Accenting very fine panels on white model (Tu-160)

If the panel lines are too shallow, use a scribing tool to deepen them.

As far as your wash itself goes, try a medium to dark gray so that the wash is not too stark in contrast.

Make sure you're putting a flat clearcoat on it before the wash goes on, otherwise it will tend to just run off and not stick to anything.  

On a white aircraft, you might try using Flory Wash in the Concrete (Gray) color.  Its by far the easiest wash to use, and its water based, so no solvents are required to remove the excess.  I just slop it all over the model with a large brush, let it dry for about 30 minutes, and then remove the excess with a damp sponge.

I'm with Stik on the color.  Black is probably going to be too dark for a white aircraft.

You could also try drawing in the panel lines with pencil. With very little practice you can get a nice range of line thicknesses and pressures for some really convincing panels. And they're pretty easy to erase or wipe away, if you make a mistake.

Just be sure to clear-coat once you're happy with it, to keep from smudging your lines.

I avoid black for accents on white or light gray finishes.  I use a medium gray.

Hello!

Maybe this could help you:

On this one I used a dark grey wash and then wiped it away. Where the panel lines were too shallow to keep the wash, I have pencilled them back in.. News to me was Humbrol airbrush thinner washes the unwanted pencil lines away. I also wanted this underside here to be a little on the grimy side...

Good luck with your Tupolev and have a nice day

Paweł

Beautiful bird!!

Thanks so much everyone for the advice! Got it imperfect but to my satisfaction. Will post completed pics!

I sealed everything well with XF-86, sanded down with Tamiya sponge sandpaper 3000, and used a Tamiya panel line accent (black) diluted with white spirit. Specifically I used a wacky "finger rub" method, pre-moisting surface with spirit, adding some of the accent, and then quickly spreading it around a ~5cm^2 area with a finger or palm before it settled into one spot. As a result the accent was mostly trapped in the fine panels, and the rest made a nice shading I was looking for as well (the non-factory Tu-160s span a wide range of dirtiness!).

My last hurdle is painting canopy - I've used regular painters tape but have been plagued with peeling paint. Any pro tips beyond washing it down with soap beforehand?

Cheers!

dLife/dt

I've used regular painters tape but have been plagued with peeling paint.

Try some tape with less "stick" (Tamiya masking tape or similar), or reduce the "stick" of your usual tape by sticking it to something else, first, then removing it before using it on your model.  I use a piece of MDF for this, my cutting board is now far too grubby!  Hope this is useful

I Don't do it often;

   I don't usually do panel lines,Unless that's what is expected of the finished model.( I still do a few Outside Aircraft commissions) Then if the model has very, very shallow panel lines I use a very hard draftsmans pencil sharpened to a chisel point( It rides in the little groove better.) Wipe it off dry, then clearcoat. the graphite comes out a very light grey and looks outstanding, for that look!

Pawel

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Paweł

Pawel, love how that came out!