[Kevin in NJ]

30 years ago I tried to do the roll method to roll on the paint. It failed miserably.

Since then I talked to a guy who restored plates for a living.

The secret to rolling is a flat glass. You roll out the paint to be real thin. Then with a larger diameter hard rubber roller you roll across. Do not worry about making it in one pass. If you look at original plates they are often not done in one pass. You can see the seam.

This process is like what is done on a printing press. You will see the ink is spread very thin so only the tops of the type get the ink. You also do not want the ink building up in the type.

Hope this helps.