Model Forum / General / Models / January 2008

Dear All,

Have until now used the following approach for washing panel lines:

* Mix distilled water and artist acrylics
* Add tiny amount of dish wash detergent
* Apply to panel line with fine brush using relevant laws from
hydrodynamics to let surface tension do its job.
* Clean off excess with moistened Q-Tip (just by breathing on it).

My models are almost always painted using Polly Scale acrylics and
covered in Future prior to the final wash.

My main problem is that the Q-tip removes almost everything including
the desired paint in the panel line.

For this reason I'd like to consider alternatives that would bind the
paint more thoroughly - something along the lines (following technique
from Brett Green in his BF 110 book):

* Thinned Tamiya paint (brown or black)

But then again:

* What should the paint be thinned with?
* How do I remove excess wash and avoid a major disaster on the
underlying nicely painted surface.

Somewhere, somebody suggest using window cleaner for removing excess,
but that contains ammonia which dissolves the Future layer - so isn't
that gonna fail.

Let me know if you have suggestions, experience that could be of help.

Best regards,

Mads