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Messed up Panel Lines, seeking advice.


bah humbug
01-13-2018, 03:16 PM
I have an old discontinued S15 kit that I built as a kid but I'd like to fix and redo it. It has messed up panel lines, either too large, or has jagged edges in certain locations because of mistakes I made back then.

I've found information on deepening, or creating new panel lines, but not much info on repairing existing panel lines so I'm looking for advice on how you guys might approach something like this.

Do you guys just fill the old panel lines with putty and draw new ones using templets? I haven't tried anything yet but I'm worried I would end up with no panel lines at all and that the putty would just crack under a blade or scriber.

The car I'm talking about is this:

This is an old picture, i'd take a new one but it's currently sitting in break fluid. For example the panel line beneath the door is way too big and there's too large of a gap at the corner as well. How would you go about fixing something like this?

http://files.automotiveforums.com/img/202outdoor4.jpg

BVC500
01-13-2018, 05:12 PM
I've done exactly just that...filled in mistakes with putty and re-scribed. But just for small areas, and I've gone slowly and used a sharp scribe.

stevenoble
01-14-2018, 01:37 PM
Putty can crack. But it can also work reasonably well. I've also used superglue to fill in lines that are too deep, then describe them and it works very well.

Some_Kid
01-14-2018, 09:43 PM
Just filled them with putty and used a fresh blade while the putty is almost cured. You can wait until it dries too but make sure you leave yourself a marker to know where the lone starts and where it should end. You don’t want to guess that.

Baxter!
01-15-2018, 06:20 AM
Ok...I have used this technique only a few times with varying degrees of success. First, lightly and only in a few key spots, PVA some thread in the panel groove. Once that has tacked up next putty the entire gap and smooth as best you can. After that, but before the putty has set-up, carefully and lightly pull your thread out. You'll be left with a very thin gap where the thread came out which you can deepen or widen. Practice a few times!

bah humbug
01-15-2018, 04:09 PM
Ok...I have used this technique only a few times with varying degrees of success. First, lightly and only in a few key spots, PVA some thread in the panel groove. Once that has tacked up next putty the entire gap and smooth as best you can. After that, but before the putty has set-up, carefully and lightly pull your thread out. You'll be left with a very thin gap where the thread came out which you can deepen or widen. Practice a few times!

Oh this sounds like something I'll have to try, haven't heard of this yet. Kinda creative

CFarias
01-17-2018, 01:20 AM
What works for me is to fill in the panel line with liquid super glue only a little bit so that the original panel line is still visible. Then, I take a photo-etch saw blade and lightly saw a channel into the super glue using the original panel line as a guide. I gradually build up the panel line and saw the channel until the new panel line is built up. Don't bother with accelerator for the glue. I found that not using it provides a smoother surface for the saw blades. You can widen the new panel line using thicker saw blades or scribers.

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