hey i am just starting a new model that has the entire instrument panel on a decal and the plastic behind it is just plain. the decals are very impressive but 2D so i was wondering what can be done to this panel to make it more 3D?
(not to sure which forum to put this in so please forgive me if its wrong)
Get yourself a PE interior detail set for the subject you are building. Otherwise scratchbuild gauge faces, knobs, levers, dials and bezels.
tried that theres no PE availabe for the kit so scratch building must be my only option???(not very good at that)
Whats the Kit?
revell 1/32 eurocopter ec135 “air zermatt”
What I have done is to make an overlay. I bought some of that transparency material used to make presentation slides (powerpoint presentations). Then, I scan the panel decal. In a photo editor like Photoshop I put white circles exactly over the instruments. I make sure the rest of the panel is a very dark black.
I then print out the panel on the transparency material, cut it out, and sandwich it with the decal. It adds a little bit of depth. Sometimes in larger scale like 1:32 I add a sheet of thin acrylic or clear polystyrene between the two for a little more depth.
I use white glue or Microglaze to glue the sandwich together.
thank you so much it worked really well!
As Hooper says in “Jaws”-“I got that beat! I got that beat!” No disrepect intended, Don, I’m teasing! But that scene came to mind.
I make overlays in similar fashion, but I use the clear plastic sheet/strips from the packaging for my dress shirts, the plastic used to support the collar in the package. I make a photocopy of the decal to use as a template. I lay the plastic over the photocopy and trace then cut the outline of the panel with a sharp knife. Then I attach the photocopy to the back of the clear piece, and use my tap and die set to punch out the instrument faces. Then I paint the overlay as appropriate (usually flat black, or Tamiya’s NATO black).
I apply the decal to a piece of styrene sheet, cut to shape, then use a little white glue to attach the overlay.
I used this method on the old Monogram TBF kit, the early boxing, with a completely fictional representation of a panel.
“I’ll drink to your leg. You drink to my arm, I’ll drink to your leg!”
cool have already done Don’s idea but hopefully other people can take from this thread