This was the first kit I build when I got back into the hobby seven years ago. I was pretty proud of it at the time. I really liked the gun bay and engine access panels and tried some detailing in it. Looking at it now I see a lot of mistakes in a lot of places, gaps, wrong paint colors, etc. but back then I didn’t know any better. Unfortunately, a couple of years ago there was an accident. We were finishing our basement and my wife was carrying a bit more than she should have and bumped into the shelves with my completed models. Every single model fell to the ground and broke. I was able to salvage most of them, but a few I thought were trashed beyond repair. I bagged them up and threw them into my spares boxes.
Last year I bought an old Revell 1/32 P-47D at a show. When I got home and opened it up I discovered it came with a resin engine and I got excited, until I noticed that whoever had it first planned on rescribing the whole plane and sanded off half the raised panel lines and rivets. I don’t mind raised panel lines and never had any intention of rescribing a kit. So after some thinking I thought I’ll try to finish what this guy started, but I was going to get more AM parts for it to make it look as good as I can. But I needed something to practice scribing on, and thought I’d have to sink some money into a new kit for it. Then I remembered my kits from the “Great Crash.”
My plan is to use the Me-262 as practice for scribing. I know the Germans filled in all the panel lines except of access panels on the real thing, so my panel lines won’t be accurate. But, I’m generally the only person to see my builds so it’s not that big a deal. On the flip side, if my scribing looks horrible I can fill it in and have a more accurate model. Win-win for me. I have no idea what scheme I’m going to do with this as I don’t currently have any 262 decals in my stash. I’ll order some when I get ready to paint. Progress will be slow since we’re still trying to sell our house and my wife works a lot during the evening, and I need to keep an eye on the kids. I’d love any comments or criticism as I go through this. If you’re still here after all that, this is what I’m starting with. Hopefully the scribing process won’t take too long. Here’s what I’m starting with.
Sounds like a plan Bob. Interesting about the panel lines being filled in. I’ll have to remember that when I haul out my Tamiya kit. I’ll be watching bud.
Glad to have you along Joe! For scribing, I’m using a sewing pin in a pinvice. Is there a quick easy way to see if I’m going deep enough? So far to check I’ve been putting in a light acrylic wash. Anyone have a better way to check?
Thanks for following along! I’m still working in the panel lines. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be. I went to just about every office supply store in the area trying to find some of the old style dymo tape to go around the fuselage, but no luck. I had to order some from Amazon and it should be here tomorrow. Unfortunately I’ll be out of town for a wedding so I’ll have to wait until Monday to get back to it.
I finally have a little bit of progress to show. I finished scribing all the panel lines. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. There are plenty of mistakes, but they shouldn’t be too noticeable. Since I’m generally the only ones to see my builds I’ll probably be the only one to notice them. Here are a couple of pics to show where I’m at.
I also remembered that I sprayed the completely wrong color blue when I first built it. Next is to get some Simple Green to strip the paint off. Hopefully it can soak while I’m off camping for the weekend.
Wow. This is great SB. Definitely a new and interesting undertaking which ought to be quite informative. I’m a neophyte when it comes to rescribing so I’m sure I’m about to pick up some very helpful tips.
Thanks Joe! I’m pretty new to it too. I ordered a couple of scribing templates and some Dymo embossing tape. I lightly sanded all over the kit to get rid of all the raised panel lines. What made it easier for me was since the kit was already painted, it made the panel lines stick out since the paint was completely removed from them but not the kit itself.
Using the templates as a straight edge and for the circle and oblong shapes, I used a sewing needle (donated by my wife) in a pin vice to scratch all the lines. Work slowly and carefully. When I made a mistake (and there were plenty) I just used a knife to scrape it away. For the rings around the fuselage and engine nacelles, I cut lengths of Dymo tape, put them on and scribed around them. After all that, you need to sand it again because the needle with create little ridges along the panel lines. After sanding, drag the needle back through all the panel lines to clear out the dust. You may need to repeat the process a few times until it’s smooth and the panel lines are empty.
I did A LOT of research and watched several YouTube videos before I actually started. Paul Budzik and Plasmo Models were good sources. I’m not afraid of scribing now, but I won’t be rescribing all my kits.
Ty so much for posting this re-WIP. Very interesting and informative how you re-do a model …and I have plenty to re-do.
Question; how do you keep from removing the paint from the cockpit while soaking the exterior fsg. paint off ? It would be a nightmare to re-paint the office while assembled in the fsg. I would think.
I know it’s kinda late at this point but here’s my “maybe next time” advice on scribing.
I have tried many different scribing tools ( home made and otherwise ) and finally found a good one. I bought the UMM scribing tool from their web site. Boy does this thing work good. There is very little “plowing” of the lines so you don’t hafta sand the ridges away or even clean out the lines much, saving tons of work and time . This tool peels away plastic in a curl like a wood plane shaves a curl of hard wood. With an hour of practice, I was re-panel lining like a pro. Most of the time I didn’t even hafta use the dymo tape.
I also bought a PE scribing template from UMM as well ,for the tiny hatches and door shapes like the rounded corner squares and oblong shapes, and these work well also, using the “pin in the pin vise method” ,as the UMM tool is a little large to accurately follow these tiny shapes, but with practice, i bet it can be used for that too.
Mike, the biggest mistake I have is right at the front, where I didn’t properly align my Dymo tape so the panel line is much closer to an inspection panel on one side than on the other. I’m looking into how to fix it now. Hopefully something will present itself.
Jay, I’ve been looking at scribers, but didn’t want to order one just yet. I’ll definitely check out the UMM scribing tool you were talking about. I’m a big believer in working smarter, not harder and that sounds like a great time saver. You have a great question about the cockpit. I was planning on repainting mine anyway, and as luck (or unluck) would have it the cockpit tub fell out while I was sanding and rescribing. As for a fully assembled model, I’ve read that using oven cleaner can also strip off paint. I would imagine you could mask the cockpit, spray on the oven cleaner, and scrub the paint off. Just make sure you have gloves and a well-ventilated area to work. This is conjecture on my part, does anyone else have input?
Use a string of stretched sprue to fill the line back in. Sand it flush and you can rescribe as if it were never there. Far better than any filler or putty you may use because you add plastic back to the model and you can treat exactly the same as if you never made the scribe to begin with.
Myself, I use the de-greaser SuperClean to strip paint. Ordinarily, I immerse pieces in the liquid, using glass jars of appropriate sizes. In the case of an assembled piece with a finished interior, though, I wouldn’t immerse it. I would plug the cockpit with paper towel, moistened with water to better fit it into the inside, protecting the interior. Then I would apply the SC with a brush, or even spraying it on–SC comes in lever-action pump spray bottles, as well as gallon jugs. It takes a couple of passes, but it strips the paint.
I’ve also used it to do spot-removal of paint, when I didn’t want to strip the surrounding area. In that case, I use a cotton swab, soaked in SC, and dab it on the area, till the paint is dissolved and rubs away.
I used to use oven cleaner, till I saw a build online where a modeler used Super Clean to remove the chrome from Tamiya’s chromed P-51 kit. I tried it out, to strip the chrome from the chromed fret in the Monogram Red Baron hot rod kit (AMS took over on that build). The chrome dissolved into the liquid in under 2 minutes, and since SC is a de-greaser, it left the styrene grease- and oil-free, literally squeaky-clean. I started using it to strip paint, from that time.
I see several advantages to using SC instead of oven cleaner. For one thing, though the active ingredient in both is lye, SC is not nearly as caustic as oven cleaner, though I still have good ventilation. I don’t use gloves, though, when I use SC, though I do tweezers to remove items from the liquid. I clean the pieces in a work sink, under running water. Most of the paint softens and dissolves into the liquid in a matter of minutes, and what’s left, I scrub away gently with an old toothbrush. Old paint does tend to stick longer in relief detail, like panel lines, clothing folds, etc, but it eventually all goes away.
For another thing, oven cleaner is once-and-done, while a batch of SC can be used over and over. And at around eight bucks a gallon, it’s a bargain.
I also use it for cleaning my paint brushes, particularly for removing built-up acrylic paint. Since it’s a de-greaser, I do apply oil to the brushes after cleaning, to preserve the natural fibers.
And heck, it has household cleaning uses. I’ve used it on clogged drains, too.
I agree. I love the old Monogram kits, they make up most of my stash. Normally I don’t bother rescribing, but I like a challenge and I’ll need the practice before I get around to my big P-47. I’m also going to try my hand at adding detail to the landing gear and gun bays.
