hi guys,

i've read much about panel lines and how to use them properly,but what to do with those raised wingy things?

drybrush?Do i have to cut them out myself...and how?

cheer Q.

I'd stick to drybrushing it... I once tried to sand them off, and then took a sharp knive to make my own lines, but it's really hard to make a straight line because fuselages are never really flat. But my guess is that there should be tools outthere to use to scrape off the lines.. but then still the problem with making a straight line remains...
If you mess up there, your model will look worse then before...

One method is to sand off the panel lines and use a scriber to do new ones. I use a piece of plastic card as an edge as it is flexible enough to lay against the curves of the aircraft fuselage.
I've seen one model where the builder left the raised panel lines and after painting lightly sanded them to allow the grey plastic to show through. It looked quite impressive but it must have been a real labour in taking care not to sand the rest of the painted surface.

I usually sand em off too and then take a pin vice
with a sturdy sewing needle in it and rescribe them, go along the lines previously there before you sand em off and then when you do you have a recess next to it use a household scouring powder such as ajax to remove swarf from the rut it takes some workbut it well worth it !

Not all raised panel lines are bad. Trumpeter's new 1/32 F4F Wildcat is technically not worth having if one is looking for accuracy--it was festooned with raised rivets.

Know your subject. The F4F, SBD Dauntless, B-17, DC-3/C-47, the fuselage of the F6F Hellcat and TBF Avenger, these are popular subjects that were built with raised rivets,

So do not get into the mindless raised-rivet-removal mania just because everyone is doing it.

That said, I hate these lil' things--such a pain if one has to fill and sand gaps...

Hey LordQ, why not apply a wash to the panel lines. It's easy. Build and paint your model then after gloss clear coat it. Then mix up a wash batch, dip in a small brush and touch it to the panel line, the wash will flow along the lines. The gloss coat helps the wash flow. When dry just clean up with a Q-tip dampened not wet with a thinner. Wip in the direction of flight. When it drys, drybrush and apply your decals then spray on a matt or dull coat. You can also apply the decals before the wash, but after, seal the decals under another coat of clear coat to protect them. Hope this helps, good luck.

Hi Quinten

The whole raised / engraved panel-line issue is a source of endless fun and debate among modellers!

IMHO... neither is 100% accurate. Raised lines always look odd to me, but engraved lines are usually massively overscale and don't do a good job depicting overlapping or "clinker-built" panels.

As for rivets... Aaghh! A topic in itself!

So it really boils down to personal preference... I always re-scribe - simply because it suits my method of weathering better.

All the best

Rowan

I don't know if they still have them, but I think Verlinden makes templates for rescribing panel lines. I have two in different scales. They are very thin metal that will virtually wrap around curves and the like to make scribing easier and more precise.
An eraser shield from an art supply store will also work for some applications.
Micro Mark has scribing tools and dental tools will also work if you have access to those.
Heck the back of an X-acto blade will work, but be very careful...you might be taking an unwanted break to the local hospital if it slips off your work...

thanks guys,

iTs Indeed a f6f hellcat
I think !'m' not going to scribe the lines,i'll' leave it like it is.,and maybe a wash on the rivets.

cheerz Q.

Like Rowan I would re-scribe mainly becaus eit suits the way in which do my weathering. Plus to clean up seams you lose a lot of raised panel detail anyway.
I have been, for several months, writing an article on this subject. Half way through I deiscovered a very easy way of re-scribing that takes years of the time it normally takes to do this chore. Because I need to go back and re-write this article it has, I'm afraid, been languishing half done waiting for me to re-start it. I promise to try and get it done.
Mal

Thanks!

I generally avoid re-scribing, but I was just thinking, What if you re-scrib using the raised panel line as your guide and then just sand the raised line and blow out the particles in your newly scribed line? Now it may be a little off in accuracy, and because this wouldn't always work, you'd still have to use the traditional methods of rescribing, but why not? Either way, I will usually use styrene card as a guideline, especially on wings.

Jeff

Yes Jeff I've seen and read that you can use the raised lines as a guide. First you sand them down a bit then using a templete to engrave in new lines. This is what i used to do a few years back, taking a mechanical (drafting) pencil and sanding the lead to a fine point, i would trace the raised panel w/ the pencil, light pressure!. Just keep the point sharp. Here is a pic,

Looks like it turned out well enough. The beautiful thing with lead, it that you can wash it off/paint over it and do it again.

Jeff