To make the chromic acid anodized panels for the ascent stage I went through a bit of experimenting. First I tried painting aluminum foil with humbrol paints but I could not get it to the color I wanted and I had a bit of trouble making the paint uniform over the surface. Then I had a print shop print me papers with the right colors. Looked almost right. But there was this very fine raster in the prints and also the prints where lacking a bit of the gloss I wanted. Then I tested printing on photo paper with my inkjet. Perfect glossiness but still the raster. So finally I had a professional photo lab print the colors onto real photo paper using a Durst Lambda printer. Good enough I think.

(I had entertained the idea of actually having someone anodize some aluminum 5056 foil for me but I just have a feeling that it would be a little too expensive so photo paper will do.)

For The panel edges I found some adhesive aluminum film that Is apparently used to make decals for rc cars and aeroplanes. It is very easy to cut and apply to the photo paper.

Did the back of the ascent stage, think it came out ok.