Scribing panel lines

[rickshaw]

From experience, the further one gets from an object, the less distinct it becomes.  Also from experience, when looking at aircraft, the less clear the various panel lines become on painted aircraft.  Natural Metal ones, on the other hand, show their panel lines for a considerable distance.

Keeping that in mind, I'm in two minds about bothering with either the existing panel lines on a kit or scribing new ones.   Indeed, I'm tempted to sand off all such surface detail.

Now, am I being a heretic for harbouring such thoughts or should I be busily emphasising and scribing panel lines and highlighting them so that they are even more obvious?

[PR19_Kit]

For total accuracy you ought to be reproducing the actual shape of the edges of the panels as well, scaled to size of course, and accurate to each individual aircraft type you are modelling. If you're not capable of making 0.00001 mm radius curves on styrene perhaps you should be asking yourself if you're in the right hobby.....

[How I wrote that without bursting into hysterical laughter I have no idea!   ]

Seriously, isn't it scale dependent? For my 1/144 scale airliners I do re-scribe some panel lines, but only very lightly and then only if they are apparent on photos of the real thing. For 1/72 scale I try and put them in where the kit misses them out, or if the kit has raised lines, but I'm not a great believer in all that emphasis work that many JMNs seem to do these days. Are real aircraft like that? Darned if I've ever seen any.........

[Weaver]

I generally only do scribing if:

a) Construction has wiped out/filled in part of an existing panel line which will look wierd ending in the middle of nowhere,

or

b) There's some specific design feature that I'm adding that needs one (like modified undercarriage on a gear-up model).

As for heresy? Nah, wrong board. There are folk here who opt out of the entire cockpit building/painting process by painting their canopies blue, and I have considerable sympathy with them: what do you think the JMNs make of that? 

[NARSES2]

I'm with Weaver on this. I try to rescribe any lines I've "interupted" and look obvious, otherwise in 1/72 I don't bother

[John Howling Mouse]

I have completely re-scribed only three models.
And I think all the extra effort really ended up being noticeable on the NMF Banshee.

T-Tailed Banshee:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,27559.msg413102.html#msg413102



A Monogram F-104 (that my scribing attempt actually ruined)

And a Caroma:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,23661.msg343968.html#msg343968