Panel Lines painting/shading

Are you looking to post-shade or pre-shade?

My own personal preference is to pre shade, with a dark color, over the primer coat.

I use my airbrush. It needs to be a soft edge, not a brush line or a pen mark etc.

Cloud Hopper, personally, I lay down a thin, light layer of the proper colour on my primer.  Next, I usually add one drop of black to four drops of said proper colour and paint the panel lines, also fading back in the direction of airflow VERY slightly.  Now I use a highlight, usually not white, but a yellow on greens, a pale grey or white on greys, pale grey on blues, and I paint between the shadow, again streaking with airflow.  Finally, I quickly spray a thin mix of the proper colour over everything.  I want to be able to see all that shading, but not the definition of the spray pattern.  As soon as it all softens and blends together to be shades of the colour, I'm done.  Generally when you think 'just one more pass', stop there.  Finally, I use a lacquer gloss and Flory brand washes, and am always pleased with the result this method gives me.  It takes a bit of time to get the feel right, practice lots and spray your paint lightly, build up your colours slowly, I'm sure your piece will turn out nicely.

Cloudhopper, please tell us more about your project and the color scheme you are planning for it. Some of the advice you are asking for could vary, depending on your color scheme.  And, what airplane is it?  

Some good advice here already. I'll just add that shading, for me, is a multi-step affair. I don't preshade alot, but I do normally use a black primer and use that base as shading. I then fade the colors a bit after I lay them down. I then do my gloss coats and washes to give me an idea of what areas of the  model need a bit more weathering. I then post shade certain areas based on photos of the real thing. I shade with a dark dirt like mix, then mix up a light gray/buff colored mix for any areas that need more highlighting. I'll do exhaust stains at this time too. Then I'll give it the final flat coat.

My method is using usually gloss black enamel thinned 50/50  in the AB set at about 6-7 psi to spray the panel lines. Sometimes I prime, other times I don't. I use gloss black enamel cause it flows better at low psi giving me more control.

I spray the top coat enough to leave just a subtle hint of the pre shading to texture the panels. Some modelers leave the pre shading too dark, looking very stark and unreal. Panel line washes are best done over a glossy finish so the wash can easily flow into the panel lines. A flat finish will usually absorb some of the wash along the panel line and will not look right as it wicks out.

There are some good methods mentioned here on this thread so you just need to experiment to find where you feel comfortable with a technique.

I prefer to wash the panel lines with Flory Washes after painting and decaling..I do not like the look of preshading.

Just trying to pre-shade my panel lines, but I can't keep the airbrush in a straight line enough.  (I know that some deviation off the line is OK, but some areas look as if I did when I was drunk).

Is pre-shading the lines straight from a brush a good technique?  Has anyone tried that?

Stuart06

Just trying to pre-shade my panel lines, but I can't keep the airbrush in a straight line enough.  (I know that some deviation off the line is OK, but some areas look as if I did when I was drunk).

Is pre-shading the lines straight from a brush a good technique?  Has anyone tried that?