The storebought panel liners are a great value because, if used carefully, they will last a long long time. I use my Tamiya panel liners all the time and I've had the same ones for years now. Not wasting my time making something I can buy easily is worth more than they cost, too.
Tamiya panel line accent colors are definitely handy, and consistently work well. I also have some Ammo by Mig panel line washes as they offer a larger variety of colors. While I will sometimes mix my own, I have had issues in the past with pieces of pigment coming out of the solution. With over 50 years of experience building, I like to keep things simple as I get older.
Since that Model A is depicting a stock one, in going to say it's a 1930. 1931 was the last year for "A" production , but the radiator shell had painted sections when stock. (in 1932 Ford began production of the Model B, famous in the Beach Boys song as "The Little Deuce Coupe") The 1928 and 29 had shorter radiators. Back in the 80's, during the ZZ top Hot Rod craze, I built a 1931 "A" rod using a 60's era Hot Rod as the starting point. I wish I could post la photo of it here, but it was sweet when it was finished - Porsche 944 red, nerf bars, American Standard wheels, no hood, dual tunnel ram, new suspension (with tilt steering wheel!), new tinted window glass, walnut burl dash, vintage style instruments, and all interior metal brass plated and lacquered to keep it shiny. But it was one and done for me, that was an expensive hobby LOL.
For me i use water colors since i use enemals to paint also can use enemals to do some panel lining on enemals. This takes time in allowing the paint job to cure for 7-10 days before i use enemals for panel lining or weathering. If not wanting to wait then the water colors in which you can get in paste form.....
You are your harshest critic. The most important part of this hobby is to enjoy yourself and become comfortable with your modeling style. Don't compare yourself to others--compare the model you finished today to the one you finished yesterday and celebrate your improvements.
You have to be careful with those Tamiya panel liners on Bandai plastic. Not sure what is going on with their plastic but I have had a couple of kits shatter at stress points when using the Tamiya panel liners.
I've built a couple of the Bandi 1/72 scale X-wing spacecraft. Each have a custom paint job. But before I applied any paint, I started a lite coat of clear lacquer glosscoat, the testor's product. Then a coat of enamel paint for my base color, another coat of glosscoat went on before panel lining and weathering, etc. Their both now hanging from the ceiling chasing a couple of Tie-fighters. So far no problems. I had read about what enamel paint could do to bandi plastic. So I was and am hoping my clear coats prevents any problems.
Typically, before applying a wash, you want to gloss coat your model to protect the underlying finish from the wash you're going to put over the top of it. This will protect both paint and plastic.
