Instrument panels......

Nice thread. Here's a link for some gauge faces.

http://www.modelcargarage.com/mcg_category_items.cfm?c=19

and a thanks from me to. dash boards are ushually where I loose alot in the inside hopefully I can pull some of those off myself.

thanks guys, that helps alot!!!

Another alternative is to drill out the gauge faces and put 'photos' of real gauge faces in. I can't find a link, but I remember seeing a 'how-to' on this and the end result was quite impressive. The guy just downloaded some gauges from some sort of on-line auto-parts website and sized them down to the correct size in photoshop. Printed them out and then applied them from behind the inst.panel after the originals were drilled out. He also put a thin sheet of clear acetate in too to simulate the glass/plastic over the gauges.

The only thing I've really done is drybrushing or pencil coloring (as mentioned by jonathan). However, I've also added some clear epoxy to the gauge to simulate the glass/plastic. I thought it worked pretty good. Sorry, no photos handy...

As for other parts of the instrument panel, here's some thoughts:
- use slightly different textures of paint on the various 'sections' of the dash. ie. try making the bottom half of the dash a more flat/dark color, and the middle/top with a little bit more sheen. The slight contrast seems more realistic rather than just one consistent color/shade. Not too much though, just enough to fool your eye...
- try a light 'wash' of a darker version of the dash color so that it collects in all the recesses and crevices.
- BMF on the scripts (if there are any) looks pretty good too. There's also a way to re-cast the scripts using heavier foil and epoxy, but I've never really done it...

Hope some of that helps, or at least gives you some ideas...

Murray

If you decide to use some kind of photoetched detail set, then I suppose that's best. But, sometimes they're just not what you need. I always paint the back of the panel whatever color I'm gonna use, then use a artist's pastel pencil to gently scrub over the raised detail. I think I may have picked that up from some magazine or something...and I think it works great. It gives it just enough detail that it seems like you spent an hour painting it. It also helps to paint the needles on afterwards. Thats actually pretty easy in comparison.

Another way, is to "rub away" the paint on the raised parts. Most models are made in a light plastic color. Sometimes (if the gauges are accessible) I'll paint the whole panel, then, before the paint has set up, rub my finger over the panels. That eleminates the paint from the numbers and such. Kinda just based on what you have in front of you.

Yet another way, is to load a brush up, then turn it horizontal to the panels (again, if this is practical) if you lightly, and I mean lightly, drag the brush across the raised numbers, they should pick up just enough paint to highlight them.

Good luck...a great dash REALLY adds to how good a model looks, even though most of them are so hard to see inside a car. Personal pride though!

-jonathan