Hey
@Pondo, a couple of things I found out about Metalcast paint when I used it. Basically, it is very thin, and translucent. The shininess of it comes from what is underneath the paint. My RaTs GaSs build (that I pictured above) was done on a frame, fenders, chainguard, that were entirely chrome from the start. So the parts were very shiny and came through well, making the paint glisten.
Also, because it is so thin, it runs easily and makes it hard to stick to the surface. I used a Adhesive Promoter on top of my base (in my case the chromed parts) to help it to stick and stay put during the application. And that was like Capt said, probably 3 light applications of each of the red and yellow, except where they blended together in the middle, that was just 1 of the red (covers more easily) and 2 of the yellow; first yellow, then red, then a yellow over the top of that. I had purchased an orange color, to use in the middle of the fade, but the can failed right from the get-go, so I never got to use it once I started on the actual bike.
I had a chrome fender that I could practice on to try and get the coats and the fade right before I went to the bike.
Here is my build thread, if you want to use it for reference.
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/rats-gass-great-year-all-pg-26.110959/