Paint
First... Thank you all for the good words! Yes, I do all my own paint work the comes from years of restoring classic cars, and to me it's all about the prep (wet sanding) and having all of the pitting filled and level. As you can see
on my latest, I had my work cut out for me. After media blasting the very best in my opinion is a catalyzed poly primer or auto primer with high build. Even though you'll wet sand 80% of this off it gets things strait. You can't really use a block but instead I like as much as six layers of 220 folded over itself to create a curved block. A guide coat in black is a must! This will show all imperfections and tell you when to stop. It does get tricky at the joints
and is something you perfect over the years, I think of it as a sculpture. Unfortunately you won't know how well you've done until the clear is laid on. Then you make adjustments on the next project, the years tick by and eventually you'll get good at it. As far as the actual painting goes, it also has it's challenges on these complex tubes and directions you have to hit for good coverage. Not enough (too dry) too much (runs!), the trick is to get a full wet coat or two and walk away! Easier said then done maybe and it's definitely a case of practice makes perfect. As for the paint itself... I use quite often spray cans for my base coat. Higher end art stores stock a great selection
of colors to choose from (pictured here). I came up with a way to have my top coat (clear) and over all paint job not look too glossy and too new looking! It's a catalyzed auto clear that I mix with a new FLAT clear of the same type. (2 parts flat w/ 1 part gloss) Not cheap, it'll set you back $125. in materials alone but it give the apparence of a well cared for older original paint. I do other crazy things to my clear like transparent toners in the to push the base color to exactly where I want it to be (making the color look older). I'd like to say "That's all it takes!" but really this is mostly a jump off point, the rest just takes time/ trial & error! Maybe I've gotten too in depth but I hope this helps some of you out there. As for the plating, Yes, it's Nickel plating. I do this for all my bike projects, it's warmer and just looks better!
P.S. I live in Glendale