I've removed the six clips for the posts, all of the posts appear to be free, but the corners won't budge.

I did check out one post and the owner was told by the dealer that the posts have to be broken off to remove the wings/badge.

Since there are no posts on the corners, I'm more inclined to think that a dollop of strong glue was added underneath.

I'm in the process of wet-sanding the hood prior to painting (had a few small low spots + someone did a crappy job of touching up - there was an area with bubbles in the clear meaning there was water in his gun).

I really don't want to mask it off. It always shows no matter how careful you are.

My plan is/was to paint very early tomorrow morning so if you know the secret hand-shake...