Painting sign text

[Andrew C]

I am making external signs and I`m looking for finishing ideas. What paint to use to paint text and grooves then what clear finish to cover the whole sign. I have looked at Chestnut products also Rubio wood cream. Any ideas would be appriciated.

[Ollie78]

Hi Andrew C

I have done quite a lot of signs and stuff. I am assuming you are using wood.

I have found that if you want to fill in the lettering with coloured paint then it is better to seal the entire thing with something clear first, sanding sealer, shellac is best as it wont react to any other paint or a clear acrylic is fine.
By sealing it first you avoid the colour bleeding into the grain, this is particularly a problem on Oak and open grained woods.

For the coloured bits I really like "art" (graffiti) spray paint, Belton Molotov is my favourite but Montana is ok too, I spray a bit into a bottle cap or whatever and use an artists brush, if its big you can mask and spray it, probably 2 coats.
These paints have great colours and are nice and opaque, I have also used enamels for model painting but they take longer to dry and I don`t find them as nice.
Once coloured in to your satisfaction then seal it with a really good clear coat preferably with a UV protection in it Plasticote do a pretty good clear but its expensive.

Just how I do it. There are lots of ways, some people stick a masking film or vinyl on the workpiece before cutting it, then this acts as a perfect fit mask to paint through, I have yet to try this method.


Ollie