If your going to do artwork or just painting on legs or armor you should always clear coat it after painting. The clear coat will protect the artwork some from accidental impacts. The reason that powder coating is popular because it will stand up to the most abuse. It is not a good idea to paint over a chrome plated surface. You should sand blast it first so that the paint/powder coating bonds properly for maximum strength. I airbrushed artwork onto a lockbar and the legs
for a Scared Stiff. Then I cleared it to protect the artwork. It was fairly inexpensive and it turned great. The airbrush was a cheap one you can buy at Hobby Lobby for $20. You can also buy the acrylic paints there too, that are water based. The best way is to have the armor powder coated a base color then air brush the artwork on top, then clear it all.

If you notice the lockbar has a couple of small cracks. Those are in the clear only. I made the mistake of not letting the clear coats cure before reapplying. (Too Fast) Lay a couple coats then give it a couple of days before reapplying. To fix it I just need to reapply another couple of clear coats.

Thanks, I just used Krylon acrylic clear. It works great just make sure you let it cure. Since Colorado is so dry, that may have played into it.

After some years of use, how is your paint job holding up?