Coloring Specific Parts Of A Project

[Krakenfan69]

I am a newbie working on a small project that I want to add a bit of color to. I have done a very simple design and would like to add color to certain areas and am not sure the best way to go about it. I would like to color every other diamond black and the rest Brown. I would also like to add red to the score lines that make up the design as well. is there a preferred way to do this without getting my colors all mixed up?

Thanks for any help guys!

Kraken Fan #69

[Halitech]

first off, are you planning on painting or dying?

If you are dying, then you can do it a few ways. You can dye each block individually being very careful. Or, you can dye the black ones, then put a resist over them and then dye the entire thing with brown. You could even use the antique medium brown. Or, you could dye the brown and then resist before doing the black but you may end up with the black covering the brown that way.

[Krakenfan69]

Was planning to use dye. I already have black and medium brown. Not the oil based kind. Except for the red on the cut lines. Not sure what is better there and haven't picked anything up yet. Was thinking I might be able to get the red in the cut line using a syringe. Or is that a fantasy? I did a pass on the Tandy website and didn't see anything called "Resist". Does it have another common name?

Thanks again,

Kraken Fan #69

[Halitech]

I totally missed the part about the red. You will need a very steady hand to do the lines. Tandy used to have a product called Block out but I haven't seen it lately. Most of us usually use super shene as a resit

[Colt W Knight]

I can tell you my experience with that sort of thing.

1. Color the black squares first using a brush and dye. The black dye will naturally wick its way to the cut marks if you put enough dye on the brush. That way, you can stay far enough away from the line that you don't accidentally color the other squares.

2. Then dye the whole thing brown. Once the black is down, it doesn't matter if you get brown over the black. I would recommend using an antique gel, as that will get in the crevices and make the lines and edges darker. That will give your checkers a much cleaner and neater look. Less paint by numbers, more checkerboard.

3. Paint on a good resist. let it dry for 24 hours.

4. Use a red acrylic paint as a antiquing paste. You'll have to work paint in the crevices over small areas, and immediately wipe off the excess so it just fills the crevices. I could never paint those lines in to make it look nice. I would just rub in some red acrylic, then quickly wipe it off the high spots using a clean damp rag.

Thats how I would do it.

Resist is a leather workers term for a clear coat that will "resist" changing colors when you add color or antique paste over top of it.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Colt W Knight

[MavericknGoose]

Does anybody have experience with blocking out a white acrylic? I've got a piece that has red and white leaves in it. I'd like to use a saddle tan antique over the rest of the piece, but in the past antiqueing over white has turned it a yellow color. I've used sheen, tan kote and resolene before, but maybe it wasn't dry enough?

I'd love to hear what everyone has to say about maintaining vibrant colors throughout the staining process!

Edited January 5, 2016 by MavericknGoose

[Krakenfan69]

I can tell you my experience with that sort of thing.

1. Color the black squares first using a brush and dye. The black dye will naturally wick its way to the cut marks if you put enough dye on the brush. That way, you can stay far enough away from the line that you don't accidentally color the other squares.

2. Then dye the whole thing brown. Once the black is down, it doesn't matter if you get brown over the black. I would recommend using an antique gel, as that will get in the crevices and make the lines and edges darker. That will give your checkers a much cleaner and neater look. Less paint by numbers, more checkerboard.

3. Paint on a good resist. let it dry for 24 hours.

4. Use a red acrylic paint as a antiquing paste. You'll have to work paint in the crevices over small areas, and immediately wipe off the excess so it just fills the crevices. I could never paint those lines in to make it look nice. I would just rub in some red acrylic, then quickly wipe it off the high spots using a clean damp rag.

Thats how I would do it.

Resist is a leather workers term for a clear coat that will "resist" changing colors when you add color or antique paste over top of it.

Thanks Colt! Your piece was my inspiration for this project. I loved the look but couldn't find it to reference in this thread. lol

I hope mine comes out half as nice!

Thanks for all the pointers guys. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Kraken Fan #69