Panel highlighting advice?

From what I remember, Manny actually uses a mechanical pencil on his panel lines.  You'd have to find a really fine pencil lead for 1/72.

Another simple way to do it is to use ProModeller Wash.  It a watery solution that you brush on, let dry and then wipe off.  It stays behind in the panel lines, giving you the look you're after.  It comes in both dark and light wash, depending on your paint scheme.  If your paint is a dark color, use the light colored wash.  If it's a lighter color, use the dark wash.  Couldn't be a simpler product to use.

Now, I don't work for these guys, I get nothing from them, it's just the simplest stuff I've found that actually works.  I use it all the time.

You can get it here  http://www.promodeller.com/

-Fred

Hmm...

I will confess to not yet actually seeing this kit in person, but being  "late" Matchbox in origin, I suspect it has a combination of the usual Matchbox trademark trenches and raised panel lines, This creates a bit of a dilemma as washes in the "deep, wide trench" lines will be overstated and cartoonish, while at the same time, these same washes won't be ideal for the raised lines (creating a "double lined" effect, ie. both sides of the raised line).

I'm not quite sure what approach to use with this one...  

Gigatron - Thanks for the advice on Promodeler washes.

Phil_H - You are correct on the ex-Matchbox kit having a mixture of deep troughs & raised detail - If it means anything, most of it is raised detail. It is not the nicest kit I have worked on in respect to fit & detail.

For raised  detail, I'd go the pencil route and just do one side of the raised line.  That's the easy way.

The better way would be to realize that in 1/72, you really wouldn't see panel lines.  Having photographed real world planes (from several eras), I can tell you that panel lines are even difficult to see on the real deal.

If it were me, I'd sand off all the detail and use a pre-shading technique to just hint at panel lines.

-Fred