license plate restoration

I was able to pick up a 1969 (for the Barracuda) and a 1971 ( for the Dart) at a small car show here in town on Saturday, $5.00 for the pair. I plan on getting them blasted, then painting them myself... but I was thinking more along the lines of masking the numbers and shooting them instead of using a brush.

I wonder how the guys at the penitentiary do it? Hmmmm.... maybe I'll do some investigating.