Best way to fill engraving on a painted camera?

[tunalegs]

I'm curious about this. On a chrome camera I usually paint in the engraving by hand then run a cloth moistened with paint thinner over it to "pick up" any excess paint outside of the engraving. But this would probably ruin the finish on a painted camera. So what is the best way to fill in engraving on a painted camera?

Thank in advance.

 

[splitimageview]

Use a white paint stick and wipe off the excess

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I have the white paint stick and have used it on my M4-2, which is not painted. All you do is apply the stick and clean the excess or overflow with a dry cloth. I cannot recall the name of the thingy but I'll check and get back to you.

Just guessing it may be the same for black paint cameras... Just don't use thinner. 🙂

 

[maxmadco]

The Markal Lacquer-Stik will work and comes in a few colors.

 

[nobbylon]

I use paint sticks from microtools. I wipe off the excess with a tissue and a few drops of oil. The black paint that I use can be wiped freely with alcohol, acetone, etc.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

I believe Tomosy may mention a similar approach to what you've used but with a little lighter fluid, before the paint has completely cured? This shouldn't harm the existing paint but will help pick up any overflow from the lettering. I haven't had to try this myself yet but it sounds fair enough. What do you reckon?
Cheers,
Brett

 

[nobbylon]

I believe Tomosy may mention a similar approach to what you've used but with a little lighter fluid, before the paint has completely cured? This shouldn't harm the existing paint but will help pick up any overflow from the lettering. I haven't had to try this myself yet but it sounds fair enough. What do you reckon?
Cheers,
Brett

I've used lighter fluid before and it also works well.

 

[mdarnton]

Assuming your original paint is dry, using thinner shouldn't cause a problem, assuming that when you say "paint thinner" you mean a product with that name, not some other solvent. Paint thinner is a very weak solvent, and is for thinning, not removing; if it attacks a dry paint or varnish, something is horribly wrong.

 

[_goodtimez]

I have succesfully used just a cotton swab to poor the white paint and then wiped the excess with a scrapper made of a kleenex tightly wrapped around a piece of metal.
Just hold the assembly at 90° with respect to the surface and do one pass only.
Light leftover may remain. Leave it to dry and clean up with a light solvant like gasoline.

 

[Ronald M]

Use a white paint stick and wipe off the excess

Then wait 24 hours and wipe up the rest much like tile grout.

Micro Tools .com

 

[Robert Lai]

If you're reasonably careful in applying white paint so that most of it goes into the engravings, then you can easily clean up the overflow with some Q-tips (no solvent). You may want to give the paint a 30 minute head start to begin to harden up slightly before you gently wipe around the engravings with the Q-tips.

I've used white paint meant to touch up washers and dryers from Whirlpool. When wet the paint comes off very easily with the dry Q-tip. Once the paint is fully dry, it is very resistant to chipping or flaking.