Small Scale Military Headquarters

Panel lines.

There are several ways to bring them out.

1. Slush method. You rub in a concaction of paint and rub off the excess
2. Pencil just draw in the lines.
3. Fine felt tipped pen. Use the same as the pecil.

I am sure there are quite a few others but let us go with these.

Do panel lines NEED to be on production planes or does it look better with out ?

When 21st came out with our beloved XD the models were simply painted. Then they started with a fine airbrushing to highlight. Some people said that this made all of the planes look like racoons.

Are panel lines good to go as is painted only or should some effort be made to try and bring the panel lines out ?

For production planes, I would venture to say that the cost impact would need to be presented for most guys to make a solid comment. As we have heard many times cost is an important factor. most everyone here has 21st Century Toys planes and were happy with the finish based on the cost. Then when one moves up to the specialty collectors items (customs and repaints) one would expect to have the detailing that corrisponds to the price.

As for my preference, I like a subtle hint of detailing, if any. So panel lines are not absolutely a "must have" detail for my planes. I like the subtle detailing that BBI did on their Mustangs, and I don't think they went to great lengths to bring out panel lines.

Kris

I'd say as long as there's enough depth to the panel lines, there is no need to highlight them, though the light "airbrushing" looks good on my tropical Me-109.

Panel lines are a must, especially on a large-scale aircraft model. It will just look silly without it. Even 21st oldest models have them, albeit simplified. Heck, even toyish PTE planes have panel lines.

GooglyDoogly wrote:Panel lines are a must, especially on a large-scale aircraft model. It will just look silly without it. Even 21st oldest models have them, albeit simplified. Heck, even toyish PTE planes have panel lines.

I am not talking about the actual panel lines themselves. I am talking about accentuating them.

Hmm?

I just use some blakc paint wash...

pickelhaube wrote:

GooglyDoogly wrote:Panel lines are a must, especially on a large-scale aircraft model. It will just look silly without it. Even 21st oldest models have them, albeit simplified. Heck, even toyish PTE planes have panel lines.

I am not talking about the actual panel lines themselves. I am talking about accentuating them.

Ohhhh ok. Then I vote no. There's no need to accentuate the panel lines on a large scale model, because it often makes the model much too toyish.

Like the JSI Corsair, for instance.

I use faint pencil lines myself to just suggest the panel lines.

I choose to preshade the panel lines prior to the actual painting of the model. Harry's 32x 190's are how it's supposed to turn out if done right. Washes as suggested by flyboy are an excellent way to accent them too but easy to overdo if not careful. I will on occasion use pastels ground up for this which will be locked in place once hit with a topcoat.

Surprising though how many guys like clean paint jobs, no weathering, no accents, nothing. Adding accents and weathering is easy enough, removing overdone stuff is madening.

I would rather add the accents myself, and have the price remain low like they where for the 21st Century planes at $15-20.

cardenas wrote:I would rather add the accents myself, and have the price remain low like they where for the 21st Century planes at $15-20.

pickelhaube wrote:

cardenas wrote:I would rather add the accents myself, and have the price remain low like they where for the 21st Century planes at $15-20.

lol Don't worry. I think most of us doesn't really expect you to make custom planes for that price.

I forgot that it was the 1/18 section.What I meant, was I rather that the 21st century 1/32 models still be available at the prices they were rather than they add more details like accented panel lines, etc and thus increasing the price. As for the 1/18 scale planes the price range of $30+ was pretty good, I'm sure if they started to add more details the price would also increase.

For me, accented Panel lines are the way to go, but again - if done right. Production planes look like they have the panel shading done over the top coat. Instead it should be under the top coat so you just get a subtle hint of it.
I also like the idea of applying a wash to fill in the panel lines, but only if the original engraved panel lines aren't too deep and wide. Then it just looks like a car door.
Just my 2 cents.

PK.....accented panel lines are just another form of weathering. The larger the scale of the subject, the more accented weathering detail stands out. Therefore, to appeal to the masses, you're probably better off offering clean "like new" examples and let the buyer accent to their hearts content......that way they can't complain (and they will) about the under/over/too light/too dark weathering job out of the box. Take a look at the weathering complaints for the Tomcat.....and most of them haven't even gotten one yet!!!

Folkwulfe wrote:PK.....accented panel lines are just another form of weathering. The larger the scale of the subject, the more accented weathering detail stands out. Therefore, to appeal to the masses, you're probably better off offering clean "like new" examples and let the buyer accent to their hearts content......that way they can't complain (and they will) about the under/over/too light/too dark weathering job out of the box. Take a look at the weathering complaints for the Tomcat.....and most of them haven't even gotten one yet!!!

I agree

Gotta weather the thing. No need to go crazy but the panel lines always make the plane look better. Careful guys with what ya do if ya decide to break out the brush and slush. Most of my stuff (1:18 and 1:16) is now PTE as I like the challenge of taking average stuff and with a few cans of paint and primer from Walmart I've got what I think is a pretty good looking aircraft/tank/vehicle etc. The problem however is the stuff is addicting.

...you've been warned!