Painting Straight and uniform lines

[George123]

Hi Guys,

I’m painting the Revell 120mm Swiss Guard. I am having real trouble getting the lines on the socks straight and equal. I am using Humbrol enamels which paint well and have the correct colors.

* Any help/tips would be appreciated. I don’t think I can use tape (Tamiya) for this as the surfaces are not flat, per se.

The photo is a stock photo as reference.

Surprisingly nice inexpensive figure here.

Thanks,
George

 

[Nap]

Hi George

Nice model , is there not cast lines to work to , thought there might have been ...excuse my ignorance I paint busts ...lol



This might help

https://theimperfectmodeller.co.uk/2021/10/18/a-beginners-guide-to-painting-freehand-straight-lines/








Nap

 

[Oda]

I remember having a modeler's epiphany a few years back while I was watching scenes from an Iron Maiden concert. Steve Harris,this veritable giant,used to like wearing tights back in the 80's,some of them bearing vertical stripes.I remember that as he put his left leg on one of the front stage speakers to assume a more "heroic" posture I realised that the vertical lines on fabrics that enclose tubular shapes (like legs for instance) although parallel and vertical on the outside are not so on the inside of the leg where the seam lines usually are.Instead they tend to meet in elongated,accute angle Vs at the ankles turning to shorter,wider angle Vs as they get towards the crotch.

Oda.

 

[lpa53]

I'm always amazed at Bill Horan's striping, especially that on his baseball figures. It's not just the straightness that's the problem but also the correct spacing around the body part.

 

[NigelR]

I have a similar problem painting laminated propellors on 1/32 WWI aircraft. You have to paint complex laminations (fancy stripes) round an awkward surface which is not flat. The best solution I have found is to paint a basecoat in a light colour and then use good quality coloured pencils to mark the outline of the darker shapes. You then fill in the shapes with paint. You can use a soft eraser to get rid of mistakes as you sketch in the outlines.

I use Derwent Artists' pencils, they have a good range of colours.

 

[Fransab]

Hi,

You can find different sizes of masking tape in the market (from 1mm) with a good adhesion that may help you, maybe, in this work. Also you can find them in AliExpress. Also you can cut it in a smaller size.

Cheers,

Francisco

 

[George123]

Thanks,

Tape will not work on compound surfaces. I have all the Tamiya tapes both yellow and white.

One mistake I made was gluing the legs on before I painted them. Would have been much easier if they were off. Live and learn.

I think the pencil drawing-in of lines. may be the best thing to do. Then very careful painting.

I can always brush prime the legs and start over, but I’m trying to avoid that.

I appreciate the responses here.

 

[theBaron]

...I think the pencil drawing-in of lines. may be the best thing to do. Then very careful painting...

I agree. That's what I would do, too.

I wouldn't dismiss using tape, necessarily, but the danger I'd want to avoid is lines of paint built up along the edges of the tape, and paint bleed under the tape. Those can be reduced as much as possible, but I'd rather avoid having to deal with them in the first place.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Blind Pew]

The problem with masking tape is that you're having to adhere it to surfaces that do not lend themselves to being taped up.

Straight lines on figures do not have to be straight - they do have to look straight. Not necessarily the same thing. Practice is the key. That, and a change of mindset.
Don't look at the task as being difficult. Look at it as being time-consuming.

This lets you off the hook. Tell yourself that, yes, you are going to make mistakes. This will relax you enough. Trying to get the thing 'perfect' first time, every time, is a stressor and will not lead to an enjoyable experience. The best painters make mistakes. They just make fewer and spot the ones they do make.
Look upon it as a process of do/examine/re-do/re-examine/re-do....etc

Don't forget to have fun!

 

[DaddyO]

The way I've done similar ones in the past is to use a dot of a slightly darker shade to the background colour to mark the centre of each stripe first at an easy point of the leg eg. just above the ankle. then do the same number of evenly spaced dots at a wider point (calf) Once you are happy with these join them together with a thin line that will become the centre of the finished stripe and check that everything looks okay. If happy it's then just a question of enlarging the stripes trying to keep the gap/stripe even as you go.

If you are not comfortable doing it freehand then wrap a thin piece of masking tape around the leg and mark where is crosses so you have the circumference. Remove the tape and mark divisions on it then use the tape to transfer these back on the leg.

As has been pointed out already they just need to look straight and even rather than be exactly correct

Paul