A long time ago I did the Revell 1/32 F-14A Tomcat. I painted black into the panel lines and then painted the aircraft colors over that. It took several coats but I made it. Then I took a relatively dull knife and lightly cut into the panel lines to reveal the black paint underneath. It worked, but I don’t want to use this method again.
For my next aircraft I want to paint the aircraft colors, and then overcoat the whole plane with a gloss lacquer. (By the way I use enamels for most paintjobs). Then I would use a dark gray acrylic in the panel lines, wiping away the excess with a moist cloth or cotton ball. Then I would overspray the whole plane with a dull coat lacquer.
What I’m concerned about is the dullcoat lacquer having an effect on the acrylic used in the panel lines. If I let the acrylic dry for a good 24-48 hours, will this be a problem? Would I be better off using an acrylic flat coat instead of the lacquer?
I just did my panels on my S-3 Viking with a combination. First I airbrushed the plane with MM acrylic paint. I let the paint dry for a couple of days jsut to be on the safe side. After drying sprayed the entire thing with Testors glosscote out of the can. Next I used a highly thinned mixture of MM acrylic black and brown and applied it with a drafters pen. I also used a method with tempera paints; smudged it in the panel lines then wiped the excess with a damp cloth. After all was done I let it sit for a few days. agein just to be sure all was dry, then I covered it Testors dullcote right out of the can in light coats. It looks pretty good to me. If I can I’ll post some pics. Since no one else has replied I figured I would tell you what I did. Due to current accomidations I have strict “guidlines” to work in. Anyway, that’s how I did it with no issues. Hope this helps a little.[2c]
From what I have been reading in the forums I think you might want to mix some dullcoat with Future to give it your pre-finish. This should protect what you have, also use very thin coats of the laquer so as not to upset the under-coat.
Hey TGregory, what ratio is it, dullcote to future? How glossy or flat is it, and what exactly is a pre finish? I’ve always done the glosscote, panel lines, dullcote, then weathering, not always the best results but so far it’s worked. Any info would be great!
Thanks for the replies. I suppose I’ll use an acrylic wash for the panel lines, and let it dry a good 24-48 hours and then spray flat lacquer. I might also try technical pens, but I think a dark gray wash would be a more realistic shade than the flat black of a pen.