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Instrument panels
Topic Started: Sep 1 2010, 07:31 PM (457 Views)
sealteamsix
Advanced Member
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How do you paint the instrument panels in the cockpit as I have tried small brushes but no success any ideas would be great.

Cheers
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MemberOne
Newbie
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Been asking this for years .. they say Dry brushing ...but alas I can never do it , so I go for the pre painted PE brilliant stuff
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Mike W
Member Avatar
Hook down, wheels down... call the ball
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I'll start by saying its easier to add more details by hand with brushes on larger scale models, sorta stands to reason I guess, but the bigger area you have to work with the easier it is.

Also it depends on whether your are building modern jets or WWII/WWI stuff as to the techniques you can adopt. More modern stuff is generally cleaner and therefore (to me) easier to paint and detail and is also more normally grey backgrounds with black panels/consoles. WWII stuff can be weathered a lot more and are normally more colourful with greens etc being used as base colours. As Sean mentioned, drybrushing is a very useful technique to bring out relief moulded detail on Instrument Panels (IP's)
The best advice is to get yourself some reference pics of your subjects, preferably in colour, and work from them. Google image search is your friend here too.

To pick out details I do use a fine brush, but just as useful are sharpened wooden toothpicks/cocktail sticks to literally dot paint on, especially useful for buttons/switches.

Just take your time with it and build up the look you're after gradually.

Hope this helps!!
:wooo:
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sealteamsix
Advanced Member
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Thanks for the info I was thinking of using cocktail sticks anyway.
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Eric2020
Member Avatar
Advanced Member
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Ok here's what I do in the offices of jets

I airbrush the base colour first and let is dry for few days, after that I use some kind of black or very near to black. when IP is having raised details I thin the paint heavy and than use 000 brush and let it flow in the instrument and keep it laying on its back so the paint does not run over the base grey.

once I have done all of that i let it dry for few days, and you have the base black and can drybrush the whole panel where the raised details get silver and no problem as you paint white for the needles of the instrument.

Drybrushing is easy job, but do not press the pencil, if you do it will ruin your work. Trick is to do it several times, and use kitchentowel which is soaking the thinner out of the paint. and for side panels its the same, many have raised switches and knobs, in fighters of the 50 60 and 70's did have black and white knobs and switches as those where the only colours of the very early plastics.

More modern jets have grey and other colours on knobs and switches.

I hope your cockpit is getting better!! ;)
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Edgar
IPMS member
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Whenever possible, I sand away the back of the panel, until the instruments are just holes, then replace the lost bit with a piece of white plasticard. I then paint the inside of the holes matt black, and, when it's dry, scrape away a facsimile of the pointers, numbers, etc, with the point of a needle or pin, allowing the white to show through. A drop of gloss varnish inside the hole, and it's finished.
Edgar
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osher
Advanced Member
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Matt black, dark grey, etc for the panel, thence, gloss black on the clock. I apply it with a cocktail stick. Surface tension will form a circle. Add more if needed. Wait a day or so until dried. Looks good.
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