Well, even before I get started on project number 1 (man, I swear they have my order in slow delivery mode :p ) I figure its smart to talk about detailing before I get there. SO here are a few questions I pose on certain aspects of detailing....

Aeriels. It seems there are two ways to go about making them. One is stretched sprue, the other fishing line. are there any benifits of one over the other, or does it matter? Im a fisherman and have TONS of line in varying thicknesses, so availability or extra expense is a moot point.

Next. I picked up an Airfix OS2U Kingfisher kit which will probably project #2. I dont want to wether it, but Id like to make the panel lines kinda "pop" out. Im thinking of going with a grey main color and using a grey thats a couple shades darker. But whats the best way of going about applying the darker color? Mr. Boyer did something similar using markers called Gundam I think. He traced the panel lines and the used an eraser to eliminate excess. Would this be a good route to take? Are there certain types of markers that work best for this type of application (other than the mentioned Gundams?)

And last is about washes. If I read it correctly you take an acrylic and thin it down a lot. you then apply and let it dry. When dry you wipe away excess with a rag leaving behind the panel lines and a "dirty" look around the lines. Is this correct? You let the wash dry completely before wiping?

Whew, lotsa questions. Sorry :thumbsup: .
Brian

Well, I may as well come out of lurk mode to try to answer you questions (or at least some of them).

I don't know anything about aerials, but as far as washes/making the panel lines 'pop'... You're pretty much correct on how to do a wash, except that you need to wipe the excess paint off before it dries (otherwise it won't wipe off). What you're trying to do is leave just a little bit of paint in the recessed areas/panel lines. The technique you describe using markers is the same idea.

Washes will only work if your model kit has recessed panel lines, though. If you're building an older kit which has the raised panel lines, what I sometimes do is, using a mechanical pencil, carefully trace the panel lines. If the color of the plane is dark, you may have to do this several times, but it will give the effect of the panel lines appearing to be in shadow. It seems to work pretty well, as long as you're careful not to smudge the pencil.

Hope this helps,

-jwe50

I use fishing line for antennae. It's a LOT stronger than stretched sprue. There's a neat trick I learned from an old hand at my modeling club:

Use the thinnest fishing line you can get - 1 or 2 pound. Superglue the ends to the appropriate places on the model (drill holes to glue it into if possible). Don't worry about getting it 100% perfectly taut.

Once the glue dries do this: Light a match, let it burn for a moment, then blow it out. Immediately hold the match under the fishing line antenna so it's enveloped by the rising smoke. The small amount of heat will shrink the fish line and pull it nice and taut. Bingo! A nice, straight antenna wire!

You can move the match back and forth along the line to even up the shrinkage, but whatever you do, don't get the hot matchhead too close to the line, or the heat will just melt it and snap it in two.

Depending on SIZE, I've used steel wire from Control Line model plane wire. It's very thin, and makes good 1/144 pitot tube too. I've used the really thin wire from spools ya get at Michaels or whatever too. It's fine for airplane rigging, and such.

Thanks for answering my questions guys!

Ive got another one for you. This has to do with matte paints. I know sometimes they are a necessity for realism, but decals never look quite right (because of the shine) when applied over matte paint. Can some kind of matte spray be applied to take the shine off the decal and blend it into the matte, or will the spray eat the decal?

Brian

Decals should be applied over glossy paint, or paint that has had a glossy clear coat applied, such as Future acrylic.

If you imagine a microscopic cross-section of a decal sitting on a microscopically bumpy matte surface, you'll see that the decal wouldn't adhere completely and air pockets would form between the decal and matte surface. This is called "silvering". If you then imagine the decal on a glossy surface, you can see it sticking to the smooth surface nicely, with no air pockets.

To avoid silvering, you prepare the surface with a gloss finish (paint or clear coat), apply the decals, then spray a matte finish over top of it all if you want it to look matte. Try it with some scrap.

Cool! Thank you SteveR.
Brian