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Raised or Recessed Panel Lines, what to do?


Kyle49

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I have a few questions for all you master modelers. I've been out of modeling for about 20 years and I am finally in a position to get back into it so forgive me for my "newbie impression" with my questions. As I am really trying to refine my building skills one thing I notice is almost all of the models I see here at LSP and on other modeling website seem to favor recessed panel lines and rivets. Looking at many tutorials and reading many different comments about how, I wanted to get some input on the pro's and con's of either and or someones step by step system they have found best?

I am working on a Revell 1/32 (P-51 B, Berlin Express) which has all raised everything, finished with the cockpit and interior and having purchased a scribing tool and a 1/32 rivet tool, I find myself staring blankly frozen at the fuselage and wings.  

Is there a formula in steps that anyone would care to share. For example. 

Start by scribing following the raised lines already their and then sand and prime?

Should I try to sand and scribe as much before putting the fuselage together or do all after the fuselage is together?

Primer first then scribe following the raised lines then sand then re prime?

Or sand everything smooth as possible and use reference drawings to re scribe everything form scratch?

I am sorry for the long (and for most of you a neophyte) questions but I would rather get a really great formula from someone who has tried many different techniques becoming a master and take some mocking rather than waist money (boy static modeling has become soooo more expensive) on experimenting on several models trying to figure out a great system on my own. 

Thank you so much for any responses! 

 

 

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Hi Kyle,

 

I just did my first rescribe on an old Revell Typhoon.

You can go about it a few ways.

I chose to sand off the detail on half at at time and rescribe the panel lines.

That way you have a second half to reference where the lines are.

 

Other way is to sand it all off, and use plans and then re add the panel lines.

 

Luckily the mustang is fairly simple until you get to the wing and tail fairings.

 

 

link to my build if you're interested

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=65264

Edited by Shawn M
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Hi Kyle, I have re scribed lots of old Revell kits and they look so much better, I use all sorts of different methods, you will develop your own technique and find the right tools that fit your hand as it were.

If the raised panel lines are accurate by the drawings I rescribe following them, I use a Bare Metal Foil scriber but that is only personal preference.

If I make a mistake I fill it with CA and leave it about 20 minutes and sand it down, if you leave CA to cure too long it goes rock hard and is harder to get a smooth finish.

For areas where the panel lines are not accurate I use Dymo tape to guide my scriber, I usually cut the Dymo tape into half widths so that it goes further.

Once scribed I sand down the new lines and use a wooden toothpick to remove the sanding dust, sanding gets rid of any braised edges.

For inspection panels I use a scribing template, mine are Lion Roar ones but there are others about.

I normally tape the fuselage halves together and rescribe that way they match up when assemled, the same is true for wings as well.

To restore rivets I use an MDC riveting tool, though you can now even get aftermarket raised rivet detail.

This is a link to a very old build of mine (P-47) that may be useful to you. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/9063-132-revell-p-47d-bubble-finished/

And here is a Hurricane. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/37896-revell-hawker-hurricane-mk-1/

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Edited by dennismcc
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My first kit, I just followed along the raised lines, and focused on getting straight, even depth lines. Don't put pressure on yourself to get a museum class model on your first build.

1. it takes the fun right out of it

2. makes the building part like work.

 The basics: good construction, good alignments, and things like clean seams, and removing mold lines are a great start.

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First off, welcome to the forums, Kyle!

 

You'll probably get quite a few different recommendations when it comes to scribing panel lines. Personally, I prefer to cement fuselage halves together prior to scribing; I can never seem to get lines to match up otherwise. I also have a tendency to try and get the most difficult ones out of the way first. For your first kit, you may want to start with straight lines on relatively flat surfaces (wings) until you get a good feel for the tool in your hand.

 

When I have decent drawings available, I sand the entire surface prior to scribing. There's a danger in that; flaps and ailerons may or may not be in the correct position on the model as molded. If a line starts/ends at a corner of a control surface, I will use that intersection rather than rely on a measurement.

 

Pay attention to the patterns of the panels, too. Some lines will go full chord or full span, others are interrupted. A little planning beforehand can save you some tedious filling and sanding.

 

As Dennis said, Dymo tape is your friend. I also split mine in half lengthwise, purposely making the cut ragged so there's no confusing the straight edge from the cut.

 

For the P-51 in particular, there has been much discussion about the panel lines on the wings. Take a look here: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=67189&hl=%2Bmustang+%2Bpanel&do=findComment&comment=893342

 

Good luck, and feel free to post your work!

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I think that you might want to think about using your first kit as a learning tool, and accept that here might be some imperfect scribing. I'm not suggesting that you be sloppy, just that if you have to constantly go back to repair earlier scribing, it will suck the fun out of the project pretty fast. Do your best, enjoy the process, and if there is an occasional wavy line, then OK. Just my $.02.

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I think that you might want to think about using your first kit as a learning tool, and accept that here might be some imperfect scribing. I'm not suggesting that you be sloppy, just that if you have to constantly go back to repair earlier scribing, it will suck the fun out of the project pretty fast. Do your best, enjoy the process, and if there is an occasional wavy line, then OK. Just my $.02.

 

 

Agreed.

 

One must be careful here. You've stumbled into a room with many experts. I am not one of them. It's easy to look at a model made by one of these people, then look at one's own, and be disappointed. It's happened to me. I've been modeling for just over a year and still have not completed anything. Possibly because I am putting too much pressure on myself to "get it right!" :)

 

My first attempt was a disaster, as were others that followed. 

 

I recommend you begin with some cheap model that you have no care for. That way you can bin it without much loss. :)

 

Welcome to the forum. The guys are exceedingly helpful and supportive. However, there is this idea one occasionally sees where people get bogged down in accuracy of this panel line, that thing there etc etc. I just look at the model and think "The actual aeroplane is quite a lot bigger." 

 

:)

 

Good luck. 

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Here's a trick that works, but I have no idea why:  sand off the raised detail.  Hit the sanded area with a light mist of super glue accelerator.  "Ghosts" of the panel lines you sanded off will magically appear in the plastic.  Then just scribe over them.  Just use a very light mist of the accelerator.  Works like a charm.  

 

 

AWESOME! :D

 

Cheers. :)

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Hi Kyle. Sometimes of course you find an old kit (or not that old) that has raised detail and you feel that rescribing the entire thing is just not warranted, you can still do a great build. In fact sometimes after painting you can lightly sand  - without going through the paint, and all the raised detail shows up. Of course you may see the plastic colour depending on ho many paint layers you had, so if the plastic colour is acceptable (not like red, orange, yellow or white etc) you can try that and see what you think.

 

If the raised detail is too raised, then sand down to an acceptable level, then paint and then just slight rubbing with finest old smoothed down sandpaper will still bring out a very nice detail pattern. And if you are pretty good at it - you can sand in such a way that you dont get down to the plastic on the raised rivets etc, but just down to your primer colour.

 

I do old airfix kits this way and it can look pretty good. Give a shout if you want to see some examples

 

(Of course this method doesnt allow you to get a wash into panel lines like recessed detail does, so its a totally different approach)

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like Shaka said, it is actually enjoyable.

I was scared to death to do it, in the end it was a great learning experience and wasn't as hard as I thought.

Take your time, let the tool do the work dont muscle it.

 

After rescribing I sand the surface to knock down any edges, then scrub out the lines with an old toothbrush and follow with a scotch brite pad.

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The one thing that I did not mention was scale drawings, I found that when I first started re scribing that there are a lot of different drawings out there and it can get awfully confusing so I decided then to pick a set of drawings and stick to them rather than chopping and changing. Over the years I have collected a lot of scale drawings from magazines and books. When I start a project I pick the drawings that seem to match photographic evidence as far as I can tell and then stick to them

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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The one thing that I did not mention was scale drawings, I found that when I first started re scribing that there are a lot of different drawings out there and it can get awfully confusing so I decided then to pick a set of drawings and stick to them rather than chopping and changing. Over the years I have collected a lot of scale drawings from magazines and books. When I start a project I pick the drawings that seem to match photographic evidence as far as I can tell and then stick to them

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

There's probably a lot of that on the internet now. Martin likely knows how to find it.

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