Application of Inklines

Well, here we are again. The point in building a plane that I tend to dislike. Putting on inklines. I'm really just not very good at it and have learned the microscopic bit I know from trial and error. A good job looks awesome and can really enhance the appearance. A bad one can destroy it. So, all you hot-shot finishers out there: what are your techniques?

What materials do you use? Not just the type of pens, That, I think I have figured out. But, do you create guides? Use Rulers? Special Tools? Flexible drafting implements of some kind? Where did you get them? How did you make them? How do you ink curves on a curved surface? What about intersections? Many of the planes we build have "stylized" inklines and don't really pertain to an actual aircraft. They are used to emphasize certain features or to camouflage others. How do you decide?

What sorts of things do you consider when deciding what to ink? Just the control surfaces? Just the “white” areas? What? What about weights of pens? What sizes do you use for what?

Just a few of the burning questions I’m considering.

Thanks for any input.

Ask Matt to give you a dissertation on this. (OK, I will ask him.) He uses an assortment of pens with different tips and waterproof india ink. He has an assortment of rulers and curved guides he uses for whatever is needed at the time. Since his are "sorta" Stuka designs, he uses a plastic model to tell him where the panel lines should be. Then he varies widths accordingly.

You can make wider lines by using a small pen and moving the ruler ever so slightly and drawing the line again. Sometimes if you "goof" this is the way to cover it up. But use a variety of sizes and make sure that your intersections are accurate. The judges will watch for that.

His "winter scheme" white Stuka looked dull and drab after he finished painting it, but before applying the ink lines. After he applied the ink lines it made the front row at the Nats. As you say, a good ink line job can make or break it.

Randy,

I strongly suggest you speak with Rush on this subject. Both of Howard's Impacts have/had the most incredible ink job.

As you know, I don't care for a lot of models which have been ink-lined to death; it seems to be so very easy to go too far.

Howard has--twice!--hit *exactly* the correct balance between too much and too little.

Dan,

Yea, Howard's jobs are very subtle.

I don't know who Howard is yet, but I have to agree with Dan about over kill with the ink lines. I have seen a few planes where there were more lies than paint. There can be a fine line between tasteful and tacky. I guess the trick is to put on just enough lines and detail make someone want to see more? I'm sure whatever Randy does will leave me breathless.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-23-04 AT 05:45 PM (CDT)
 
OK, so here is Howard and his Impact at the Northwest Regional Champs last year. OK, so he just woke up.

Hmm, no inklines?

Separate surfaces are the sincerest form of panel lines.

Randy,

I just had this conversation with Gene Martine at the KOI. I was amazed at the ink lines on his planes. He told me how he does it and what he used. As an example he said it took him only eight hours to do the lines on his White SV-22. The hours were off and on work too, not all at one time.

I wouldn't want to begin to tell you how he does it as I would screw it up somehow, but it sounded like it would be fun to do, and not as hard as I thought.... We'll see! Give him a shout and let him pump you up...He did me!

Randy,

This is one of those deals where a Windy Tape seems the ideal solution. I don't have such a tape, have seen Windy doing some inking a couple times. It's just so hard to follow after punching "FF" that I didn't get a lot out of it.

But you would, I am sure.

Dan, leave the "FF" button alone. Just keep hitting the "SA" button (Snooze Alarm, every VCR should have one). Steve

Shoot a coat of clear on the surface before you attempt to ink. When you make a mistake, you can wipe the surface clean rather than rubbing it into the color.

As soon as you are happy with something, airbrush clear over it.

Do all your curves first, then the straight lines.

Use a variety of edges to draw with, and lift all edges off the surface with a few layers of tape on the underside.

Smooth edged soft plastic rulers and drawing templates work well for lines on curved surfaces.

As soon as you are happy with something, airbrush clear over it.

Avoid creating paint shemes that are difficult to ink. If you are outlining colors, avoid curves on curved surfaces.

Use alcohol and or diluted Simple Green to clean off mistakes.

As soon as you are happy with something, airbrush clear over it.

Use Simple Green to clean your pens.

If your pens skip, dust the model with Talcum powder.

Use ink intended for acetate film.

Hope this helps,

Curt

PS: As soon as you are happy with something, airbrush clear over it.

Pounce is good stuff for preparing the surface. It comes in a little container with a felt applicator on the top. Give the container a shake and rub with the felt the area to be inked.

Pounce may be extinct. I bought mine in 1968 and still have most of it.

Curt,

Let me get this CLEAR. When I'm HAPPY with it, shoot a coat of CLEAR on it. Just kidding.

I just wanted to thank you for a tid-bit of info when talking to you about the checker board on your plane and how you did it.

For those not inlightend, Curt informed me when I asked how to paint checker board patterns on a plane, that it was not paint. It was INK! I was floored.. In all the years I have built models I had never heard of that. It looked awesome and I can't wait to try what you told me. All you guys (Randy, Gene, and you) had some great looking planes. You guys should offer classes on how you finish a plane. There are always new people such as myself out here that have never been exposed to this before. (Very sheltered!) Is there a book or something to buy that shows some of this stuff on doing top notch finish?

I know there are more than likely any number of people on here that can do a finish like the ones I saw at the KOI, but I saw yours there and I can say without any reservations... You Da Man!!!
Well, one of them anyway

LAST EDITED ON Jan-23-04 AT 09:08 PM (CDT)
 
Curt,

One of the advantages of using auto paint is that the base color is a matte finish and provides good traction for the pen, as long as the surface has been cleaned with rubbing alcohol first. I'd never heard of the talc thing before. I will shoot the first coat of clear (there will only be 2) then do the lines. I'm stuck with curved paint lines over a curved surface. It is an elliptical plane, after all.

Thanks for the tips.

Yup, pretty much what Curt said.

By the way, a coat of clear prior to inking also helps to eliminate the trim color edges which can cause "jerks" in the ink lines.

Curt, you ought to do a picture column on this subject.

I have inked only two of my stunters. A true learning experience. One major lesson: DO NOT use metal rulers, they have sharp edges and will punture places best not punctered. I found some very thin and very flexible plastic rulers, straight edges, etc at an art store. I applied masking tape about 1/8" back from the edge. I used photos and a model of a typical civilian aricraft to get the proper placement of the panels, inspection doors, spars, etc. I took three days. Not my cup of tea, but the end result was kinda nice. Too bad I wrecked the darn plane. It is undergoing a major refit. A new fuselage.

I use a sharpie extra fine tip, double ended permenant ink marker.

I made stencils out of scrap pieces of balsa with tape on the bottom, sticky side to the balsa.

Yes, the clear will disolve them so the first couple coats must be shot dry.

I've used the Sharpie ultra fine point pens. Great as long as you don't make a mistake.

Well durn Randy, I was hoping someone would jump in this thread and spew forth all the little tricks to help us get with the panel line program. Curt's post helped but not enough to give me the initiative to actually try it.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-25-04 AT 11:15 AM (CDT)
 
Bob,

I talked to Gene Martine on the phone and he certainly gave a lot of information. The three things he said that I thought were the most helpful were 1) as Curt noted, you almost have to shoot at least one coat of clear on the plane before you start. Mostly because this allows you to "erase" mistakes. The ink will soak into the colored dope (soaks into urethane auto paint, too) and stain it. With a coat of clear on, it allows you to wipe off mistake without leaving evidence. Another trick here (from Gene) is, if you over-run an intersection, leave it to dry, The use a razor blade to apply to the offending area and just "flick it off". Also, be sure to run some very fine grit sand paper (800-1000 grit) over the clear dope---lightly-- to give a little traction to the pen.

2) Another trick is also one mentioned in passing. Be sure any tool you use is raised off the work surface. Use tape or whatever. Places that sell drafting/art supplies (surprisingly, there are still a few around) sell a thin cork stuff with an adhesive backing that comes in rolls that can be used. Or you can just use masking tape. Get as many shapes as you think you'll need, particularly flexible drafting shapes that can be easily bent to the shape of a surface.

3) Be sure to hold the pen as vertically to the surface as possible and try not to rock it back and forth perpendicular to the line you are drawing. Also, when you are going over an already applied line, put the pen against the edge you are using and start moving it before you bring it into contact with the surface. It help to avoid beading or leaving a pool at the start or finish of a line.

Gene tells me that it just takes patience and practice. He said that his last plane, another masterpiece, only took about 8 hours to do all the inking. Just take your time and get it like you want it. Don't overdo the lines and most of all, have fun with it.

Randy Powell

Edit: typos

Great Post guy's THANK YOU

Scott(when I grow up I want'a be just like Paul)Riese

As I sit here watching the ice come down, I will post my two cents worth.

The method Curt, and Gene (through Randy) put up is certainly the way to apply the inklines themselves. I would just add one more thing. If a line skips in a section, let it dry. Shoot a light coat of clear over it and then come back with a smaller tipped pen and fill in the dots. You can move the staight edge just slightly to get the width needed. This is sometimes a little easier than trying to reposition the straight edge perfectly to get the line without a major stop and start bulge because you missed the alignment slightly.

I would also like to add on placement and thicknesses. Placement is best found by looking at real planes. What better way to find out where to put lines than just to look at a real plane. Even if your plane is not modeled after a real plane, the placement of the lines can be similar.

As to thickeness, here is my thoughts. Most certainly use several thickeness throughout the plane. I am not partial to a one thickness inklined plane. It really needs variety to look right. I like it when you seem to be drawn into the plane. Example, at 20 feet, you see a couple major lines that is all. At 10 feet you see a few more. 5 feet you really start seeing all but the screw heads. When you are right on top of it, you can everything.

I will use my Stuka's as an example. The heaviest lines are the major break lines on the real plane. The real Stuka had those goofy multiflap/divebrakes on the TE of the wing. These things had big gaps. I used the largest pen I have (number 4) and actually double or tripple up the line at that spot. Another heavy line is where the cowl meets the main fuselage. I have a heavy line there again because of the big gap of the real plane. Next thinnest is the trim tabs since there is always a gap on real planes at the movable surfaces. I will then use just a single line of the thickest pen. Next comes the panel lines themselves. I like to use a number 0 pen for those. Again the trick is to be subtle. You do not want to overpower the paintscheme. Access panels I will use a 00 pen for those. The screw heads I use the smallest pen, 000. If you have major panels that get removed, say the gun access panels on a Mustang, I would most likely use a number 1 pen. These are prominent but you do not want them to just scream out at you either.

Again, I cannot over emphasize the need for being suble in my opinion. I once read where someone thought it was necessary to put the lines on the plane so the judges can see them in the air. Unfortunately, IMO it would ruin the looks on the ground. Besides, the judges are supposed to look at the shapes the plane makes while flying, not how pretty it looks. The pretty points where already awarded before the flight. Who cares what the inklines look like in the air! You want the lines to look good on the ground.

Hope this helps. Again do not be afraid of trying the ink lines. Just do a few. Say trim tabs and a few access panels and quit. The next time try a few more and the next time a few more after that. My panel lines evolved that way. I am now to the point where I figure I have it "just right" and can copy the lines from one plane to the next. A big time saver because I am not scratching my head trying to figure out what looks right and should I add a little something over there.

Time to get some more ice off the car. I wish I had a garage!

LAST EDITED ON Jan-25-04 AT 01:05 PM (CDT)
 
Matt,

All very good points. I decided to go light and have just inked the control surfaces and such (rudder, continuation of control surfaces - this plane doesn't have full span flaps and tabs on the stab). It looks pretty good now and I will likely just leave it alone and go for more next time.

Unfortunately, a lot of the tips just don't work well when you're using a non-dope finish. The idea of shooting clear over completed sections or, as you note, an area that needs to be re-worked, just doesn't work well when the clear is catalyzed poly-urethane. I thought about using clear dope over the urethane color coat and doing spot clear over completed areas, but the truth is, I didn't want to. One, because of compatability issues, particularly if I need ever to repair the thing and second, I wanted to see if I could do a completely non-dope finish. This plane has no dope on it at all, even on tha open bays. Lastly, because catalyzed poly-urethane is horribly heavy compared to dope. One, medium heavy coat is about all you need over the color coat to complete a paint job and that will cost you 1.5 to 2 oz. OK, but not if you are putting several coats on. Silly, probably.

There is some stuff an auto painter I know told me about that is what he called a "detail sealer". It's used by custom car painters to seal things like pinstriping and paint edges when they are doing a very detailed custom car finish. I'm told that it is compatable with the urethane paints. It's a variation on the material used for urethane color coats and I suspect it is mostly just the clear color coat carrier. Anyway, I may give that a try next time. Should work well with an airbrush.

I've love to see some closeups of the Stuka detail.

Randy,

I havn't seen anyone talking much about equipment but the absolute
Cadillac of pens is the KOH-I-NOOR, Rapidograph pens. I have a set of seven with tip sizes varying from size 4 to 3X0. That gives a pretty good width range. I also like to get all my painting done first and use the paint edges to made lines appear to 3D underneath.
My next ink job will be a little more complex than the last one.