I will be covering a patriot 40, and I was wondering what is the best way/technique to paint lines on the aircraft. I would like it to show wear. I have a cheap airbrush and if someone could give me some tips it would be great.

I haven't actually tried this myself, but have seen the results from a good friend of mine who painted a P-47

1) Prime the aircraft with primer, all over, sand as normal

2) apply chart pack tape, tape width defines the size of the line, the location of the tape defines where the lines will be visiable

3) spray primer over the tape areas only. Apply 2 coats if desired

4) remove tape from model, this creates a lower surface that will become the line

5) paint entire model the color you want, the areas where the tape was applied will be have a look of a panel line

You can also do the opposite for access panels, mask the area around the access panel, spray 1 or 2 coats of primer, remove masking. Now you have a raised section that is primer, then the model is painted it has a raised panel.

Good luck!

Thanks clscale, I will try that out. This might sound dumb, but what is chart pack tape, and where could I find it?

Chart Pack is a brand name. They make tape in many widths from 1/32 ( maybe even 1/64) and up. They were used to make charts in the 70's-90's. The advent of computer graphics had taken the place of hand made charts but the tape can still be found. Do a search on the net for chart pack and you'll find some dealers. Hope this helps.

You can also find a real nice tape made for guys who build plastic models from Tamiya I believe in different widths. Try a hobby shop that sells to the guys to build plastic models and see what they have...

You need a low tack fine tape that does not allow the paint to bleed underneath the tape and leaves a nice sharp edge.

Good luck!

You can just draw them on also. Check out my Zero in my gallery. Paul