About 13 or 14 years ago, I built the Revell F-14A that has rather heavy panel lines. I had never colored panel lines until then, so what I did was paint the dark grey into the lines before painting the model.
Then I painted the final colors of the aircraft over the coloring of the panel lines and covered it all completely so the panel line coloring was completely covered by the exterior coat.
THEN I took the small blade of a Swiss Army Knife and cut along the panel lines just enough to remove the exterior paint and reveal the dark grey paint in the lines. It worked like a charm!
I haven’t used this method since the Tomcat, but was wondering if anyone out there has tried this method, and what results were had. Or if anyone uses other alternative methods for panel lines.
DJ
Haven’t tried it with pastels.
What seems to work for a lot of people is to use a wash of some sort. I’ve had pretty decent luck using artists water colors mixed in water, but it can also be done with very thin enamel or oil paints. There is a post on here entitled “Weathering Domi’s Way” (I think) that gives the details and is well worth reading, and another link on Swanny’s web site at http://www.swannysmodels.com/Tools.html that has more information.
Basically, mix up some artist’s water color in water with a touch of dishwashing soap and a touch of vinegar (or very thin enamel). Use a finely pointed brush, dip it in the mixture, and just touch it to the intersection of the panel lines. Capilary action will pull the paint along the panel lines. If you use water color and the mix gets outside the lines you can use a moistened Q-tip to rub it right off.
Not my original idea though, and my thanks to the guys who came up with it!