[cellardoor]

I know this feeling. The surfer that's packaged with Galactus is much better in terms of paint app, it's much more silver and has a cool black wash around the eyes.
I've just bought a set of Vallejo acrylics and picked up some Mithril Silver, which, after about 4 thin coats will cover even a black base coat. It's generally used for dry-brushing metal details but, in it's undiluted, straight from the bottle form, is a very good shiny silver.
You'd probably want to apply a lacquer of some sort after to seal the paint job. If you pick the right one that should give it extra sheen.