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bob,

you are a financial genius...

that's why I said we'd look around...I'm thinking that we might be able to find something in the hardware store to modify or adapt that will do a similar job...I don't think we need the quality or durability that an artist might require in a brayer...


epi

back roads,

a brayer is a roller used to apply ink in printmaking...of course, I last used one in class forty years ago!..

I know that speedball (the artist pen & ink manufacturer) makes one at least four inches wide for all those hobbyists that are into rubber stamping these days...


epi

Thanks for the info epi. I tried one of those little rollers from an art store on my first license. I like the rubber sheet better.

See you down the back roads.

It's "Kepi".

If you want to do it 'on the cheap' and do a good job just buy the 2 rattle cans of paint (1 for the letters/numbers, 1 for the rest of plate) and paint the entire plate with the background paint, let it dry and then use the masking tape and some scissors or razor and sit in your lazy boy and mask off everything but the letters/numbers and then spray the letters/numbers.

I have done this several times and it works great and looks great.

P.S. When I finished my plates I sprayed a good clear over the tag (both sides) to protect the paint and to make it look even better.

I have done this with hood and trunk emblems , the centers of wheel covers clean the whole area then mask off the letters or backgrounds, whichever should escape the paint spray, then shoot several coats of "rattle can" color, then a couple of coats of Krylon chrystal clear.

Sometimes I spray the letters and numbers several coats of color then after drying several days or a week, mask over them with blue painters tape , stick it to the leg of my blue jeans or overalls to take away just a tad of the stickeyness, and tape over the top of the newly painted letters , leaving the tape slightly off the transistion area and spray the background from several angles to leave a smooth color transition area. I also do that when respraying the door sills and pillars after lightly sanding them. It prevents that masking tape harsh paint line.

My wife now paints our families plates. She is a dental hygentist and has a very steady hand, and she does a great job.

Also if trying to reproduce an early (flat) plate, you can have a custom vinyl graphic sticker made. I am doing that for the 1908 and 1909 Ohio plates. I can't seem to find the $1000+ dollars to complate my collection of Ohio plates.

And what is the sticker costing you?I paid $75 to have 48 plate restored,chef-

Based on my somewhat limited experience with 'stickers' (signs) from "Signs R Us type franchise sign shops," it would cost around $20.

Bruce: again from my experience, the $75 you paid to have a WA '48 plate restored for your Fleetline is about right. I've seen pairs in the low $200's here in the Northwest. In my mind, you did 'just fine' - if you were even wondering.

Bill.

we picked up an aerosol can of paint over the weekend...the x-o rust brand, recommended by fred in an early post to this thread, is a true value hardware brand...our local true value hardware doesn't carry rattle can paints, so we got it at a true value 120 miles away!..true story...(okay, well it was 120 miles away, but I happened to be visiting my grandneice there)...

the "#38 caution yellow" is also marked "caterpillar yellow," for future reference...maybe other brands designed for caterpillar equipment would work as well?..

anyway, we shot a test swath and it looks like a very good match...

next up, we're going to experiment with the application of the black before I even bother to strip the original surface...I figure we may as well botch it up first before prepping it for the final painting...that is, once we get the technique worked out...


epi

I was looking at the 3/8 nap full length foam roller at the hardware store and it is quite firm I am thinking of giving it a try.I will be working on a 48 PA.truck plate,it is blue with mustard numbers and letters....Any info on color specs???chef-

I guess none of the "pros" are going to come forward and tell us what they use and save us all a lot of trouble. I guess they are either afraid we will take their business away, or they are not VCCA members. I don't really want to spend a couple of hundred having my plates restored by a pro so I will continue to muddle through trying some of the more plausible ways to paint numbers as recommended in these threads. Thanks for all the ideas and for sharing them!!

Chef, I just did a '39 Chevy truck plate last night! I used Dupli-Color TO298 True Blue for the backround and it is pretty dang close! I didn't do the letters yet cause I was waiting for a good way to paint them from this thread, and I don't have any paint for it. I can't find a correct yellow. I was thinking maybe a Caterpillar yellow like Chevrolet mentioned, but I think it would have to be an older Cat paint because I think the newer Cat equipment is a lighter shade?

Have you checked John Deere yellow? It may work for you.

I don't know who puts it out but someone has a "school bus orange" (or possibly yellow, not sure), that is supposed to be good.

Bob,both the PA. plates I have,have pretty good color and I think most any yellow with a touch of brown and a little orange???The color is a slightly dark mustard,chef-
I will look for the blue you mentioned

Chef, look at Wal-Mart for that blue, thats where I got mine. Thanks for the info!

That's the way I did them for years when I was in the "business", except that I carefully wiped off the top color with a swipe of a lacquer dampened rag ONLY until I started to see the letter / number color begin to appear. I then switched to an old cloth hankerchief and rubbing compond to finish bringing out the color of the letter / number. I found the thin cloth of the hankerchief allowed me to keep the edges of the characters extremely straight.

-Bob

Very good method Bob...and you have done a lot more of them then me...doing it this way also gives you much more control over how much paint is removed.

I have repainted my 35 Michigan plates twice. The first time I painted the background with ratle can black. Then I tried a very short nap roller but it splattered all over.

Here are two other methods that I used. Paint the letter color all over. Then paint the background color over the top of the letter color. Use 400 or 600 grit wet sand paper folded to make about three layers and use a finger the wet sand off the background color from the letters. Looks great. With care you can make the letter color as wide as you wish with a little partially "over the edge."

On another plate I painted the letter color first. Then I masked the big letters with blue tape. The small letters were just too small to mask (not enough patience). Then I painted on the background color, peeled the tape after the paint was partially set and used wet sanding again to clean up the edges of the big letters and to expose the small letters. The reason to use three layers of sandpaper was to stiffen the paper just enough so it would curl just slghtly around the edges of each letter. Anyone wants a picture emailled to them, contact me.

Hey JimG,
I'd love to see the results. bigbob@rdgsons.com
Sounds like you have a real good method!!

bob,

maybe you'll post jimg's pic, when you get, it for the rest of us...

well, we got the original paint & surface rust stripped off the other day...turned out there was a small rust through near the edge where they originally stamped a ridge to give a border of stiffness...so I got out the leading supplies and filled and filed...then we primed the entire plate...still need to get the background "caterpillar yellow" on before we even get to try all the great suggestions here about the second applied color...


epi

Hey Kepi, Will do!

thanks, in advance, bob...


epi

Isn't spray cans of colored lacquer hard to come by???chef-