Better Way to Color Fill Acrylic?

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Bless the man who provided the motel key SVG file, because I am having so much fun with it…

But seriously, my color fill in looks not so good. I’m using the method where I squeegee paint all over the nooks and wait until it dries to remove the excess off the non-engraved portions. It just does not look clean and I’m not sure what I can do to fix it… Any suggestions?

I’m interested in buying the two tones acrylics but based on some of the posts on the community board, it seems like a very finicky product to use? Thoughts?

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Nothing against your desire to want a cleaner color fill — and I don’t have a suggestion to give— but the rough fill looks pretty authentic to the look of a gnarly ol’ foil-stamped motel key.

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You might try spray paints…I haven’t yet, but a number of folks on here seem to swear by them

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Might try multy color layered acrylic. You burn away the top layer and expose the color beneath

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Same product - different descriptions. It can be useful stuff, but often the top layer will leave a dust of colour onto the bottom layer giving you a murkier look than you might be looking for (the “finicky” they refer to). Often a high speed do-over will vaporize that extra powder so it still may be worth trying :slight_smile:

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I’ve also had bad luck with trying to fill in engraves. Doing a few light coats helps. And I find craft paint and a brush to work better than a rattle can.

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I’ve used acrylic paint pens. In case you’re not familiar, they’re paint, but in a pen. They’ve worked for me. I haven’t tried any other methods yet.

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I’ve used these oil paint sticks. Rub it in before your take off the masking for easier clean up.

Jack Richeson 121608 Shiva Oil Paintstik, Iridescent Gold/Silver and Copper, https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B004BP85FC/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_afb7Db6AE5TBG

You can get them in other colors of course.

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I’ve gotten great results using Vintaj paints (got them at Hobby Lobby). Check it here:

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Do you have any company suggestions that offer this type of acrylic?

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Is this waterproof by chance? I’d love to paint my item before removing the tape but I always have to soak my pieces or else I’m at risk of chipping all my nails off trying to lift the tape.

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Most places that sell acrylic carry at least some; TAP plastics, Johnson Plastics, Inventables, etc. You can do a search on here for other acrylic sources

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Yes it is.

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I’m not sure how it would work on acrylic, but I have had a lot of luck filling in wood engraving with lightweight spackle. You have to work quickly, but it fills in completely. I spread it on and let it dry before removing the paper.

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It’ll crumble and fall out of non-porous material once fully dried out. It even falls out of wood if not covered/sealed and the object is handled frequently.

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You might like plastic razor blades :smiley:

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^^ this ^^

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I bought an acrylic model and it came with a “peeling tool”, which was itself just a stick of acrylic with a rounded end. I felt kind of dumb for never realizing that. Acrylic doesn’t scratch itself, so that’s a really easy way to get the paper off.

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I’ve had a lot of good results with Golden High-Flow Acrylic. One dab in the middle of an engrave and it spreads out without climbing the sides. When that dries, I use a clear filler to bring it up to flush.

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I use thinned out acrylic paints for art work (e.g. LiquiTex) . I put them in the little fine tipped bottles you can find on Amazon and flood the area with the masking on. Let it dry, take off the masking and do a little cleanup with denatured alcohol.

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