Help painting a DIE CAST

Hello,
Recently made a FIND at Wal-Mart on a Maisto Die cast U assemble type model of my 2000 Silverado, however the metal shell and doors are painted maroon and my baby is black, so I want to repaint it. I can easily airbrush the body, trouble is that the detailed decals (1500 on the side, silverado on the back, etc.) aren't stickers I could remove they are high quality decals already on there. I want to know if there is any tricky way of covering them up somehow so I can repaint and then peel or wash off whatever I cover them with. I thought like a fine wax pencil or something or maybe clear tape, but I fear that it won't come out very good once I remove it... Any ideas?
Tom

I've done that with clear tape, but the results were only 'OK'.
The 'decals' on the die-cast are not decals at all but are 'tampo' printed.
There are several plastic model kits of the '99 Silverado out that might contain the markings that you need (and contain a lot of useful parts if you want to add some detail to your 'cast).
:p

Thanks for the reply. I have several plastic models that I have built, but the detail is so good on the die cast printing, I want to preserve it if possible... Thanks though!
Tom

im in the same boat as you. Im repainting a 1:18 scale C5 corvette and the emblems are also "tampo" printed on so they will be painted over. I will be posting a thread soon to locate some 1:18 scale C5 corvette emblems. I really don't think you have much choice but to locate the decals somewhere, the ones on the die-cast are going to be useless.

Try using Rit dye. I know a lot of Hot Wheelers dye their cars. Most turn out pretty good. Essentailly strip the diecast of all things plastic. Dip the metal body into the hot/near boiling dye/water mix. The longer you let it sit the darker the color.

Well I have the solution for you!!!(I've been in diecast customizing before...)
You need some liquid mask used in airbrush painting...Then you can apply the mask with a very fine brush over the letters/decals...
Another cheap alternative(not 100% guaranteed though)is to use some vaseline and put it very carefuly with a toothpic over the letters then spray with airbrush(pay attention in the 2 spots)then clean the car body after the paint is cured...
Hope I helped...both of you... :) :)

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions, I'll have to look into it, the vasalene might work if I can't find the other stuff...
Tom

You have a real truck, don't you? Then, I'll give you an easy solution.
Take photos, and cut them out.

Measure each logos, and scale down to 1/24(25?), so that you know how big each emblem should be in the view finder. Tape a yard stick on the body for a reference, if you need to. If you have a digital camera, just take 3 or 4 pictures of each emblem in slightly different sizes, so that you don't have to go back and take photos again.
Then, print the pictures using one of those self digicam printer, found at Wal-Mart and such.

Use a sharp hobby knife, and carefully trim the outline, and paint the white surrounding (i.e. the height side of the paper) black or chrome, and attach it with epoxy glue.

If you don't have a digicam, a disposal camera can be used, too. But, you might have to develop two rolls of films to know the expected size on the printed photo.

In any case, the key is to take focused pictures and to know how big each logo should be on the printed picture.

I used this method to make many license plates for my friends model car. Since paper has thickness, it should actually look better than a tampo print or a decal.

Hm I must say I didn't think of the digital photo angle, that might be worth a try, I could even try printing on clear laminate or something maybe... Thanks for the suggestion...
Tom