Academy F15k Slam Eagle WIP

Whoa!   That pre-shading looks more full assed to me.

I'm seriously impressed with how nice and neat it is! How did you get it to look so good? Did you airbrush (and if so - what airbrush, i need to get one of those!)

My attempts at pre-shading look more like a toddler has drawn over my planes with crayon.

Looking really good so far. I'll be interested to see it with the next coat on.

^+1 I must agree. That pre-shading looks awesome.  

Thanks cml and pilot47! Honestly what I used was an acrylic paint marker. I chisled the tip down to an ultra fine point and then just traced over all the panel lines. I have to admit it took me two days of about 4 hours each to do it but I like the results. I say half ass because you can see (well not in the pics) some places where the marker slipped while I was tracing. Im usually anal about it and will take the IPA to it real quick and do it again. But on here I said F it and kept going. I might end up AB'ing the next coat on tomorrow if I have the time. Pics to follow when I do!

I'm interested to see how that form of preshading works during painting as opposed to the usual method the rest of us use...  seeing how you traced the panel lines gives me "ideas" to use, but I need to see how it works before saying more.

So am I Dre. Im more into the really faint panel lines, just enough to suggest that their are seperate panels. After being to tons of air shows and seeing the real jets up close, panel lines are not as exaggerated as one might think, in fact they are almost barely visible, unless the aircraft is extremely dirty. So im hoping this method will give me that effect. We will see.

What brand of marker did you use? You mentioned acrylic so it should be safe and not bleed out. Sharpies are a no no as they will bleed over time and ruin the paint. Testors makes an enamel marker which is safe to use but it's a bit thick tipped. As you said, panel lines look best with just a hint to show some tone variation between panels.

I'm thinking that if this dark preshade turns out good, you might be able to use lighter tones of grey on other panel lines for more variation....

I use Dykem ultra brite acrylic paint markers. Very handy as they come in various colors.

That was going to be my question.  Thanks, Reaper, for the reply, and keep up the great work!

Gene Beaird,

Pearland, Texas

I'm actually wondering if this technique could be used to panel shade in 'reverse'.

What I mean is, rather than priming and using the acrylic marker, could you prime and paint your final coat then do your panel shading.

After that, you just need to mist over a few light coats of the final coat colour and your panels should still show through.

Just a thought.

@cml- I dont see why not. Im sure you could and it would work great. I would highly advise a gloss cloat before doing it though in case you accidentally slip the marker. That way if you do, you can just use IPA or a wet towel even and wipe it off and do that particular panel again. Then hit it with a few light coats of your final coat colour.

so far so good. Very impressive build so far.

Reaper420

I use Dykem ultra brite acrylic paint markers. Very handy as they come in various colors.

Is this the same Dykem that is used in sheet-metal layout work?

I believe so. The set I bought was off Amazon. Didnt really mention sheet metal, but I also didnt really pay much attention.

UPDATE:

Been out of town on vacation for the past 3 weeks with my family, so unfortunately no bench time : ( Will be back at it in the next few days. Will post pics of the completed ordnance when I get the chance as that is really all I have had the time to work on before I went on vacation. Stay tuned!!

I'm liking what I'm seeing so far, Reaper. Keep it up!