Painting small wire raised detail

General Discussions
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I am building an F-18 and I am currently painting the rear cockpit wall. The larger details did not present much issue. One thing I’ve always loathed painting is small raised details that don’t have sharp edges, in this case cables like those on the left in the image below.

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I couldn’t find a photo of this area so I’m using the Quinta’s decals as a color guide.

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Any tips on painting things like this black? I was thinking of maybe masking the background with a mixture of white tack and tape. But that seems like a big chore

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Staedtler makes some very fine tipped pigment liners that are a boon for anyone who’s not quite as steady as they once were. They might work for you.

Cheers,
Colin

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You can try drybrushing. Or painting with acrylics and carefully removing the excess after painting, with a wet toothpick

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In a similar vein, I was thinking painting many layers with a glaze. Using small q-tips to remove any excess.

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I would go for the suggestion from @Colder
In a larger scale I would replace the molded on cables with thin copper wire or
thin solder “wire”

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I use some very thin stiff brushes that I found on amazon that are generally used for doing eyeliner.

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I would use a fine line technical pen marker, available at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, to draw the black on the cables.

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Thanks everyone, think I’ll try a pen route, my issue isn’t so much related to unsteady hands. Rather if you get the paint consistency slightly wrong it runs and makes the painting tough!

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Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply your hands trembled. I was remembering why I tried the markers in the first place.

The pigment liners (they’re like hard tipped felt markers) come in a variety of colours (including metallics) with tip sizes down to about 0.1mm. The line they produce is a consistent width and the darker colours are fully opaque. I don’t know if a sealer coat would be required before applying weathering.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Colin

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10

You could take a sharp, fresh blade and slightly undercut the cables. That would help make a separation between the components.
:smiley: :canada:

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You’re good! I know you weren’t implying anything. Your comment was helpful for people who stumble upon the thread that do have issues with trembling hands!

I was more so clarifying the specific problem I was having. I think your solution will work, the fine tip with consistent opacity will help!

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I’d ask myself if the juice is worth the squeeze.
If it were plainly visible, I’d opt for the replacement option already mentioned - shave off and replace. If it’s barely noticeable then yes, fine tipped paint pens work very well.

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Anyone tried those Gundam paint marker sets? Seems this might be a perfect solution but I’ve got zero experience w them.

By the way, I like just using the edge of a post it note and kind of dry brushing, then if it’s not a black cable and I want it to stand out I highlight w panel liner.

I did the reverse here, left the cables the cockpit color and a heavy wash, with the canopy installed it won’t show up much anyways so I didn’t mind being heavy handed.

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14

FWIW,

If not that visible, wash & drybrush.

If prominent and visible, the molded in wire detail looks soft, flat and two dimensional. Probably worth scraping it out and painting with base color etc. Then take fine soft detailing solder and bend to correct shape and paint it. Then the solder can be added be attached with a little thin black CA on the back side.

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15

Tried the pigment liners but I found the dry time very long! Was able to get it reasonable with an optivisor 10/0 brush and some patience.

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A dark grey wash should help blend the small issues

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Couldn’t you paint it all black first and then paint the gray on the back wall?