my truck is white, the door handles are black unpainted. i'd like them to be white. i saw somewhere that it can be difficult to get paint to stay on plastic like that. it will need to be durable since it gets touched frequently. i also saw where someone used vinyl dye on some plastic. anyone ever painted their handles? if i get a good method down i'll also paint my wiper cowl and other things

 

There are a variety of products designed specifically for plastics, the most 'commercial' being Krylon Fusion. Like any paintwork, it's all in the preparation. A good adhesion promoter/primer is the most important step to getting the paint to stick and stay on.

In order to get the best results possible, you need to know what type of plastic you are attempting to paint. Try removing the handle and looking for any markings on it. Most parts have a Polymer ID on them. Without that, a decent but not foolproof guess would be that they are made of ABS, the same material used in some household plumbing.

Fortunately, several R/C cars from Tamiya use ABS for their bodies and there is plenty of wisdom and experience dating back to the 1980s Clod Buster as seen here: ABS Body Painting Help - General discussions - Tamiyaclub.com Forums

According to a few other threads on the Tamiya Club Forum, Tamiya corporation makes a paint line for these products, called the TS Series: Tamiya America - Paints & Finishes

TS-26 Pure White looks like it would be a pretty good match. Try visiting your local hobby shop and ask if you can match the color to your truck.

 

Prep is key for the paint to last longer. This includes cleaning the plastic, sanding the surface, applying adhesion promoter and sandable primer.