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Panel line darkening after paint


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The title pretty much describes it EXCEPT I really need to darken door and other panel lines on bare polished plastic, because I don't want to change the molded color. I understand the advantages of doing panel washes before painting, but I haven't seen this issue addressed. The factory panel scribing is lighter than the deep plum color of the body. Tips, warnings, etc?

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Use artists watercolors...the ones that come in those little tubes. Paint the panel lines....no need to worry about being careful...and when dry wipe off the excess with a damp cloth. For lighter colored paints, a dark gray panel line looks much better than straight black.

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Another idea that you might try, even though I don't know if this would work well or not, is try to find a very fine point Sharpie or possibly a colored pencil lighter than the body color and use them to "draw" in the lighter panel lines. I've used a black fine point Sharpie a couple of times to do door lines on diecasts. Also, I would guess if you'd find a close colored pencil, you would probably have to clear the body so the pencil lines would not rub or wear off.

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Another idea that you might try, even though I don't know if this would work well or not, is try to find a very fine point Sharpie or possibly a colored pencil lighter than the body color and use them to "draw" in the lighter panel lines. I've used a black fine point Sharpie a couple of times to do door lines on diecasts. Also, I would guess if you'd find a close colored pencil, you would probably have to clear the body so the pencil lines would not rub or wear off.

Both good suggestions, which I've considered, but have no experience with at all. Maybe I'll experiment with pencil first, then watercolor. It's very unusual in our hobby to want to keep a molded color, but this one is the perfect color and the smooth, shiny finish is very realistic and prevents paint build-up (and keeps me from messing up the build). Mike, I've also got the necessary Micron equipment and I'll experiment with that.

This is for the Jo-Han 1/25 Mercedes 500K coupe, which will be my first kit in this small scale since the last one I built in 1974 - I've been devoted to 1/12 and 1/16 since then, but I really want to make this a nice model. I'm not scared about opening doors and adding hinges in large scales, but I won't even attempt that in this small scale. This kit makes me more appreciative than ever of the skills of our members who build in 1/24-1/25 regularly.

Thanks, guys.

Edited by sjordan2
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