The commodore is a 15 clone I betcha. You can treadle it and it will run smooth - it might go better if you get a spoked hand wheel. They do have pretty decals. If you want to paint you can - the hard part will be to do the prep - google search how to paint a sewing machine. My BIL paints cars and has offered to use up paint on a machine - I just haven't taken him up on it yet. I have one that is part way down to bare metal. I think it would be a messy job to get it prepped. Some day I'll do it because I like the machine and it would work a lot nicer with paint on it.
Here is a link to the 15 clones:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...p-t164361.html - there is a lot of info and you can find a copy of the manual to print on there.