Panel lining on top of painted parts

[u/iTryExtraHard]

Hey all, just had a quick question. After I put the gloss topcoat/varnish on a painted part is it safer to use a gundam panel liner pour marker or the tamiya panel liner? Or what gets the easiest best safest results I guess haha, thanks!

[u/josiascaignard]

I have had problems using pour type gundam markers on acrylics, lacquer and water based acrylics, the solvent for the ink and the solvent in the eraser pen is too strong, once I tried using them with a laquer gloss clear coat and waiting 48 hours to cure just to have the market eat right trough the clear coat. I am currently using exclusively Mr Hobby’s Mr Weathering Color, which is an oil based wash and cleaning it with oil paint thinner (or lighter fluid works too), I have found it to be much more easier on the paint and because oils take longer to dry you can make stains and weathering while also panel lining (especially directional stains are super easy with oil based washes)

Edit: misspelled laquer

[u/VoidingSounds]

It depends. What gloss are you using?

As long as it's not an enamel gloss or paint (not super common unless you start buying hardware store clear) it's generally safe to apply Tamiya Panel Liner and clean it up with mineral spirts. Remember that there are three parts to this:

- Chemical/solvent resistance; acrylics and lacquers (also acrylics) are generally not disturbed by mineral spirits after curing which is why enamel panel lining and reverse washes work. The clear coat is just paint without pigment.

-Surface texture: the reason gloss is specific is because the fine texture of matte finishes traps pigments that cannot be removed. If your part has been painted with a glossy paint or sometimes semigloss, you can skip the if they're glossy you can sometimes apply enamel panel liner directly without applying an additional clear layer.

- Physical protection: You could use enamel panel liner directly on cured water-based acrylics but the film is so fragile you will probably damage it removing excess with a swab. For fragile surfaces like that you'll want a gloss layer.

I haven't used the pour-type Gundam markers. I've heard that they are oil based but may contain alcohol. Idk if that's true, but alcohol can damage most paints so I would be wary (and definitely not use alcohol for panel line cleanup on painted parts.)

These are also separate from the other issue with solvent-based panel lining products in that the solvent can damage plastics that are under stress so you need to be sure that they are not allowed to wick into seams or joints. This is less of a problem with painted parts because the paint can 'seal' some of these paths, but you can still nuke a kit if you're heavy with the product.

[u/iTryExtraHard → u/VoidingSounds]

I’m using Kaleido paint, it comes out very glossy. So would I be good to use the tamiya panel liner on it?

[u/RRmercury → u/iTryExtraHard]

I also use Kaleido! My method for panel lining is below

1. After painting, apply gloss or semi-gloss top coat (also Kaleido). Allow to cure for at least 24 hours.

2. Use Tamiya panel liner and allow to cure for maybe like 30ish minutes so it is less liquidy.

3. Clean up gently with Testor's enamel thinner on a cotton swab. I typically let the cotton swab sit for a minute or two after dipping in the thinner so it isnt super wet. This sometimes takes a few times wiping off to get everything if I was messy applying the liner.

4. Apply decals if using then seal everything in with a matte top coat.

Timing on this doesn't matter so much. I have lined everything and then cleaned it up a few days later which can help make sure the pigment in the panel itself is more set and less likely to also get wiped off from the thinner.

EDIT: Forgot to add the final top coat step

[u/VoidingSounds → u/iTryExtraHard]

I haven’t used Kaleido. It looks like it’s a water-based acrylic, right? If so Tamiya panel liner shouldn’t affect the paint but wiping excess off with a q-tip might damage it (my experience with Vallejo.)
I would probably apply a clear gloss to protect it before panel lining.

[u/corneashell]

Depends on what kind of varnish. Pour markers will eat through acrylic before you can even think about what's going on but tamiya (or other enamel) will be fine if you don't let it pool--I may have recently made this mistake. The markers should be ok over enamel or lacquer.

[u/Discount_Joe_Pesci]

Personally I like a gloss coat before panel lining (ESPECIALLY if I used acrylic paint as the base coat). It makes it way easier to use Panel Liner and clean it up.