Originally Posted by
rosefarts
...Then I sprayed it with a layer of high gloss clear coat and in the next few minutes the entire thing went full on alligator skin. Actually, I don't know the technical term. All the paint cracked uniformly in the same way a mud puddle in the desert dries. After the clear coat dried, the effect sort of settled down but it couldn't be polished or buffed out since the clear coat was covering the cracking.
Some people pay extra for that antiqued look on antiques!
"... Of course it would be worth more if it hadn't been refinished." - Antiques Roadshow
I'm partial to industrial wrinkle-finish paint, though not on bikes, it's high drag and hard to clean.