Making lines stand out?

[Guest]

Whenever I build a model I am never happy with door lines and so forth as they never stand out so I was thinking of using a fine tip marker pen to outline them after prime and maybe that would make them stand out on finished lighter colour models?

[ojays]

Called pre shading, just be careful of the marker ink bleeding.


Use a permanent marker.

[Guest]

Washes but they have to be removable so it is either oil (can be tricky) or clay based such as Flory washes which can be daubed over the model, allowed to dry and then gently wiped off using a damp tissue and cotton buds leaving the wash in the grooves. If it goes wrong, more water (wet cloth and brush) and it can all be washed off. Once you have it how you like, spray a varnish, I wouldn't brush on the varnish as it will lift the clay out of the grooves, and it will become permanent.


A similar effect can be achieved with pigment and water but it won't be as stable and would be more powdery as it drives in the grooves.

[Guest]

So my thought pattern is on the right lines then :P , how about oil paints Fenlander?

[Guest]

If you do a thin oil wash into the panel lines, let it dry a while then you can use a brush dampened with thinners to wipe away any overspill. This is a common way of working on armour where you want to accentuate areas that may be raised as well as recessed. Should work fine but, as always, try and practice on a test piece before you commit to the model.

[Guest]

If a Flory Wash is applied over a matt varnish (or I expect straight on to matt paint) it will not be possible to wipe off (to reduce the effect) as Fenlander says, because the clay particles will remain in the tiny depressions that a mat finish has. Flory advises using a gloss varnish first if you need to wipe some of the wash off (which is normally necessary to accentuate eg. panel lines or in your case, door lines) .

[Guest]

If a Flory Wash is applied over a matt varnish (or I expect straight on to matt paint) it will not be possible to wipe off (to reduce the effect) as Fenlander says, because the clay particles will remain in the tiny depressions that a mat finish has. Flory advises using a gloss varnish first if you need to wipe some of the wash off (which is normally necessary to accentuate eg. panel lines or in your case, door lines) .

Quite right Steve, I should have mentioned that it should be applied over gloss only. Just shows how you do things automatically but miss the important details when trying to describe it.


This also applies to oil washes as it helps the wash flow and easier to clean up.


Thanks for pointing that out Steve

[Guest]

Have a look at my mustang build in the Korean war group build as I tried this technique doing an oil paint pin wash after primer and before painting. It does work but the paint coats have to be thin.

[dave]

Staedler do a permanent fine line marker down to in a variety of sizes down to 0.05 mm which I find useful on occasions, but be careful as the non-permanent versions are far more common.