OK, fair enough. Guess I might have overreacted a little...I apologize. It's just that I've put a LOT of hours, blood, sweat and tears (not to mention much swearing and throwing of things) in trying to make this a reality. I pride myself on having done all of it from start to finish. My original intention in posting this thread was to show others another approach at making your own armor and to show that anyone can sculpt given they take the time to do it.
As far as the paint goes, so far I sanded the plastic, primed it, sanded the primer, and then hit it with the metallic silver aluminum. The appearance of the texture is just a weird reflection from the way it dried...I can assure you that the finish is completely smooth. I just hit it all with a matte clear coat and it seems to have taken care of that issue. I'll post pics later, thanks