The plates were originally purchased very reasonably from an online auction. Their intention was a first attempt at repainting, so plenty of room for error was left in the purchase price.

A single original plate was purchased and used as a guide.

After many attempts at different techniques, masking tape was selected for the final product.

The masking became a very tedious task at roughly three hours per plate. Quite a few small pieces were used to mask around the smaller characters. This may be why restoration companies charge in excess of $100 per pair.

When the plate was fully masked, the only area left exposed was sprayed white. We attempted severeal techniques, including rubbing through a top coat to a color beneath. None seemed to produce results as clean as masking the negative areas.

Removing the masking tape is much like unwrapping a present on Christmas morning. In comparison to the original plate, the results were better than expected, but far from perfect.

The finish product.