7Deuce

I got the idea to paint my gas door emblem from this thread on the forum....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1405762

This is what I started with. Basically all the paint had come off the emblem on my 72.



I took the emblem off and cleaned it with some mineral spirits to get off any dirt, wax residue, etc.

Went to the local Wal-Mart and picked up my supplies. I used some Testors brand enamel model paint and some brushes they had in the crafts section. Total cost about 8 bucks.



I then poured myself a glass of "hand steady solution" and began painting.



To help minimize brush strokes I would dab my brush first in a little paint thinner and then load it with the paint. This helped thin the paint and lengthen the dry time so I wouldn't get a lot of stroke marks. Worked pretty good. I applied 3 thin coats using this method with overnight drying in between.

Here's the final result...



Have to say I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Better than spending $50-60 on a repro unit. I liked it so much I just started the front emblem today.

PRNDL

nice work and nice pics! This part here is the key:

skydaddy

I did mine this past winter.

I used similar paint but it was not think and did not require thinning. I loaded the brush with paint and allowed it to run onto the emblem surface and seak its own level. I put enough paint to cover the specific surface that I was painting. I tried the thinner and it was leaving brush marks (may not have been putting enough paint on the brush). I got better at doing it with the more emblems that I did. I ended up doing all of them including the L82 emblems on the hood.

I could not be happier of the end results.

mensch53

My girlfriend was happy to know that her work was an inspiration to you

Looks like you did a great job and Im sure the hand steady solution helped a lot. I knew there was something I forgot...

I still havent tackled the front one yet. Perhaps this weekend...

NHvette

That looks pretty nice - how the pitted chrome covers nicely with the silver.
At first I thought ... WTF - silver paint ?

It came out nice .. .and I plan to paint my slightly pitted emblem soon.

7Deuce

What you think is silver paint in the photo is actually a small bottle of paint thinner. I only painted black, white, and red. The emblem is not really pitted at all, even though they may appear that way in the photo. I just took a picture from really close with my macro setting so all the little imperfections show up.

C3 4ME

Damn, the hand steady solution is what I forgot too, that's why mine didn't come out good enough.

71redskin

freakin cool man...thats a nice lil project to do on a rainy day.

'Bochawa72

My rainy day is here. I'm headed out to get supplies now!
-CR

EDIT- Wow, so it's kinda tough to apply the red evenly, especially between those little chevrons and other tight spaces. The trick is to use just enough thinner but not too much or you won't get enough color. I definately did a better job on my second emblem. I'll post pics once the paint dries. I'm sure that it'll look better after the second coat too. It's a litte too thin in the white areas of the checkered flag. Strokes weren't as much of a problem as much as an even distribution of the color, again on the left side with the red. The right side was easy. Either way a fun project for a rainy day.
-CR

mkflanagan

I believe his "hand steady solution" was the trick!!!!

7Deuce

Okay, got both of my emblems done now. The flash makes the enamel appear a little glossier than it does in natural light. As a poster above stated the red is kinda hard to get even. I just used multiple thin coats to help get it even. As stated the trick is to get the paint thinned just enough so you don't get brush strokes but not too much. What I ended up doing for the red is using small dabs instead of stroking the paint on. This way the dabs would "flow" together and create a fairly even coat.

Just think...if you mess it up real bad I'm sure it's not hard to strip off the enamel and start over again.



Side shots