[Shiny]

What white paint and color have you used for an emblem like this?

I have some model car enamel.. anything better? How white of a white?

I spent a half hour with a dremel and some polish and it cleaned up great. No pitting!

[Cammer-6]

was it white or black?
I agree,model paint
sometimes a qtip will work if you dont have a proper trim brush.
When almost cured a thumbnail will clean up what was outside the lines

[Terry M. Hunt]

One Shot sign painters enamel. Used by pin stripers for many years.

[tempest1964]

I watched a video on YouTube of a guy painting some emblems. He thinned his paint down and used a syringe to spread it out. Believe he said the needle was a #20. By thinning the paint and using the needle, it flowed everywhere it needed to go.

[pfilean]

I have used the duplicolor tube with the brush included. same stuff I use to touch up little chips on the other parts of the car.. As suggested the little excursions outside the lines come off easily later. Unless you remember your first grade teacher telling you to color inside the lines.

[Shiny]

Thanks all

Here's one of the YouTube videos using a dispenser needle. I like the concept but I suspect the results will vary with the paint.

Link to YouTube Emblem Painting

The One Shot paint looks great, just expensive for one or two emblems.

I don't know if the Testors model car paint will hold up on a car so I'll look at the Dupli-Color (or similar) touch-up at the parts store. If not too expensive, I'm leaning that direction vs the model car enamel.

Mike

[GT182]

A good gloss enamel white paint. Try model paint, but there's got to be something much better and thicker Something that levels out and won't show any brush marks.

If you use model paint, let it dry for a week or so and put a good clear coat over it to protect it.
But Dupli-color sounds better. Make sure it's thinned out so it runs a bit and is smoother

[Held for Ransom]

I wonder if a paint pen would work...

[Shiny]

I think I'm going to try this Rustoleum oil-based enamel. It is cheap but sold for use on metal outdoors. I expect it will hold up better to UV, water, and temp cycling better than Testors but let me know if it's a bad idea. Hopefully it has a high solids and won't need thinning.

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

I wonder if a paint pen would work...

Good idea. Probably would be fine... I'm just foolish or frugal, flip a coin. The auto touch-up pens are almost $20 and I like the idea of dispensing with a needle and letting it flow out.

[Cammer-6]

All Ive ever used is model paint
that said I did try thinning out.
It was OK at first but then developed cracks.
Unthinned is still ok 40 yrs later

[Shiny]

Good to know the model paint holds up, thanks! Definitely the lowest cost option I'm aware of and I probably have some white. I'll also get the Rustoleum just because and compare the two before committing.

BTW, took a chance and ordered these from Amazon... I was surprised how well the point held up. They worked great to clean and polish where nothing else reached:

[Cammer-6]

another tip that may have enhanced my application is the oven.
when you smell the paint,turn oven off.
never let paint get over 150*

[Shiny]

I did not have white model paint so went with the Rustoleum.

I dispensed with a syringe, tried unsuccessfully to just fill the cavities and not over-run onto the faces of the outlines.

I ruined it once by trying to polish before it had hardened and had to strip it. Doh!

I let it skin over for a few hours, then wiped the excess off the borders by soaking a piece of cardboard in thinner and using it like sanding board. Worked well, left some smears as expected.

Here's where I am. Plan is to let it dry for a week before hitting with the polish again. This stuff dries and cures SLOW. Hopefully the scratches and smears will buff out. Some light pitting, but not much for a 56 year-old part that lived a hard life.





I'll compare with a repro I have but pretty sure this will win just because.

Mike

[Jeff Hamlin]

I did the top of my Van with it just over two years ago and it takes a beating and has held up great.

[Cammer-6]

do the slow and low bake instead of waiting a week
even a heat lamp will work

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by Jeff Hamlin

I did the top of my Van with it just over two years ago and it takes a beating and has held up great.

Thanks, good to know it holds up! That was one of my questions.

Originally Posted by Cammer-6

do the slow and low bake instead of waiting a week
even a heat lamp will work

Thanks! I tried to educate myself on this and decided it's not worth the risk of having to strip it again if I overheat it. By filling the cavity, the film thickness is very high which is less than ideal.

The adhesion won't be great to begin with. I couldn't practically roughen the cavities and didn't use a primer so using this paint is probably sketchy.

If there was a 2K gloss white epoxy paint, it would probably be a better match for this application... but I didn't think about that before I understood how long this alkyd paint takes to cure.

I'm in no hurry, will just keep it in a warm place for a week or two.

Learn as I go, then forget it and learn again....

[Shiny]

After sitting for 2 weeks, I pulled the emblem off the shelf and polished the haze off. The paint did not lift nor wrinkle.

I like the color and gloss.

But if I do this again, I will look for a 2K epoxy-based paint to avoid the long dry time.

Here's a photo with an unfinished survivor behind it. The Rustoleum restored part looks flashy by comparison but good enough.



I found it interesting that the original was missing paint on the horizontal leg of the "A". If I was guessing, a mask was used to paint these, probably sprayed.



As you can tell, the original paint thinned out near the edges and did not flow up the "sides" of the letter "walls". This means I "overfilled" mine but hey, I bought a small can of this Rustoleum!

Mike

[Cammer-6]

they do make a hardner for Rustoleum
Can get it on Amazon or Tractor supply

[Rachelsdad]

Quick points:

I had a pinstriper do the white outline on the rear quarter emblems (gold anodized aluminum) on my '63 Bonneville, after I tried unsuccessfully to mask, prime with self-etching stuff, and spray color (spray touch-up, matched to '63 Pontiac Ivory).

He used enamel which he only thinned enough to coat evenly without brush marks. After that, I use a good spray wax (Meguire's) after each wash, and only lightly buff to remove excess wax from the gold.

Now, for my 8-lug center caps, I used Eastwood Chassis Black (satin), with matching primer, applied with a foam dauber. This coating is very thin, and excess wipes off easily with a rag or shop towel. However, it's easy when the lettering is pretty much the width of the dauber edge. I do the same thing with the spray wax on the center caps.