[Hammarlund] Filling Engraved Panels

[Robert Nickels]

I'm looking for "best practices" aka "what works" when filling engraved 
panels.  The panel in question is for a Hammarlund SP-210 but I've got a 
390 panel in the queue and the process should be the same.

I've read everything Google has produced on the topic, which basically 
amounts to using a) acrylic artists paint or b) lacquer stick to fill 
the engraved lettering.   "Filling" is the easy part, the trouble comes 
when trying to remove the residue that inevitably gets on the panel.   
Most folks say to wait "a while" for the fill to dry, then remove the 
residue with a damp cloth, or something similar.  It sounds good, but 
I've had less than zero success at removing the excess paint while 
leaving the filled area intact.

The laws of physics seem to get in the way.  Common sense tells us that 
a thin layer of paint will dry before a thick one, and my attempts thus 
far confirm that if I wait long enough for the filled area to be 
sufficiently dry, the residue on the panel has fully dried and is nearly 
impossible to remove without marring the panel.   Edison-like, I've 
tried dozens of different methods on my (now) test panel, including 
adding cornstarch to thicken the paint, using various materials as a 
squeegee, and different cure times, but the result is inevitably a 
whitish haze around the letters, inconsitent filling of some letters, 
and a generally lousy (polite word) appearance.

There must be a trick to this, and while I'm busy stripping and 
re-priming and painting, I'm hoping some of you who have had success 
will share your secrets.  In as much detail as possible, please!  Edison 
was a patient man....I'm not ;-)

Thanks and 73,
Bob W9RAN