Panel Line Question

[foxbat426]

Are they any good techniques for safely deepening panel lines after paint has been applied. I haven't clear coated yet.

[Mike Kucaba]

Most anything you drag thru the line now,you run the risk of chipping the adjacent paint.The safest tool to use would be a very thin PE saw. If you do this before the paint cures hard,it may lessen the chance of paint damage.

[foxbat426]

I figured that - its my third build and i learn about another technique after each build - the check list gets longer and longer. Mike what's a "PE" saw?? also wouild it help if i draw pencil lines in?

thx, john

[Guest]

If it's painted, it's waaay too late. That's a process that needs to be done before primer. To me, the best tools to deepen panel lines are a razor saw and photo etch saw. They follow the lines much better than an Xacto blade.

[Chillyb1]

  On 6/24/2012 at 3:41 PM, plowboy said:

To me, the best tools to deepen panel lines are a razor saw and photo etch saw. They follow the lines much better than an Xacto blade.

If I'd come across this claim before last week I'd have said, "Plowboy, you are a big fat liar!" But I read about this in the panel-line thread elsewhere in the forum and tried it for myself. And a big thank you goes out to Plowboy for the tip. The little saw blades I have worked like a charm and never once jumped the lines, which I do every time with my Bare-Metal scriber or the back of a #11 blade. I need to get some photoetch blades because they are even thinner than the saw blades I currently have.

And as the others have already said, once the body is painted it is much more difficult to do anything with the panel lines without messing up the paint job. Not a big deal because you can give it a try on your next build.

[JohnU]

You could try highlighting the panel lines with a fine tipped marker or pigment liner!

[cruz]

Gregg and I put together a cool tutorial for the magazine, don't know when he will have it in the mag but it's pretty informative, I think it will answer many questions on the subject.