painting cockpit console

try using stretched sprue for the knobs and switches.  Just drill a pilot hole the same diameter as the stretched sprue, insert and glue.  once the glue dries trim with a pair of sprue cutters or nippers at the desired length and paint.  toothpicks and small brushes are your best bet for painting small switches and knobs. 

gauges can be enhanced from thin slices of round tubing (the bezels).  but before messing with that, i have and it's a pain, try drybrushing the instrument panel to bring the detail out.  the same goes for the gauges in painting.  toothpicks, drybrushing, and small paintbrushes are your best bet.  It will take awhile but it will be worth it.  once your happy with how it looks, a touch of micro krystal clear, or even a drop of future, or gloss coat, will help to simulate the glass on the gauge.  you could, and it's a lot of work, scratchbuild an entirely new panel.   

as far as sanding a seam, both will work.  if working with something, say the seam along the spine of the aircraft that would be slightly round, sand a little and check your work often.  the last thing you want to do is flatten out an area that's supposed to be round in trying to remove the seam. 

hope it helps!

Drybrushing goes a long way. Also, for gauges, look into AirScale's instrument panel decals. Fast easy way to spruce up a less-than-stellar IP.

Good tips already given...here are a couple of things I've done, too;

On the old Monogram TBF, which had no panel, only a not-too-accurate-but-not-too-bad instrument decal, I made an overlay to provide some depth, and used the decal:

1. I photocopied the decal sheet, then laid a piece of clear plastic sheet over it (collar stiffener packaging from a new dress shirt), and traced a template, using a pin for the outline, and a punch and die set for the instrument faces.
2. I cut a piece of sheet styrene to the same outline as the IP decal, painted it flat black, and applied the decal to this.
3. I painted the overlay flat black
4. I coated the reverse of the overlay with thinned white glue and applied it over the panel decal.  Presto!  Instant depth.
5. When the glue had set, I went back and applied a little Future to the instrument faces, to help provide a little visual contrast to the flat black of the overlay.  I also did a little drybrushing of the overlay, for the same purpose.
6. I glued this assembly to the flat area molded onto the fuselage halves where the decal was intended to go.  The result looked a little more realistic, than just the decal

I have an old boxing of the Monogram Zero, which was missing the kit decals, including the instrument panel:

1. I took the IP and drilled holes of various sizes with some fine bits chucked into a pin vice, using photo references.  The IP was pretty tiny, and since I used the kit canopy, I wasn't too worried about exact replication, because it wouldn't be too visible.
2. I glued a piece of styrene sheet to the back, painted the whole thing flat back, then put Future in the instrument faces and drybrushed the panel, to make the contrast greater.

I built the old Monogram Hellcat (sense a pattern yet to my builds? , from an old secondhand kit with no decals (including the instrument panel):

1. I scratchbuilt the cockpit with sheet styrene, using photo references
2. I used instrument face decals from Mike Grant for the main and smaller instrument panels found around the F6F's cockpit
3. I tried both methods to remove the decals and apply them, of using a punch to remove them from the sheet, and then just glued the decal with its paper backing into place with a little white glue, and of cutting them out one by one and applying them the usual way.  Using a punch is a little easier, but if you don't have one, it is possible to cut tiny, tiny decals from the sheet and apply them.  The whole sheet was carrier film, those.

I'd use any of these again, depending on my mood at the time.  Each one was a proof-of-concept for me, to see if it could be done.

Hope that helps!

Brad

thanks to all.happy new year!