Painting embossed lettering

what is the best way to paint the embossed lettering on a westinghouse standard "wet chest". I am going to try a small flat nap roller. If there is a way which gets better results i'd like to give it a go. I have 2 for my first project.
thanks

[johnieG]

since I'm no artist, I use a flat hard rubber roller, & thin the paint on a sheet of glass, work the paint around the glass with the roller & roll it across the top of the embossing, ( just like we used to do lithographs with india-ink in art class), it works well with small picnic coolers, haven't tried it on a large logo yet though, just let the first coating setup a bit then roll some more over it, don't try to flood it with gobs of paint all at once, it'll just run over the edge of the embossing, there is also a spray-on liquid masking that you apply over the base coat, let dry, then cut off/out the embossed portion & peel it off, then spray paint over with white, this also works well.

[Jim]

Although I'm a purist and prefer having painted logos, you could consider purchasing the vinyl decal set to place on top of the embossed logo...? I have never utilized this method; just an alternative...
I don't think you're going to get good results from the "roller idea" on a large embossing area such as that on a Westinghouse Standard. On picnic coolers, this can provide adequate results due to small area of embossing as Johnie has stated. Hopefully you are practicing on an unrestored cooler; if not, have some reducer available to cleanup the excess paint that will get on the new paint as it always will...

Quote (Jim @ Aug. 26 2003,9:15)

Although I'm a purist and prefer having painted logos, you could consider purchasing the vinyl decal set to place on top of the embossed logo...?

I am a purist as well. i prefer to try my hand at having a painted logo. Since everything is original and the compressors run beautifully, i prefer to do what i can to make it authentic as possible.
I am  about to put a final coat of paint on my work van so i am going to test a few methods on the logos before i bead blast the chests and prepare them for paint.
so far for methods i am willing to try is...
the roller method, i figure i can lay the cooler flat and tackle the logos that way. maybe even try a sponge and dab technique. Though both ways seem to be time consuming to get a nice coat.
I am also considering making my own decal i can place over the logos as i spray the red(having painted the white first). Though making my own decal may not work and purchasing may be too expensive.
And of course i will try to brush it in, which may end up being the way to do it?   is that how you would do it?

Quote (johnieG @ Aug. 26 2003,7:05)

there is also a spray-on liquid masking that you apply over the base coat, let dry, then cut off/out the embossed portion & peel it off, then spray paint over with white, this also works well.

thanks....i will look into the spray stuff.
we actually use a similar product at times when i paint houses. It is a marker type thing that we rub on glass. usually it is for amateurs that can't "cut-in" against the glass or can't "mask off" the area with tape. The stuff we use though is scraped off with a razor. I had thought of using it but didn't want to have to do any scraping like that.
thanks for the input

Hello,

I am a newbie, so if this sounds weird, please excuse me.  You sound handy.  And, being so, might you make a stencil that would fit over the embossed letters.  Placing the stencil over the letters, tape it in place, then roller or spray the exposed raised lettering.  

I am getting close to being able to restore my first machine, so I am curious if this might work.  Also, if the stencil/guard works, others here might be interested in copies for their own projects.