Walkway Woes

[RODH2]

I've often wondered how people are doing black walkway lines, trying to fit a long wavy black decal line on the average airliner, typically, has me flumoxed! I wonder if a flexible plastic ruler and the correct fine-tipped marking pen would do a reasonable job. Trying to find a marking pen that will stick to plastic, (paint more correctly) isn't easy. Does anyone have any experience or tips and advice in this area? I am currently trying to mark the wing-walk areas on the venerable Hasegawa B-47, it has Long wings!! Thanks for any advice!

[Mike]

On the odd occasion when I’ve had a walkway line that I know is going to fold up on me, I section it up and apply the parts individually. It’s a lot easier to wrangle a series of three straight lines than an open-ended rectangle, for example.
 

if it’s a really long line, I usually deploy it straight from the decal paper, holding down the first section and letting the friction of the decal paper keep the line straight. Eyeball it, and add a bit of water to move it one way or the other to straighten any kinks, and it usually turns out ok.
 

 There’s always the option of masking and painting the walkways too. You have a lot more control over masking tape, and it can be adjusted many times before you apply any paint, and paint is much more likely to stay light-fast than a marker pen. 
 

The last option is to pick up some Gundam Markers of the correct width, and try them out on a sacrificial wing. They’re intended to mark out lines on models of great big robots, and contain paint rather than ink, so stick to plastic really well. 
 

HTH  

[bentwaters81tfw]

I use Xtradecal black stipes, Cut to length, make sure the sing is wetted with a suitable decal agent, hold one end in place and pull the decal backing sheet away along it's length in the required direction. Use a wetted broad flat brush to adjust or push the decal into it's final position. Wick away excess liquid and let it dry naturally. If it's exceptionally long, I will apply in sections.