How do YOU panel line your Valks?

[MasterOfPuppets]

As the title states, how do you panel line your Valks? Personally I don't have the courage to panel line mine; they're not even stickered. The fact that the BP8 on my 1/48 Hikaru 1J is broken and repaired and the cost of the 1/48 Max 1J is also a detractor. If I ever panel lined one (most likely Roy 1S) then I know I'd have to do them all or it'd bug the hell outta me. But if I did, then I was just thinking of using my Gundam Marker then wiping off the excess. But doing it on white plastic might leave streaks. So how do you guys do it?

[Dante74]

I use gundam marker. works just fine.

[JEXPRIME]

I used black shoe polish worked ggod n a pinch

[Batou]

I use gundam marker. works just fine.

Ditto here. Be sure to use the gray ones, though, unless you're dealing with a very dark surface to begin with (e.g., the Max 1J).

Used with some aftermarket stickers, it really makes a nice effect, and is much less effort than taking it apart and giving it a full weathering job with an airbrush. Doesn't look as nice, obviously, but the potential for ruining your $160 buddy is much reduced. (I ain't no wm_cheng, here .

[Auto Pilot Off]

you can use mechanical pencil can be erased easily.. i used this chalk made it into powder add a bit of water and liquid soap... use brush to panel line then remove excess by a damp kleenex tissue....

[big F]

I use all of the above but mostly just use heavily thinned out Tamiya paint and a fine brush and capillary action.

Edited October 15, 2006 by big F

[Fly4victory]

Gundam marker in the groves then a Q tip with alcohol so it is not so dark and smears with the airflow over the surface.

Edit: be careful on painted surfaces with the alcohol it will remove the factory paint.

Edited October 16, 2006 by Fly4victory

[ghostryder]

I'm a big proponent of 0.3mm pencil with HB lead. It's subtle looking, and easy to do. I can panel line a whole valk in under an hour.

I suck at photography, so take a look at R Deckard's pics in the 1/48+fp's, 1/60, And 1/72 Picture Gallery Pt 2 to get a better idea of how it looks.

[Dante74]

Gundam marker in the groves then a Q tip with alcohol so it is not so dark and smears with the airflow over the surface.

Edit: be careful on painted surfaces with the alcohol it will remove the factory paint.

I use spit instead of alcohol. You need a bit more but it does the trick.

Oh and don't wait two hours to remove any smears you made. Do it immediately after you put the line in a grove.

(BTW: I don't drink so much that my spit IS alcohol. Just for the wiseguys around here. You know who you are. )

Edited October 16, 2006 by Dante74

[azrael]

After many years of painting panel lines on Gunpla with a liner brush...my eyes can't do it anymore. So I was recommended The Detailer through a few modelling comrades. Heard it works really well on aircraft kits.

[Skull-1]

Pencil. You can smear it around to give you the effect you want and wash it off if you screw up.

99% of panel lining is over done. Very few are actually real-world accurate. The Marine Valk I did a looooooong time ago was the closest I have come in the Valk world to accurate. But it's the nature of the beast. The panel lines in the 1/55 and 1/48 are so deep that its tough to get them just right without a lot of work.

The water-based wash would probably do wonders for you.

Just remember...

With panel lines, LESS is more.

Edited October 16, 2006 by Skull-1

[Jasonc]

I use the pencil method myself. After I paint the final coat of color on the piece, I take a mechanical pencil, and lightly draw into the panel lines. Then with the dull coat, that makes the pencil lead darken up and when spraid in the right direction, can actually run off a bit for a more weathered look. for toys I just want to weather, I'd go with the pencil again, as it can be cleaned easily, isn't too dark, and does it's job just fine.

[wm cheng]

I would not use the Gundam Marker, its just too thick and dark - unless you are going for the anime style...

Pencil is a good idea - the grey will look good and its easy to erase.

If you want something a little more permanent, I use thinned down oil paints, it has a slow drying time, so you can have lots of time to wipe off the excess. It mixes well, so you can have white (or light grey) lines in the black areas and different shades in the white areas. You can wipe away the excess with just a paper towel - or if you leave it too long, you can dip it with varsol (low odour is less strong) and wipe - it didn't harm the paint.

Edited October 16, 2006 by wm cheng

[David Hingtgen]

I just bought a cheap F-14 solely to paint red, and test panel-line techniques, before I try anything on my $200 Milia. Being pure red brings its own problems---black or dark grey panel lining on red tends to give a "purple" effect. But light grey or white gives pink of course. Maybe rust or brown. Going to try pencils (both grey and silver--chipped/worn paint effect), washes, dry-brushing silver, thinned gundam markers, and maybe even my "airbrush-only metalizer with a brush" technique---works great for ceramic-lined exhaust nozzles. And of course wm cheng's oil wash style--but I have to try out other techniques just to find what colors will work best though---oil paint gets expensive pretty quick if you don't know exactly what colors you need. Thankfully I won't need any cadmium yellow...

[wm cheng]

Hey David,

Just get the cheapest oils from a local art supply store - you're not doing a painting. I only got white, black and brown, and I mix everything in between. It shouldn't cost you more than $5 a tube - and that lasts me a while (in fact I'm still on my first tubes ever).

[Skull-1]

I would not use the Gundam Marker, its just too thick and dark - unless you are going for the anime style...

Pencil is a good idea - the grey will look good and its easy to erase.

If you want something a little more permanent, I use thinned down oil paints, it has a slow drying time, so you can have lots of time to wipe off the excess. It mixes well, so you can have white (or light grey) lines in the black areas and different shades in the white areas. You can wipe away the excess with just a paper towel - or if you leave it too long, you can dip it with varsol (low odour is less strong) and wipe - it didn't harm the paint.

An excellent example of less being more. That is a pretty good job right there. I much prefer that to a Valk that looks like it got dumped in a landfill.

[promethuem5]

I've got a custom mix of Black and Grey acrylics, Black acrylic ink, Future, and Water.... works amzingly for manel lines, and with some smearing from the panel lines provides great weathering as well....

[Mercurial Morpheus]

I used a Gundam marker once on a toy of the Albion I have. While I like the paneled look, it was far darker than I'd have liked. I can't seenm to get my local shop to stock any grey ones.

It never occured to me to use pencil. I'll have to give that a try. I did use the marker again (I though I had fully dryed it out by accident, but was wrong) on my RXF-91. while it's still somewhat darker than I'd like, the drying out seemed to help, as it looked much better. I just got tired of it not having a head (I wanted to line that piece before assembly). I even lined a rail gun, and it wasn't half bad. Though I still would like it thinner and less noticable. The lines scream for attention on my Albion. It still looks good, but it's an obvious first attempt.