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

Just came in earlier. Stashing away. Lol

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Trying out panel accent lines. Doesn't come off as easy as I thought it would. Remaining paint that didn't come off with the thinner came off with some polish.

Makes me want to do the R33 now instead of waiting. LOL.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

Trying out panel accent lines. Doesn't come off as easy as I thought it would. Remaining paint that didn't come off with the thinner came off with some polish.

Makes me want to do the R33 now instead of waiting. LOL.

Could try using an ink wash instead of paint. Not sure how messy that would be for your purpose, but it's used for darkening shadowed folds on mini figures.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Could try using an ink wash instead of paint. Not sure how messy that would be for your purpose, but it's used for darkening shadowed folds on mini figures.

I believe this is considered a wash by Tamiya??? It's specifically their panel accent line, line. Haha. I could also just be waiting too long for it to dry before removing excess.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

I believe this is considered a wash by Tamiya??? It's specifically their panel accent line, line. Haha. I could also just be waiting too long for it to dry before removing excess.

I use a very fine marker for that sort of panel line. Can get them at any art supply store. I find the panel was to heavy and it gives sort of a comic book outline look.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I use a very fine marker for that sort of panel line. Can get them at any art supply store. I find the panel was to heavy and it gives sort of a comic book outline look.

I think it depends on how much paint you leave on the brush or how many layers you put on? I like the outcome for the most part. haha. Although I think some of my lines are a little too dark from having too much paint. oh well.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

I believe this is considered a wash by Tamiya??? It's specifically their panel accent line, line. Haha. I could also just be waiting too long for it to dry before removing excess.

Oh yeah, all you need is a faint little shadow in the crevasse. You can water it down and just wipe up right after applying it, you shouldn't be able to wipe anything that falls into the "panel gaps" even before it's dry. Things to try next time perhaps.

Edit:. Still looks pretty good for the most part. I like the result more than what you started with. I don't mean that it's not good how you did it.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

I think it depends on how much paint you leave on the brush or how many layers you put on? I like the outcome for the most part. haha. Although I think some of my lines are a little too dark from having too much paint. oh well.

I like to try to keep things in scale whenever possible so don't like too thick line. Go stand back from a car until it appears about the same size as the model at 2 feet away. Check out what you can see. The panel lines should be almost invisible. In scale the panel lines with the wash in them would be about an inch wide on he full size car.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Oh yeah, all you need is a faint little shadow in the crevasse. You can water it down and just wipe up right after applying it, you shouldn't be able to wipe anything that falls into the "panel gaps" even before it's dry. Things to try next time perhaps.

Edit:. Still looks pretty good for the most part. I like the result more than what you started with. I don't mean that it's not good how you did it.

Definitely going to try to wipe right away with the R33 (the next one). I wonder if there are any common household items that will be better than the applicator brush with the Tamiya bottle?

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I like to try to keep things in scale whenever possible so don't like too thick line. Go stand back from a car until it appears about the same size as the model at 2 feet away. Check out what you can see. The panel lines should be almost invisible. In scale the panel lines with the wash in them would be about an inch wide on he full size car.

Looking at pics online, seems like only the fuel door is a little too wide. The front bumper and door panel gaps seem to be almost to scale, but the model is still wider. Maybe I'll try pressing down on the cotton bud more to try to get more of the accent paint off???

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

Definitely going to try to wipe right away with the R33 (the next one). I wonder if there are any common household items that will be better than the applicator brush with the Tamiya bottle?




Looking at pics online, seems like only the fuel door is a little too wide. The front bumper and door panel gaps seem to be almost to scale, but the model is still wider. Maybe I'll try pressing down on the cotton bud more to try to get more of the accent paint off???

You could try taking more out but it may be hard to keep it even. The whole trick is to have that sort of detail there but keep it subtle at the same time. Nothing should be in your face obvious.

[weederr33]

Kotobukiya HMM Zoids Death Stinger! I'll probably order 1 last model kit (the Geno Breaker) then I might graduate and actually start the Leopard II tank I have collecting dust!

[Kiske]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

You could try taking more out but it may be hard to keep it even. The whole trick is to have that sort of detail there but keep it subtle at the same time. Nothing should be in your face obvious.

Best way to do that is to get into 2 practices.

1. Re-engrave panel lines before painting using a scribe or needle. This makes them a bit crisper, deeper and allows you to do more paint work without fear of filling the cavity. If you ever build a Hasegawa or resin garage kits you need to take this to heart.

2. Mixing your own panel washes. Ideally pure black creates too much contrast when going for scale. Mixing a color that is a darker shade similar to to body color will really help. This is pretty common on aircraft modeling where modelers mix a darker grey than the one they painted with. The Tamiya panel line accent washes are just pre-thinned enamel paints. You can thin enamels with thinner or using a much cheaper lighter fluid. You want it runny enough to flow into the panel lines but, not too thinned that your wash creates uneven shades. I personally use the cheap Testors enamel paints to mix up shades when Tamiya's washes don't suffice.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Kiske

Best way to do that is to get into 2 practices.

1. Re-engrave panel lines before painting using a scribe or needle. This makes them a bit crisper, deeper and allows you to do more paint work without fear of filling the cavity. If you ever build a Hasegawa or resin garage kits you need to take this to heart.

2. Mixing your own panel washes. Ideally pure black creates too much contrast when going for scale. Mixing a color that is a darker shade similar to to body color will really help. This is pretty common on aircraft modeling where modelers mix a darker grey than the one they painted with. The Tamiya panel line accent washes are just pre-thinned enamel paints. You can thin enamels with thinner or using a much cheaper lighter fluid. You want it runny enough to flow into the panel lines but, not too thinned that your wash creates uneven shades. I personally use the cheap Testors enamel paints to mix up shades when Tamiya's washes don't suffice.

Like I said before I like subtle panel lines more that deep ones. Since most of what I do is military deep lines just don't look right. I sometimes even fill lines that are too trench like on aircraft.

For panel lines and highlighting detail I exclusively use an invention of my own. I mix some black acrylic painters paint (the kind in a tube) with Future acrylic floor wax until it is just barely translucent. I then cover the whole model with this mix. The self leveling properties of the Future make it settle into panel lines and around detail. The raised surfaces only take on a slight tint that can be wiped off using a cloth dipped in clean Future if you want. I am usually looking for a weathered surface so I make it streaky instead. It works very very well if decals are going on and I just spray it clear flat to get rid of the gloss. I have never ever seen this method in any of my magazines or online but it is extremely effective.

You can really see the effect with the Bandai kits since they have massive detail that just disappears in monochrome paint.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

That method looks like it works well for those types of models. Would look good on the undercarriage of a car model too!