Paper Mache Cow Work in Progress

The cow project had a setback this week. Last week I sanded the paper mache clay (which has joint compound in it so it is kind of like plaster). I am not going for a smooth surface but wanted to at least have all the jaggies gone.

I then sprayed the cow with gloss jet black paint, from a spray can made for car paint. The gloss in it turned out all splotchy so I thought a second coat would cover that but it didn't. The gloss was taking in some areas and not in others. It was all black but not all gloss.

It was only then that I realized I had not primed it first. DUMB! Here is what the cow looked like at that stage:

That was my setback. I decided now was the time to go back and fix my problems so I primed the cow with grey primer paint, let it dry and then did a light sanding all over.

The paint store told me hi gloss does not come in the spray cans so I decided I valued hi-gloss over an even application of the paint, so I got black hi-gloss acrylic latex enamel paint and covered the cow. Here is the cow getting covered up once again:

and here is the cow after two coats, which I was much happier with (and all the splotchies were gone):

In these two next photos, I have a close up of the surface of the cow to show how I actually didn't want to go for a glassy smooth surface. Oddly, in these photos, it looks like a chrome has already been added but, in fact, it is just how the light looks on the hi-gloss black. But it did give me a hint, of sorts, of how it might end up looking. I won't know until I actually do the chroming next week. I'll post results in the next update.