White Lettering

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alohachris

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Does anyone know how to highlight the letters engraved on you gun? I'm talking about the serial numbers and Mfr info. I have a black gun and want to make the letters white.

Thanks!
 
There was a website years back that described an easy way of highlighting serial numbers and such. I couldn't find it when I was looking for it recently.

So, in lieu of anything worthwhile, I'll give you a free bump.
 
I've heard Testors model paint does a great job. The procedure as I understand it is:

  1. thin the Testors down with some Testors thinner.
  2. use some thin model paint brushes and try to stay in the lines
  3. give it a little while to set up
  4. take a rag with some CLP to clean up the mess caused by your shaky unrefined paint strokes.
Never tried it, but I saw a bunch of people on arfcom who had some pretty stellar results.

Other methods I've heard are crayons but from the pictures I saw there better results were from the Testors enamel.

ETA: An example of one guy that used the Testors method. Looks pretty good IMHO. I may have to do it to mine.
testors7.JPG
 
Rub-n-Buff from a hobby store. Comes in a bunch of colors and is permanent, although it can be removed with naphtha.

Just rub some in with your fingertip, let it dry a bit, and buff the excess off.
 
I've always used Testors when I did it.

You dont have to have a steady hand either.

Just degrease the spot well, fill the lettering to just over flowing with paint and let it dry.

Once dry, take a patch wet with WD40 or Gun Scrubber, and gently wipe at the excess. The excess paint will come off pretty easy. Once I get down close to the metal, I wrap the patch on a square or rectangular pencil eraser, and then use the "flat" and go lightly across things until the paint is level or just below the rest of the surrounding metal.

Once done, I re-clean around everything with a wet Q Tip. I dont go over the lettering or whatever ( I do the index hash marks on my guns sights too) with the Q Tip, as it will take the paint out of the cut pretty quick.

If your careful, and do it a couple of times, you can usually get it done on the first try. Sometimes a little more comes out than you want, but its easy to touch up..
 
Thanks, Thanks! I think I'll try the testors method. One more question: how do I keep the solvent from removing the paint down in the lettering while getting it off the surface?
 
Use Q-tips and paint thinner, just get them moist not soaked and lightly rub. It is a time consuming process but worth it.
 
I had very good results with "Liquid Paper" or one of their competitors. Just carefully blot off the "mess".

However, I'm not sure you can still get this stuff, and how it'll behave on other than a glossy finish.

Regards,
 
There are several good ideas there fellas.

I just wanted to add that Brownells sells kits for inlaying in gold and silver (not quite white, but close). I've used the silver before. Very easy and quite attractive.

Wyman
 
Thanks, Thanks! I think I'll try the testors method. One more question: how do I keep the solvent from removing the paint down in the lettering while getting it off the surface?
Click to expand...

Use a patch or rag tip with only a light amount of CLP or thinner & be sure to let the paint sit for 5-10 minutes before rubbing the excess away. It should take some effort - if it comes away at the first pass, then you didn't wait long enough.

roll-marks-3.jpg roll-marks-4.jpg

Nick
 
I have used gold testors on an engraved shotgun. Using the method described above with excellent results. It takes a bit of work but is worth the time involved.
 
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