[Milsurplus] Painting radios

[Mike Hanz]

Dean L Kellogg, Jr. wrote:

> I am preparing to repaint the front face of a BC653A with black 
> "wrinkle paint". 
> HOW CAN I PAINT THE FACE PLATE, BUT LEAVE THE LETTERING UNPAINTED?


Short answer - you can't.  The original process involved careful 
abrasion of the paint off the lettering after painting, and to my 
knowledge, that's the only practical thing you can do.  There are ways 
of making it easier, of course - the artist supply stores usually carry 
a product call masking fluid, or frisket, that can be painted over the 
lettering to permit easier removal of the paint.  See 
http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Watercolors/RodWebb/MaskingFluid/ for 
a good overview.  Depending on the proximity of adjacent letters, using 
it can provide a fairly decent coverage for an individual word, for 
instance.  Doesn't work too well with an arc with an arrowhead on it, 
though - it's very difficult to keep the trace fine enough to just cover 
a thin line.  The rest is careful labor with a sanding stick such as 
those at http://www.widgetsupply.com/page/WS/CTGY/excel-sanding-stick 
(*well* after the paint has crosslinked to a hard coating - it will 
smudge if it hasn't completely cured.)  I don't know of any easier way - 
if anyone has found such I would love to know about it.

73,
Mike