Preparing"New" pot metal that is painted for plating

[Bearpuppy]

I want to Gold plate a figurine that I believe is pot metal. I know practically nothing about plating so I have a couple of questions before I decide whether or not to proceed. The figurine is brand new, so no corrosion but it does have paint on it. How can I remove the paint without losing sharp corners and detail. Is pot metal hard enough to withstand light sandblasting and if it is, is light sandblasting enough to prepare the surface for plating? Other than sandblasting is there anyway to remove the paint (without spending a fortune) that will leave a good surface for plating And my second question is about copper plating. The Pick-A-Kit helper says to first use "Flash Copper" but I'm just wondering why the "Plug N' Plate" kit can't be used.
Thank you

[CarWiz]

Use a solvent based paint stripper. Lacquer thinner will soften most paints enough to rub or bristle-brush it off. Don't sand blast die cast (pot metal). While corrosion may not be apparent, the surface oxidizes quickly--Even during the casting process. Blasting will drive the oxides into the metal and you won't be able to plate it. Die cast is one of the most difficult metals to plate. It's made of aluminum, zinc and copper but may contain other contaminates like iron and lead (and who knows what else if it came from off-shore). You have to use a non-acid plate over the cleaned die cast metal because acid will dissolve the zinc and most plate won't stick to aluminum. Caswell's flash copper provides this since it is alkaline based. But even this must be done in whole. The PnP copper kit is alkaline but you can't allow the rest of the die cast to oxidize while you're working in one small area. Die cast parts should be flash copper plated in a tank so the entire part can be submersed right after a neutral scrub and rinse.