Heat Stamp Lettering Painting

I did one set of 2400 all silver cars, black heat stamp. My method was very tedious. After stripping the cars I painted the lettering in black. Then used a liquid masker, Walthers Magic Masker (unfortunately NLA) in the stamp. Then sprayed the silver. Finally pulled off the masker and touched up the areas around the letters where the masker had overlapped the edge.

I did this many years ago and a few years later another forum member came up with what appeared a much better way. After painting the whole car in a solvent paint like Testors he filled the letters with cheap craft store acrylic. After the paint dried he was able to pick or rub off the excess as the acrylic doesn't bond with the solvent paint. His result was every bit as good as mine and whole lot less labor intensive.

Later I tried dry transfers made for other 2400 cars (red lettered). They did not line up with the heat stamp and only stuck to a smooth surface which meant the letters had to be filled and sanded smooth. This ended up smoothing the rivet detail around the letters. Not a good option for a restorer.

Pete