Please Help, Painting, Finish And Glaze

[kweensgambit]

Hey guys I have a project I'm working on and I need some input. I'm making a leather chess board and I am trying to distinguish the white square from the black and I plan on using acrylic resolene to keep the white squares from accepting the black paint. Only I'm not sure whether to oil the board first then use the acrylic then paint and gloss?

The guy at Tandy by my place said acrylic and water based paint won't work over neatsfoot very well. So I purchased an oil based paint to substitute. Should I still skip the oiling process?

I will take a few pictures of my work and items on hand. Could anyone give insight to help with order of process? I don't want to ruin the project. It is a gift to my brother in law. Thanks a bunch.

P.s. I have already used gum tragacanth on the back and burnished the edges.