How to paint dials - No joy here.......How??

[Homerlovesbeer]

Getting pretty frustrated about how to paint these dials. Tried so many things now and they still look rubbish.



Tried painting with a very small brush - no joy.



Tried dry brushing (as seen here) - no joy.



Tried using a white 0.7mm paint pen - no joy.



Tried using a cocktail stick and dabbing paint on that way - no joy.



Losing my mojo over this as I cannot find a solution to how to paint it.



Sigh....

[Stokesy44]

Tough one mate. My choice would have been cocktail stick or dry brushing. At the end of the day it may just be the dial detail isn't raised enough for what you're trying to achieve. You may have to settle for gloss black then knocking it out of the park with the rest of the kit.

Don't let it get you down Sir

[TheNordus]

Possibly use AK's watercolor pencils, or use drybrushing and then a black wash. Personally I've never tried to paint molded on dials, it's possibly the most impossible thing in modelling aside from making a tube out of a flat piece of photo etch. They should cut the fingers off anyone who produces car models without dash decals.

[Hawkmoon]

Lots of decal sets on fleabay not sure what your after but examples here in the link-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... _sacat=220

[Homerlovesbeer]

I came across this idea dating back to 2008 by "Semi Trailer Mechanic" on another forum which may also work.



Here's how I was taught. Take some matte aluminum Bare Metal Foil and apply it to the entire face of the dash and trim it. Next take a piece of tissue and rub it really well. Use a wash to fill in the gauges and allow to dry or use a Sharpe Marker. Take some fine sand paper and "LIGHTLY" rub over the surface of the gauges until the raised surfaces are clean and clear. Then w/ a fine paint brush start painting around the trim rings of the gauages and then go back and finish painting the face of the dash. Because BMF covered the entire face of the dash if there's any trim left around the dash that too can be sanded down as well giving it sharp look. Here's an advantage if ya screw up all ya do is peel off the Metal Foil and try again speaking from LOTS of experience. 

[Homerlovesbeer]

Tough one mate. My choice would have been cocktail stick or dry brushing.

Don't let it get you down Sir

Thanks mate.....I shall keep on trying

[jchrisf]

Saw a guy recently who did this well on his build. I asked him how he did it.... and he had the dial color paint below the final color and scraped off the paint with a toothpick. He did have to paint the tach red though. Then added liquid glass

https://race-car-models.proboards.com/t ... rade-monte

[Homerlovesbeer]

Possibly use AK's watercolor pencils, or use drybrushing and then a black wash. .

The right dial is my attempt at dry brushing and Tamiya panel wash

I hear you about dash decals!

[Homerlovesbeer]

Lots of decal sets on fleabay not sure what your after but examples here in the link-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... _sacat=220

Cheers,

Hoping to avoid spending any more money than I have to as I am on leave without pay due Corva - 19

[Homerlovesbeer]

Saw a guy recently who did this well on his build. I asked him how he did it.... and he had the dial color paint below the final color and scraped off the paint with a toothpick. He did have to paint the tach red though. Then added liquid glass

https://race-car-models.proboards.com/t ... rade-monte

Looks great! I think the damn recessed guages are making things more difficult for me

[Homerlovesbeer]

Ok guys,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had a crack at the foil method tonight. The dials are quite complex so the notion of cutting out every single element to reveal the black below is unthinkable.

I did add a Tamiya wash over the foil however the wash really clings to the curves at the side and not so much consistent over the whole surface.

I tried flooding it so I couldn't see any dial at all and letting it dry but the curve of the dial at the edges had massive build up and the middle not much at all.

I cleaned it up and applied another small wash which doesn't look too bad. It's very hard to photograph so I do apologise.





What do you all think? Try something else again?

Cheers,
Homer