Painting a kayak

This is my Night Heron. I painted it with metallic auto paint bombs, gold leaf paint, and metal flake set in epoxy for the leaf patterns. I used electrical tape to outline the stenciled patterns and yes, this took a lot of time but the final effect was worth it. The auto paint art was clear coated to excellent effect while everything else was coated with epoxy to cover then brushed with Spar Varnish, again to excellent effect. The only negative I found by using auto paint is that it chips off when impacted the wrong way. So far there are two small chips on the coming, no big deal since its covered by the skirt when I'm out on the water. Prep for using the auto paint was just fine sanding to ensure a smooth surface. In hindsight, maybe a primer coat might have prevented the chips.