Pick a material to use for the body. MDO(MDO is an exterior grade
plywood with a weather-resistant layer of resin-infused fiber that seals
it from the elements. The overlay is 28 percent resin and resists
water. MDO is used heavily in commercial sign making. MDO is made only
with 100 percent waterproof glue.) is a good choice.

Go to a real paint store, get the correct primer and paints.

You can buy any of several sets of letter templates.

DIY away.

"Go to a real paint store, get the correct primer and paints."

I am one of our local Benjamin Moore's stores best customers. :-)

Lettering templates - aha. Okay had not even thought of that - I'll look and see what they have. Thanks!!

There's also the idea of designing your sign on a computer, and then:

(a) printing it onto stiff paper and cutting it into a stencil

(b) printing it on a laser printer (bcs ink-jet printed items might run) and decoupaging it onto a background plaque.
(though apparently you can seal the ink-jet ink: https://theartfulcrafter.com/blog/decoupage-seven.html)

You could maybe get custom vinyl lettering that you can place over the background paint.
https://www.bannerbuzz.com/wall-vinyl-lettering.html

My son wanted me to paint the Master Chief from Halo on the front of his dresser. I'm handy, but there's no way I could paint it and have it look good. So I bought a door poster and decoupages it on. That's my inspiration for my suggestions.


I ALSO used to decorate cakes by printing out the enlarged picture of Princess Anastasia, cutting along all the lines of the shapes, and tracing them onto the background frosting with a toothpick; then I'd fill in the spaces. It worked really well for lots of things--except faces, so I cut out the face section of the printout and just put it directly on the cake.
Anyway, that's where I got the idea of designing it on the computer and cutting that up.

You could design it on the computer, spray the back of the printout with Spray-Mount, cut each letter out, place that on the WHITE background (or place the paper on the painted board, use an X-acto knife to cut away the background), and then spray-paint over it them in the color you want to use. Peel the letters away when you're done. (That's how we made fabric-paint towels for a birthday-party favor.)

these guys etch or laser cut wood
https://division.nyc/lasercutting/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoYe7tsOn3QIVg4vICh3QMQw_EAAYASAAEgLioPD_BwE

I printed the sign out in the size I need. Bought a precut wood plaque - larger than the sign. Traced the sign onto the plaque, and am in the process of using my jigsaw to cut it out. Really old saw though - will be getting a new one this weekend.