I have been doing this on my used balls - what you can do depends on the engraving technique. Brunswick balls have a solid inlay, but sometimes this breaks up and leaves gaps. Color-matching crayon can help, if it is white you can also use some white furniture wax. But this will not last long.
Deep engravings with paint inside are best cleaned with a hard toothbrush and some kitchen cleaner, water and soap. Any grease must(!) be gone. Sometimes the engraving is filled with some sticky, gluey muck. I scratched it out with a mini-driller, because this stuff collects dirt like nothing else on the ball.
Notches an a ball can be filled and sanded with a 2-component filler. I have used nitro-based putty (used for cars) and a model kit compound (Tamiya), and I'd recommend the Tamiya putty. Very good, hard, but ochre in colour, and you will not be able to conceal it under paint when it is on the bal's surface.
Then I like to use enamel paint (Humbrol, Testors), used for model kits, or acrylic paint (Tamiya is very good, with bright colours) and a high-quality brush size 2 to fill the engravings. I'd recommend glossy colours, which have a less vulnerable surface when dry. But this is personal taste.
Does not matter if some paint comes onto the ball, since, after it is dry, you can easily rub it off with a cotton cloth and some power, maybe some brush cleaner. Makes the ball look like new, you can even experiment with other designs (have a Blade particle and changed the yellow engraving to a light blue. Looks very nice!)
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DizzyFugu --- Reporting from Germany
Team "X" league website: http://homepage.mac.com/timlinked/
"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream..." - Edgar Allen Poe
Edited on 4/29/2005 1:44 AM
