thank you kindly for the input. all very helpful

i want to keep this simple and easy as much as possible. so, i'll see what' materials can be acquired locally. as for air brush, i have compressor, but i'm not in position to buy and get fancy with a sprayer.

on that note, the frame is gunmetal gray. apparently an easy color in rattle can to acquire in various brands and similar enough shades. i saw some metallic....which might be nice, but the gray seems dark. hmmmm.... at any rate, plenty enough auto enamel grade selections without being pricey. i gather auto grade to be the durable stuff?? and, use gray primer (for chips) i assume?