Its not that hard to do it yourself mate & as mentioned its very rewarding when it goes well. I'm not a professional sprayer at all, I sprayed a couple of bikes when I was a kid (BMX colours always changed) & I watched my dad spray the dents on the wings of his Cortina when I was about 10 so I had excellent training in how to do it
This is how I do it, its all about preparation. The best sprayer in the world will do a crap job if the surface isnt right. Make sure all the old paint is off, nitromors paint stripper will bump it off but wear rubber gloves & go carefull. paint the stripper on & it will blister the paint within minutes then rub it after about 10 mins. Make sure you get all the paint off as even little bits left on may still show through. Rinse the frame then lots of wet n dry sand paper & water & sand the whole frame so its smooth. Primer undercoat ( I usually use white or gray) the frame all over & let that dry for an hour or so then sand it smooth with wet & dry again. I seems a waste of undercoat spray to then rub it back again but its the best way to get a smooth surface. I normally do this at least twice then give it a couple of coats of primer undercoat & let that dry.
For the colour top coat, make sure you shake the can for at least 2 mins & if your spraying out side do it on a warm dry day. If its nice & warm the paint will instantly stick to the primer & wont run. I tried it when it was overcast once & no matter how thinly you spray it still started to run as there was moisture in the air. It makes a huge difference, ill only spray on warm sunny days!
Hold the can about 10 inches away the sweep side to side & only spray when the can is moving, after each stroke stop spraying if you know what I mean. It makes sense to start one end of the frame & continue to the other end but make sure you get in all the corners & underneath, there will be bits you miss on the first coat so after the first coat has been applied leave if 15 mins then if you can turn the frame around so the next coat naturally falls on the opposite side to started, that way no matter how careful you are you should naturally cover the whole frame.
If you spot any runs then don't worry, just crack on & do the whole frame. When its dried after about half hour you can then get out the wet n dry again & rub down any patches that started to run, get then smooth again. Then crack on with at least another 2 top coats, i normally keep going until the can runs out, I managed 4 coats on the Grifter I recently sprayed.
Now leave it in a warm area to dry for at least a week. Your perfect smooth shiny frame looks lovely. You now have to ruin it by sanding it with wet n dry again To get the best finish you have to sand the shine off the paint so its dull, gently using very fine wet n dry rub down the while frame so its like a matt colour. Then swill it off with water so there's no dust & dry it. If your applying stickers then this is when to stick them on.
Finally, warm sunny day again, apply the lacquer, use the same technique as spraying & take your time, it the lacquer runs now then its hard to rectify it so thin coats & take your time. The frame is now far more shiny than when you finished the top coat. I normally do at least 2 coats of lacquer then leave it in a warm place for at least 2 weeks to harden. Dont touch it as your finger prints will show on the lacquer until its hardened.
That's it, its takes a long time but defiantly worth it. Looking at the blue it reminded me of a Grifter I recently did, slightly wrong shade for the Grif but looks spot on for what your after :
