White lettering - for those who miss it like I do

[Mark Hammer]

I miss being able to buy white rub-on lettering for legending boxes painted darker colours.  While not the same quality and degree of stylishness as white rub-on lettering, I was pleased to stumble onto a type of Sharpie marker I had not previously encountered yesterday.  It is an oil-base marker, of all things, sold under the name "Sharpie Paint".  I picked up a white one and may try some other light colours.  The "paint" flow is good so far, and the oil base assures it will a) flow smoothly and adhere onto most surfaces and b) have a little gloss when it dries.  The "fine" point would appear to limit one to lettering about the size/form of 18pt boldface Arial Black (assuming your hands are that steady).  There is a "superfine" point available, which I imagine should make more compact legending feasible.  Naturally, if anyone finds themselves in a "Myrold mood", these pens will support your attempts at drawing graphics on top of a solid painted surface as well.  Certainly nowhere near as classy-looking as decals can be, but if you need lighter lettering and graphics in a pinch, they CAN be drawn on.  I paid about $3 for my white paint pen.

[R.G.]

If it's a porous-point pen like other sharpies, you can use a single-edged razor blade or X-acto knife to trim the point down to very fine.

Necessity is not the mother of invention; DESPERATION is the mother of invention.

[AL]

Hey Mark & RG,

Thanks for the head's up. I've been using a fine-tip white paint pen on my boxes lately. I got it at Micheal's although I suppose you could get one at any art supply shop. I think they come in different sizes too. Seems to hold OK - I usually spray some clear coat over it just to be sure.

AL

[michal_k]

i do all lettering in a small printing company with screen print. best quality and since i do it on my own just using their gear it's free.

[markm]

i do all lettering in a small printing company with screen print. best quality and since i do it on my own just using their gear it's free.

Lucky! 

[MikeH]

I bought a set of testors model paint a couple weeks ago to try my own stab at "z vex" style graphics.  The paints are the right quality and the colors are great; my painting skills on the other hand... let's just say ol' Z wont be hiring me to paint any of his boxes.

[michal_k]

i do all lettering in a small printing company with screen print. best quality and since i do it on my own just using their gear it's free.

Lucky! 

yep, but i believe that completing your own equipment would be less than 100-150$, all you need is a big garage.

[moro]

I mentioned this in another thread, but I got a couple of these and I'm having a really hard time getting the opacity I want out of the white. Pink isn't too great either. The black is good, but I'd rather use a decal if I want black.

Do you have any photos?

[Dragonfly]

Paint marker....just like everything else, you just have to PRACTICE.

[Mark Hammer]

I salute your manual dexterity!  Nice work.  There's a Michael's 4 minutes from here.  Think I may just pop over after lunch.

[Dragonfly]

I salute your manual dexterity!  Nice work.  There's a Michael's 4 minutes from here.  Think I may just pop over after lunch.

practice on things "other" than your stompbox for a bit first....

as RG mentioned, if necessary, you can shave the tip down with a blade

I dont use guide lines or anything, but i suppose you could probably do so with some carbon paper

have a great lunch Mark !

[jayp5150]

Mark, are you talking about this stuff?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=340-173

It looks like a couple different sets of the white rub-on stuff is still available... the Hi-fi set is out of stock, though. I'm not 100% sure of the contents of these, but I'd imagine there's some use for what we all do.

If I'm way off, disregard me lol.

[AL]

Well, after seeing those pics one thing has become painfully clear to me... my handwriting sucks.   

Looks like you took a calligraphy course. Nice work - I've got some practicing to do. Are those electrical boxes? The paint job looks nice too - what are using for paint?

AL

[Dragonfly]

Well, after seeing those pics one thing has become painfully clear to me... my handwriting sucks.   

Looks like you took a calligraphy course. Nice work - I've got some practicing to do. Are those electrical boxes? The paint job looks nice too - what are using for paint?

AL

Thanks...

Former art student here

The first two are the lids from Raco boxes

The white paint is Elmers paint pen...but Testors or similar will work fine too.

[Mark Hammer]

Mark, are you talking about this stuff?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=340-173

It looks like a couple different sets of the white rub-on stuff is still available... the Hi-fi set is out of stock, though. I'm not 100% sure of the contents of these, but I'd imagine there's some use for what we all do.

If I'm way off, disregard me lol.

What you suggest is useful...up to a point.  I find that transfer sheets with audio terms usually doesn't have the sorts of terms that "our" pedals use (well, besides "volume"), and sheets of alphanumeric characters don't have enough of certain letters (like "Z") to justify the expense for the sake of lettering a few boxes.  "Back in the day", I could easily get sheets of white lettering in almost any typeface and font size for a reasonable enough price that I could put up with running out of V and Z (...eventually) and spring for another sheet (I still have some of that lettering, but after 20+ years, it's um a little "crunchy").

Though it clearly demands practice, the nice thing about the pens is that they don't run out of ANY letters...just ink/paint.

[Melanhead]

These markers are great! ... I've used them before as well.

[Paul Marossy]

I like using gold paint pens on flat black:

[AL]

Nice work Paul. I like the Yellow. Gotta pick me up one those.

What did you paint the box with - the black? I've been using spray on truck bed line just for the durability. I was having problems with paint chipping. Did you get it to bond well?

~AL

[col]

OT but can you get these in the UK? I have been looking for something similar for touching up the lining on vintage model trains. I have had a bit of success using a bow pen but it's very dependent on the quality of the paint.

[Fuzzy-Train]

Paint marker....just like everything else, you just have to PRACTICE.

I don't think anyone will be mad that I quoted these.

I tip my hat to you sir, your penmanship is outstanding. I really dig the soma's art work as well.

I can't write for crap... especially on enclosures since I got shaky hands. But I'm gonna grab some paint pens and practice, practice, practice. You've given me the drive to get better at this... thank you.

Thanks for making this thread as well Mark... came just on time.