With Gary Wickham
A note from Geoff…
This is a great technique that will also be reinforced with HD video demos – so keep an eye out for those.
Gary has kindly agreed to share his approach to highlighting panel lines on aircraft and this is a technique that can greatly enhance your models – overdo it and it looks awful, but enhancing panel lines can transform your model from a two-dimensional model into a realistic replica. This contribution from Gary takes you through every step of the process and you can easily achieve great results by following Gary’s helpful step-by-step approach.
Just before we get to the really interesting ‘How-to’ bit, here are a collection of random photos showing how panel lines on real aircraft, whatever the period can stand out.
Over to you Gary
One of the things that I believe really helps to accentuate the three dimensional nature of a model (aircraft in particular) is the highlighting of the panel lines that criss-cross its surface. Panel lines that have had subtle shading applied, help to give the model’s surface some visual depth. Like most modelling techniques, it is easy to overdo, which then becomes distracting.
I have experimented considerably with what works best (to my eye anyway) on modern aircraft subjects.
What follows is a step-by-step guide to my technique. In no way do I advocate this as the only or even the best way to highlight panel lines. I simply hope that by sharing it, you might find something useful for yourself.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so rather than talk you to death (or sleep), I have a brief introduction to the challenges of panel lines, the paints and colours I find work best and then it’s straight into the pictures.
The Challenges
The method that I will describe involves washing a thinned paint into the panel lines. As you can imagine this requires recessed panel lines to work. I have read of methods for highlighting raised panel lines, but I have never tried this (I prefer to re-scribe the panel lines for these older kits).
Having said that, even newer kits that have recessed panel lines require some prep work if you are planning on washing them. In their attempt to make the panel lines on kits very subtle and appropriate to the scale of the model, manufacturers (Hasegawa is a good example) have inadvertently made it more difficult to get a wash to stay in the panel lines.
Why is this? Well it’s because the panel lines are too shallow and after you apply perhaps several coats of paint, gloss clear (for decals) etc, the panel lines fill up !! This means our wash will not stay in the recess and can ruin the effect.
Preparation: Pre-Scribing
Preparing for a panel wash, actually begins long before you paint the model. In fact, in most cases it can begin even before you assemble the model. This is because the right time to pre-scribe our panel lines is when each part is easiest to work with (i.e. it’s not attached to other parts).
We do this by using a scribing tool and lightly tracing over the existing panel lines, while the kit is still in pieces. This deepens and sharpens the existing panel lines and makes our later task of panel washing easier. I find that during this process you do not need to press down with the scriber, just the weight of the tool alone (providing it is sharp) will remove enough plastic for our purposes.
I have found that not all kits require pre-scribing. For example, the picture above is of the Revell 1:48 Rafale. The panel lines on this kit are deep and sharp enough to not require additional work from us. As you become more experienced with washes, you will get a feel for those panel lines that will and those that will not require pre-scribing.
To further illustrate, consider the two pictures to the right. Both are of the Hasegawa A-4 Skyhawk kit. The first one was painted and the panel wash applied with no pre-scribing. The second, (built after the lesson learned from the left one) was painted and washed after the kit panel lines had received a light pre-scribing. If you look closely, you will see that the panel lines on the second Skyhawk are more evident and more consistent.
What Paint and Colour?
The choice of paint type (enamel, acrylic, water, ink etc) and colour (black, brown, oil etc) that you use for panel washes is an important one. Why? Well, to make our job of washing panel lines easier, we need a paint that flows well when thinned, is easily removed with thinner when dry and is capable of holding its colour when applied in a very thin mixture.
As you follow through the steps below, you will see that I always seal the final paint scheme on my models with an acrylic gloss clear finish. I do this for two reasons:
- To provide a suitable surface to apply the decals on
- To seal and protect the paint scheme from the panel wash process
The choice of acrylic gloss clear is worth explaining. I choose gloss clear as it encourages the thinned panel wash paint to flow into the recessed lines and allows me to cleanly remove any excess from the surface of model. I choose acrylic clear because the paint I use for the panel wash itself is enamel based. By using an acrylic clear, I am less likely to have problems with the enamel thinner I use to remove any excess wash from the model surface once dry.
So, exactly what paint do I use? Based on trial and error, I have settled on Model Master Enamel Burnt Umber (#2005). I like the dirty oil colour of Burnt Umber and I have found that it is easily removed once dry using fairly mild solvents such as White Spirit. I have tried to use Humbrol enamels for the wash, however once they dry you almost need sandpaper to remove the excess (not a good thing). To be honest, I have not tried to use acrylic paints for washing as I was very happy with the result of Model Master. As a general rule, I find acrylic paints have a coarser pigment and are not as suitable for subtle effects as enamels or oils.
Some modellers use artist oil paints for panel washes. I do use oil paints for final weathering (oil stains etc), but find that you need to apply too many coats of the oil wash to get a suitable depth of colour for panel lines.
Finally, remember that you don’t have to use the same colour for all panel washes. I frequently lighten or darken the basic Burnt Umber colour depending on the paint scheme of the aircraft. For some models I would use an entirely different colour (say light grey for a black aircraft such as the F-1117A). No matter what colour you use, the basic techniques of preparing the model and application of the wash still apply.