How To: Painting Photo Etch Badges

[freakray]

I wrote this tutorial for another site but thought it would probably be useful here for some members, hope somebody actually finds some use in it.

Ray

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Here I will try to cover the basics of how to go about painting a photo-etch script to replace a emblem which is enameled on the real car.
Many photo-etch sets contain emblems and badges but the biggest headache can be when one is supplied to replace a decal with a multitude of colors when you can’t figure out how to paint it, here I will take you through the basic method and hopefully you will be able to adapt it to your specific emblem.
I have in fact used this same technique on an emblem with 3 colors and it worked just as well as it does on the simple emblem I will use to demonstrate the technique.

Before you start you will obviously need your photo etch set, your paint(s), some tweezers to handle the small emblem, some tape to stick the emblem to, some clear coat and a fine paint brush. You will also require a piece of photo copy paper or similar, you’ll see the purpose of this later.




Once you have trimmed your emblem from the photo etch sprue, you will want to securely fasten it to something on the side you won’t be painting, this will not only make it harder to lose the small emblem, it will also make it easier to handle it for the rest of the process.

Once the emblem is securely attached to its piece of tape, you’re ready to add some paint to it, this is actually the easiest part of the whole process.
Thoroughly stir the paint to make certain the color is completely mixed then load your paintbrush with some paint and simply apply paint to the whole area of the emblem, this should fill all the depressions with paint, right now you don’t need to worry about whether you get paint on the high areas or not, we will deal with that in the next step.



Allow the paint time to completely dry before this next step.
This is where that piece of copy paper comes in.
Once the paint is completely dry, gently rub over the emblem with the piece of paper, you will notice the paint comes off on the paper, this is exactly what you want.
Continue gently rubbing over the emblem until all the high spots are exposed and you only have paint in the low areas.
In my case, it gives me this:



I am sure you can already see the emblem is coming to life.
Apply some clear over the emblem now, this will complete the realism of the part.
You’ll notice the clear is slightly milky in this photo, this doesn’t worry me because I know it will dry completely clear.



I will also need to apply several coats of clear to the emblems to achieve the effect I want but will have to wait for the first application to dry completely before applying the second(or third).



Once we have applied the number of layers of clear we require, the emblem is complete and ready to attach to the model, here is a photo of the finished emblem and one that has been attached to the model and a photo of the front of the real car for comparison.




This Tutorial is the property of Ray Clark, if you wish to use it on another site you must obtain permission.

[pflau]

COOL!!!! kinda the same technique I used for my Testarossa..

[_835_]

Great how to ray.
Many Thanks for sharing.

[flyonthewall]

Superb how to Ray.

[p9o1r1sche]

Good tutorial on basic badges. Now for a tougher question. How do you deal with badges in which the raised surfaces are different colors from the background, one of which is usually chrome?
I have applied a decal over the P/E part using setting solutions, then applied 5minute clear epoxy on top for the shiny enameled surface. Are their any other ideas for handling multicolored P/E badges when you have to paint them?

[TireGaint]

Thank you, Ray. It is very nice.

[freakray]

Originally Posted by p9o1r1sche

Good tutorial on basic badges. Now for a tougher question. How do you deal with badges in which the raised surfaces are different colors from the background, one of which is usually chrome?
I have applied a decal over the P/E part using setting solutions, then applied 5minute clear epoxy on top for the shiny enameled surface. Are their any other ideas for handling multicolored P/E badges when you have to paint them?

Sorry, I didn't think I would have to lead you all over by the hand.

I have done multi-colored badges using the same technique, it just takes more time, the tutorial is only to show people the basics to give them a point to start from.
It's up to you whether you develop the technique more or get stuck at only one color.

I tried the decal method, I wasn't satisfied with the results.

[mikemechanic]

Ok this might sound like a stupid question, what the hell is copy paper?

[freakray]

Originally Posted by mikemechanic

Ok this might sound like a stupid question, what the hell is copy paper?

You don't know what photo-copy paper is?

[p9o1r1sche]

I'm not sure you understand what I am asking. Using the Suby badge you have in your tutorial as an example, what if you wanted to make the background blue (as pictured), the large star another color (red, for instance), the smaller stars yellow, and the rim of the badge chrome? Take me by the hand and explain how you would use your technique to do that.

[freakray]

I can think of a way....

[mikemechanic]

Originally Posted by freakray

You don't know what photo-copy paper is?

No I don't otherwise I wouldnt have asked the question.

[freakray]

Originally Posted by mikemechanic

No I don't otherwise I wouldnt have asked the question.

Sorry, it's just regular paper like you would use in your computer printer.
In this case, even newspaper could be used.

[Honoturtle]

Great tutorial Ray! I know I'll be using this!