Back when I was designing the sign and building the routing file with EnRoute I was thinking about how I would paint it. By planning the way we would route the sign on our MultiCam I could make things much easier and faster to paint by far. It started with primer as always.
Then I painted on the base coat for the oval. It was a medium blue. I purposely painted the surfaces I wanted and a little bit more. Painting in this fashion would make it easier to cut in the next color later. It would also mean I would only have to cut one color - not two. Things looked pretty bright at this stage.
Next was two thin layers of a dark blue glaze, dabbed with towel to remove the brush marks. The shadow areas and around the letters were left a little darker. I applied the glaze in two coats (with time to dry in between) to make things a little more even.
Then it was time to paint the 3D graphic. As always base coats were first, then a blend, followed by the usual glaze to tone things down a little. Then it was time to paint the scroll. The raised edges we has created with the MultiCam made things pretty easy and fast. Cutting was either into a corner or over an edge. I could paint fast and almost with reckless abandon.
Once things had dried a little I applied the first coat of copper paint to the rim piece. It will be hard to believe the sign is made from Precision Board on our MultiCam when we are done.
The sign still has a ways to go with second and third coats of paint and the gold leaf still to come but its looking pretty fine already.
Stay tuned...
-dan
