So I tried several techniques of highlighting 1/72 panel lines, using an old Dragon Wings diecast as my testbed. Here are the results.

Mechanical pencil:
This worked okay; I tried "writing" on the panel lines as well as sanding the lead and brushing the dust in. Not permanent (i.e. need to seal it), but it's alright. The downside is you get kind of a sheen from the graphite when tilting the model towards the light.

Wash:
Disaster, but I don't think I did it right. I used Tamiya paint, thinned with warm water and drops of detergent and vinegar. The pigment totally separated from the liquid and settled at the bottom of my jar. So I tried an enamel wash, Testors thinned with airbrush thinner, which worked better. Still, I was never a big fan of washes; it just seems too messy to "sludge" it, and I can never get the look right when using capillary action.

Dry Erase Marker:
By far, I got the best results with this one. If anyone has the last FSM with canopy masking on the cover, check the pics of the 1/72 Hasegawa Super Hornet for what my results looked like. I just "marked" anything I wanted detailed (panel lines, rivets, drains, etc.) and wiped away the excess. Here's the trick, though: dry wiping may have worked on a glossy surface, but it didn't on the flat diecast. I tried a cloth soaked with nail polish remover (which wiped away the paint!), Windex (which oddly didn't work), alcohol (which worked but will pick up paint if you scrub hard), and a dish soap and water mixture (which worked perfectly). The results are a little stark (i.e. high contrast), so try it on something first to see if the look suits you. I love it, but YMMV.

The main reason I'm posting this is because many people posted *ideas* on this and the FSM board, but not so many *results*. Comments welcome!

- A1C "Flip" Wilson, USAF
- Aviano AB, Italy

Did you gloss before washing?

I tend to do these experiments myself over and over again; I'm happy to see someone reporting their results in a comparative manner!

Stephen

First of all, welcome to the site! On what did you use the wash? Armor or aircraft? AFAIK, aircrafts have dark-black panel lines. I have a proof here
For this, I use a black 0.2 mechanical pen. For armors, I usually do wash.

The sheen does disappear when sealed with matt varnish. However the varnish tends to darken the effect so it can look overdone.