Finishing stuff...Panel Lines and Dry Xfer

Getting close to finishing my Cavalier, and have some questions for the gang:

What are we using for panel lines these days? Is there something readily available that we can buy off the shelf at Office D*pot? I've read some great old articles on using the drafting pens that I don't seem available anymore, but how about pens like the Uniball Gel 1.0 mm pens? They even come in metallic! Anyone try these? The metal tips (they got nerve calling them a ball) are scary!

I have used the TopFlight Monokote Panel Line pen, and it is ok, if you keep it moving on a dope sufrace. Don't stop, or you'll have a puddle quick! :-O

Also, Dry Xfer - Is anyone doing custom dry Xfer? Or are we just buying standard font letter and number sets these days? And if so, where is the best place to get them?

Sorry if this is old news for some, but it's new to me, and I appreciate any help that comes my way.

EricV

You can still get drafting pens at art supply stores. Get an assortment of tip sizes (or pens) and use waterproof india Ink. You can "erase" goofs with alcohol, then clear dope over it. Make sure you clean everything and keep it clean while you are doing it (rubber gloves anybody?) It takes time. Matt spent about 3 weeks doing his last one. That is after everything else was finished.

Leonard Neumann

I second Leonard's opinion: drafting pens! It's THE way to go. Don't look for them at Home Depot, get a phone book, look up Art Supply Stores. There is almost always a good art store close to a college or university, for their architecure/art students.
The most popular brand to look for is KOH-I-NOOR. I bought one pen, and mupltiple tip sizes, it's cheaper than a set of pens (usually sold in package of 6). You normally need only two or three tip sizes, I use 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 1.1mm. Make sure your pen has a refillable container, not a cartridge. You can refill from a bottle of ink, while cartriges are harder to find.
The same art store might also carry Letraset sheets - dry transfer lettering. If they don't, they will be happy to order them for you.
If you don't have art store nearby, there are plenty of online stores to order from. Use any search engine and enter "art supplies".
Custom decals can be made using a printer or xerox on a special decal paper sold by www.micromark.com (I think).
For techniques and how-to, check Stunt News for 1993-1994. Vic Macaluso has a series of Finishing articles, with lots of detail and advice.
Good luck.

I use a lot of dry transfer. Company I work for threw out a lot of the dry transfer lettering when computers made the scene...guess who got it?

Good stuff. Currell

Try Pearl Artist & Craft Supply Corp. on Hillsborough Ave. I beleive they will have the drafting pens you are looking for. They also have one of the largest displays of Xacto tools I've ever seen.

Paul

LAST EDITED ON Feb-05-02 AT 04:14 PM (CST)

LAST EDITED ON Feb-05-02 AT 04:12 PM (CST)

I got a set of pens from a drafting supply place that look like regular pens. Made by KOH_I_NOOR. The have a cartridge and you can get a variety of carts. They cam in 6 sizes (as a set-you can also buy them individually) from .01 to .07. I like them a lot.

I get Dry Transfers from the local University Book Store (in my case Univ. of Washington). The had an absolutely enormous selection)

Did some checking, and I can find the Rapidograph's.

There are some choices in tips. The sales pitch on them is that the SS (Stainless Steel) is the base unit, and the JS (Jewel Saphire) tip is the upgrade, with 30x longer life than the SS, smoother lines, self polishing, AND the ability to ink lines on "other" materials, including cloth. I think there is a third tip, some high end metal, but not in stock. Any experience or a prefered tip to use? The JS tip seems the way to go.

Also, I don't think I need a set of 7 pens, maybe one pen and a few different size tips?
EricV

>Also, I don't think I need
>a set of 7 pens,
>maybe one pen and a
>few different size tips?

I use the #1/.5 mm a lot, the #4/1.2mm a lot, and the 00 occasionally (and it clogs a lot, particulary with white ink).

Curt Contrata is the master of ink use - his 2000 Concour's winner was quite innovative in it's use of ink.

>Did some checking, and I can
>find the Rapidograph's.
>
>There are some choices in tips.
>The sales pitch on them
>is that the SS (Stainless
>Steel) is the base unit,
>and the JS (Jewel Saphire)
>tip is the upgrade, with
>30x longer life than the
>SS, smoother lines, self
>polishing, AND the ability to
>ink lines on "other" materials,
>including cloth. I think there
>is a third tip, some
>high end metal, but not
>in stock. Any experience or
>a prefered tip to use?
>The JS tip seems the
>way to go.
>
>Also, I don't think I need
>a set of 7 pens,
>maybe one pen and a
>few different size tips?
>EricV

Changine tips is a little like refilling your own ink cartridges ono your printer. Cheaper, but a whole lot messier. Sometimes you want to work back and forth with different size lines and then having separate pens definitely pays off.

Starting out, you may be satisfied with just one pen and one tip. Add as you go.

EJV,
I have tried almost all of the different drafting pens that are out there. The best Drafting pen made is the MARS pen with the tungsten tip. The tungsten tip is designed to be used on Mylar and will last almost forever when used on models. The Mars pens can be purchased at most art supply stores. In addition the best ink that I have found is “Higgins Black Magic” because it dries quickly and is more resistant to smudging than other inks. Let me pass on a few tricks that I have learned to apply panel lines.

Sand the entire airplane with 1000 grit sandpaper and clean the surface with “Methanol” not isopropyl. Put just enough “Methanol” on a rag to make it damp and gently wipe the area you intend to apply the panel lines (be careful Methanol can remove paint). This allows you to lay down a smooth and consistent width line with no globs or distortions to the line. When applying the line you must make a smooth and consistent stroke with the pen. Do not stop moving the pen at the intersection of other lines. Go slightly past the intersection and lift the pen upwards to avoid making the line a different width when you come to the end. After the ink has dried for a few minutes, use a number 11 X-Acto blade and gently scrape off the excess line. This will give you a perfect corner and /or intersection. Apply two strips of 3M Drafting tape to the bottoms of all the straight edges and curves that you intend to use. The drafting tape will lift up the straight edges and curves from the surface and will help prevent from smudging the lines when you are drawing or remove the straight edges.

For complicated shapes at/or around leading edges and fillets, make a flexible straight edge or curve from .010 plastic and cut or bend it to the desired shape (don’t forget the drafting tape on the bottom). When the panel is to your liking, seal off the lines by spraying a thin coat of clear over each of the lines. I like to use a small airbrush and spray a light coat of clear over the lines before moving to the next panel. That way I won’t smudge any of the lines while handling the model and wipe out all my hard work.

The neat thing about panel lines it gives the model that detailed look and shows the craftsmanship dedication of the builder. Some people like to make very exquisite and detailed panel lines and other just want to make it simple. Either way it is totally up to the builder to do as much or little as they like and it always adds a touch of class to the model.

Eric,
I just finished inking and marking my new Bearcat. For years I did all of my marking with Rapidographs. Now, I've all but given up on them. Large art supply stores here in Dallas still sell them but the ink supply is drying up literally. A couple of days ago, I paid $5.06 for a bottle of silver ink for drafting pens and found it virtually unusable.
What the art supply stores seem to feature these days is a large assortment of purpose made pens. I have tried a number of them. I suggest you take an old painted flap or whatever and try the pens you like. You should be careful about several characteristics when selecting a pen. Line widths are sometimes marked, usually not. Gels may never dry and will continue to smear until you get the clear on. Some inks won't come off when you goof. Make sure that whatever pen you use can be removed with alcohol. Some rapidiograph inks even don't remove cleanly.
Here are some pens you might try.
Prismacolor PM-98 Black, fine and bold tips. The fine tip is about .040. This is a litle broad for most but I was inking black on dark blue. It goes well on glosy surfaces, dosen't smear, and cleans up well with alcohol.
Prismacolor PM-118, Silver, also a broad line when held vertical but will draw a finer line if held at an angle. Both prismacolor pens draw well on glossy surfaces. The silver ink dosen't smear and cleans up well from most surfaces and colors. I had to do a bit of scraping with an xacto to get the last hint off of white Superpoxy. Pismacolor pens are available in a very large range of colors.
One of the best is available almost anywhere. It is the Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent marker. Draws a very fine line, probably about .4 or .5mm, draws well on glossy surfaces, dosen't smear and cleans up well with alcohol.
Some Uniball pens work well. I tried two nearly identical pens in silver, both marked well, one smeared, one didn't. You gotta be careful
Staedler Pens are inviting as they are marked as to line width but smear.
With any paint or inking job there will be mistakes. Sometimes you can clean up a paint line with ink. It is always possible to scratch off or clean up a small spot with an exacto knife. It leaves a dull spot but you are going to put clear on anyway.
If I were getting started, I'd find it a lot easier and cheaper to pay $2.69 each for a couple of pens instead of investing in a mechanical drawing set. I'm using purpose pens more now and am about to give up on my rapidiographs.

As for lettering, I just tried new computer cut frisket stencils from AJT Laser. They are great. Kyle has many fonts and types anything you can imagine for the stencil. I used 1/8" letters, military font on my new Bearcat. After the backing is removed, the clear frisket stencil is positioned, (may be repositioned), and paint applied. Even with epoxy the stencil can be removed immediately to leave a perfect marking. The frisket plastic has a very low tac adhesive. I didn't try to reuse any of my stencils even though I used 10 "push" (per Grumman drawing). I don't know what Kyel charges for these stencils (I haven't gotten my bill) but you can talk to him about your needs at 817 831-1405 in the afternoons. This has got to be the absolute best as compared to trying to use rub on marking with each letter applied indivdually with possibly uneven spacing. I used about 40 stencils ranging from "push" to "Fuselage access" to "static port, don't block". They all went on in one fun night, in epoxy, with no Boo Boos. Other than the frisket, I used a piece of 8 1/2 x 11" tppewriter paber with a hole in the center for masking tape outlining the frisket. I used an airbrush and no other masking with no apparent overspray.
For what its worth.
Al