Is there a way to restore the paint on the metal plate of the guy pulling the Airstream on a bicycle?
This works on other metal plates with too fine of detail to mask off and paint. Remove the plate by drilling out the rivets as necessary. Clean off all old paint with lacquer thinner. Don’t use steel wool or any thing abrasive as you need to retain as sharp of relief in the lettering and design as possible. Spray the entire placard with a very light coat of Royal Blue Krylon spraypaint or equivalent. As the paint begins to dry, it will reach a point where the paint on the high spots can be rubbed off with a blunt wooden dowel (1/8 inch or so). It may take some practice to find just the right degree of drying to rub the thin paint off without peeling up adjacent paint. If you mess up and need to start over, just reach for the lacquer thinner and a rag. After all has dried for a day or two, spray on a thin coat of clear “epoxy” enamel. Don’t try clear coating the Krylon with lacquer, or the solvents will just lift up and destroy the paint. Reinstall the plate with Olympic rivets.
