Clearcoating after panel lines

Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of clearcoating my Calsonic Impul Z, when its finished i'll put some pics. My question is, after painting the panel lines with tamiya x-18 acrylic, i will clear coat it with some TS13, so will the acrylic run from the panel lines and make a mess?

Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of clearcoating my Calsonic Impul Z, when its finished i'll put some pics. My question is, after painting the panel lines with tamiya x-18 acrylic, i will clear coat it with some TS13, so will the acrylic run from the panel lines and make a mess?

Yes is the short answer. The TS has very strong solvents in it and will attack the X-18, possibly causing it to lift or bubble. Are you applying the TS over decals..?? It can destroy them if not applied very carefully. Personally I would not use TS-13. I have ruined many a nice model with it. If you are limited to aerosol clear try Gunze Mr Top Coat instead. It's much kinder to decals and other paints. I would clear the model and apply the panel lines after the clear, reason is when you polish the clear you will get white residue from the polish in the panel lines. Do the panel lines at the end. You might find an enamel paint thinned will also flow better in the panel lines and make the job easier. X-18 dries too fast.

Thanks Steve, i'll keep that in mind. I was thinking of thinning down the tS13 with some lacquer thinner from Tamiya, but I have the Gunze stuff. Im just worried if the clear fills in the panel lines.

....and also 77, real cars don't have jet black panel lines unless the body color is very dark. I've found that, for lighter colors, a more convincing shadow can be had if I darken some left over body color with black or brown, thin it down and use a fine brush to apply it to the trench lines using capillary action. As it dries I repeat this until I get the shade I like.

Silvers and grays like to be mixed with black while warmer colors like reds, yellows and golds like brown.

One advantage of using acrylics over a lacquer clear (if the decals can handle it) is that the panel shading can be removed safely if I overdo it. (I use 2k clears now because it seals everything in an impermeable coat of liquid plastic.)

Take a look at cars in parking lots under different lighting conditions and you'll notice the subtleties.

I wouldn't apply panel lines before clearcoat.
I also wouldn't use a gloss paint for panel lines.

What I do use (after clear coat when it's neccessary) is something transparent like Tamiya Smoke or a Citidal (Games Workshop) Ink thinned down to it's more transparent and less viscous. I like it very transparent because it allows, or at least my head says it does, some of the base color to affect the colour of the shadow.
As said before, I also never use black for shadows.

Thaks for the tip guys, much appreciated