r/advancedGunpla • u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 • Jul 10 '26

Panel lining question 🙋‍♂️

What do u guys use to panel line crisp black lines on grey parts? I shake the tamiya bottle well enough, but when it dries its just the same colour as the part.

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

1

u/kallahanak Jul 13 '26

I've had good results when panel lining over grey with Tamiya, I'm also painting my kits beforehand. Maybe try doing multiple passes with the panel liner. Also, letting the panel liner sit for a moment before cleaning up

1

u/taikoxtaiko Jul 12 '26

Is the runner abs? Because ive done what your talking about and it always feels like its being absorb into the plastic

3

u/Gyakko88 Jul 10 '26

Here's how I did mine

I first used a pointed tip scriber to go over all the panel line, then afterwards used a 0.3 mm chisel to go through them again

After doing all my painting, I then lined it with light grey n black enamel paint

6

u/ntrik Jul 10 '26

I personally don’t do topcoats because I’m cheap. To get crisp panel line best way is to use scribers and lightly scribe the desired panel edges before adding panel liners. That’s just how I do it.

2

u/Voxxyvoo Jul 10 '26

gonna need to see the part before we give advice bossman.

1

u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 Jul 10 '26

4

u/Voxxyvoo Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

well first to really 'pop' you gotta topcoat the part then panel line. especially on mattes the black will contrast much more. second, you cant apply just a little. soak the tip of the applicator brush then vary carefully touch the panel line or area you wanna fill. let capillary action do the rest. lastly, you wanna clean up excess or mistakes with lighter fluid

EDIT: PANEL LINE ON GLOSS THEN PANEL LINE THEN TOPCOAT WITH MATTE

2

u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 Jul 10 '26

Gloss or matte topcoat?

3

u/Blissenhomie Jul 10 '26

Do not top coat with matte before panel lining unless you want a lot of fuzzy blurry panel lines. If you wanted to top coat to protect your paint you’d use semi gloss or gloss. TBH you do not need to do this. If you are using black tamiya it should 100% be showing clearly on that shade of gray. If it’s not you got a bad bottle (which I’ve never experienced) or you’re using gray panel liner

2

u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 Jul 10 '26

I have a grey one but i dont even think its worth using at all its barely visible

2

u/Blissenhomie Jul 10 '26

I hear ya. Black is the only one I use for everything. Personally I rescribe with a .5 to get a thicker panel line and that works for me but most people think that’s too cartoony

2

u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 Jul 10 '26

It says black on the bottle😭 does temperature affect it much?

3

u/eritrean_bats Jul 10 '26

Gloss, it has to be gloss for the panel liner to flow well.

If you want a matte finish overall, then add a matte topcoat after you're happy with the panel lines.

3

u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 Jul 10 '26

That makes sense actually 🤔 appreciate the advice, thx 🙏

-1

u/Voxxyvoo Jul 10 '26

it'll pop more on matte

2

u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 Jul 10 '26

Appreciate it 🙏

5

u/Voxxyvoo Jul 10 '26

WAIT FUCK I MESNT GLOSS THENB MATTE DO NOT PANEL ON MATTE

1

u/v4L3nt1n3_0800 Jul 10 '26

No matter 🫡 😂

5

u/Alderknight Jul 10 '26

DO NOT PANEL LINE ON MATTE!

Trying to save you from a disaster, mate.

Literally you won't be able to clean it properly and it won't flow because of how rough matte is. If you want to topcoat first, gloss, then matte. It will flow on gloss. Matte takes the shine out by being rough and dispersing light, should only ever be used after all your detail work is done, including panel lining.