Painting my Bradbury
 

I recently purchased a fiddlebase Bradbury off ebay (circa 1870?) for a total of $69, which I thought was pretty good. While cleaning it (and scrubbing, and cleaning) I realized there was a lot of paint missing, and a little dabbing wasn't going to cut it. The gold is all but gone, all you can see is a shadow of the decals (or stencils?). I'm not sure the duke will survive this process.

I had the local auto store mix me some auto paint and I've spray painted the handle cover thing.

I think when I'm done with scrubbing and removing paint and painting, I'd like to paint flowers or something on it. What should I use at that stage? I considered egg tempura, but I don't think it will stick to the paint. I thought after the painting is all done I'd spray lacquer on it, which I also have. It also is for autos.