Suggestions on restoring painted data plates

[Dodge man]

I just found a 1951 Model 3ABG military generator and it appears sto have a lot of data plates but a lot of them look like this:



I'm trying to handle them CAREFULLY to prevent the paint from falling off and I'm going to photograph them to preserve the data but after that's done, is there anyway to repaint these or to reproduce them? I'm not sure about this one but several of them have slightly raised lettering (see below). Is there a way to repaint them and then buff off the top so that the letters show through like on the originals? I've tried painting and then buffing or polishing by hand but it's too uneven and takes off paint in some of the blank areas too. The big problem is trying to deal with plates that are bent or dented!

 

[MWMULES]

Can't tell from the picture but if they are old school etched try this. http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...=1294889&highlight=restore+plates#post1294889 post12

 

[NDT]

If the letters are raised, remove old paint, repaint with flat black, sand the letters and graphics using 400 grit and your finger. Overcoat with clear.

 

[Dodge man]

Thanks for the link! The plates that they're talking about are aluminium and mine are brass so I can't clean them the same way. But there's some good tips there about how to paint the ones with the raised edges. BUT their painting technique requires that the plate but perfectly flat and some of mine aren't. Does anyone have a reliable way to flatten out bend plates, like the one in the second photo?

 

[Jimc]

Well I don't know how original you are looking for but there are a few things you can do. I have remade all the data plates on the mep-003 and 002a. I took the more high tech route and scanned or photographed the old plates and then redesigned them on the computer. Once I have the computer file which is the hard and time consuming part I digitally printed them on vinyl that can be stuck or overlaid onto the original plate. I also had the option of sending the file to someone to have an actual new plate made which was actually really cheap. Only drawback to that is they are limited to a small size and the plates aren't made for outdoor use and will fade quickly. They vinyl is good for 10+ years. Anyway click the link in my signature. I have some pictures of the ones I did.

 

[quickfarms]

From the pictures the first one looks like a decal but I can not tell weather the second one is a decal or raised letters